How To Stop A Chow Chow Nipping Or Biting
Chow Chows are a large breed of dog that can be rather intimidating when it develops a habit of biting. It is very important for safety and the well being of your dog to stop biting when it starts. You do not want your dog to start believing that biting is an acceptable behavior.
Chow Chows are a dominant breed of dog. This can lead to training problems if an owner is not firm enough during training. Controlling biting requires proper training and requires that the dog knows he is not the one in charge. If you are not a strong, consistent trainer then the dog can quickly become unruly and stubborn and make it difficult to control anything he does.
Grab Their Attention
One of the best techniques to use when training your dog not to bite is to yell and walk away. When your dog bites you should say loudly “ouch” or something similar that will get your dog’s attention and make him see that biting you didn’t feel good to you. Then you need to walk away. Stop playing with him or move away from him and ignore him. He will soon see that every time he bites you don’t like it and you take your attention away from him. Dogs love attention and when they see something they are doing makes them lose attention it will train them to stop doing it.
Reinforcement
It is important that everyone follows the same pattern of training. This includes even small children, who dogs tend to like to bite the most. Consistency is very important. If one person in the family lets the dog bite them then that only tells the dog that biting is still okay. He will continue to bite anyone who hasn’t trained him not to bite them. If everyone is consistent then the dog learns that biting is never okay.
Older Dog Tips
It is much easier to break a biting habit in puppies since that is when they are more eager and ready to learn. You can still teach older dogs not to bite, though. You can try using the same method above, but if it doesn’t work then you might want to try some other options.
With older dogs you can try a muzzle. Simply muzzle the dog when you have visitors to prevent the chance he will bite. While this won’t stop the biting, it will help keep visitors safe.
Another method is a variation on he yell and walk away method. Instead of a simple “ouch” you should yell loudly with a growl in your voice and then scare the dog away. Your dog will quickly pick up that biting is a scary thing and dogs do not like scary situations.
No matter how old your Chow Chow is, it is important to find a method of training and stick to it. You have to be consistent. That is the key to stopping biting.