spirrall

Just a quick update for everyone who has been following this thread. Thanks for everyone's participation and follow ups. I had taken all your advice and I feel very lucky to have all of your support. Chowie has officially taken off that horrible cone or elizabeth collar as most would call it. Her eyes have fully recovered. YAY!!! We'll be back for another check up when she 18 months to see if she needs the surgery again.

Hi Chowie is going really well. Both her eyes are now looking really decent. Unfortunately she did have to go through a third surgery since her left ulcer refused to heal. But since then, it's already loooking really decent. Thanks for asking though! Chowies kinda amazed with what she can actually see in life. Its so much more fun to see her in the doggy park, running around and chasing after dogs now that she knows who shes facing. Before she was kinda more stuck to us, as she wasnt too sure of all the unfamilar noises. Hi GoldChow, You've probably read above but chowie did end up having another surgery. The damage left eye did make things worse and there was a left ulcer that refused to heal. Chowie did go through another surgery and currently it looks a LOT better, so Im really happy. Will be at the specialist again in another 2 weeks to get her to have a check up. I'll keep in mind that she shouldn't be desexed til later. Yeah, Chowie has been going through a lot of stress at the hospital from what I've heard and it seems like even having the nurses around playing with her, isn't making things better. I have read that Chows can be loyal and rather cold to strangers as they believe that its not as necessary to make friends since they believe that their owners will be back soon for them. But more importantly I just needed to get her eyes fixed. This was more than what I expected to pay but to see her little happy tongue poking at me, makes me smile and feel that it was worth it. Thanks for all the advice you have given me! It was really helpful! spirrall

Hi! Puppy classes are good if you're a first time dog handler. Also if you want to socialise your dog, go to an off leash park.

Hi Goldchow! Thanks a lot for your constant input. I really appreciate it. I think my breeder is ok to give me a refund. Good news though... the right eye is healing super quick. Ulcers are healing super quick on that eye as well. Bad news.... her left eye is still unsatisfactory. I'm going there again next Tuesday to see if we need to do another operation. I also did a silly thing where I took her elizabethian collar off before I gave her her meal and during that split second she scratched her left eye and we think thats probably the reason why its not healing as well. So rule of thumb... no collar off... That was another $1000 surgery which was super unnecessary and i might need to go for another if her left eye isnt healing. The good thing apart from our inability to pay for our credit card and interest in the mean time is that hopefully she'll get better in the long term. Yeah... i was hoping to show chowie which was what I was expecting when I bought her. The papers were signed and i should be able to show her and breed her but now... I'm doing the ethical thing and not going to reproduce any unhealthy pups. I need to desex her soon as well but I might leave it til later since she's had a lot of surgeries lately. Hi, yeah i got the surgery done by a Ophthalmologist at SASH vets (Mark Billson). Hes a really good surgeon and seems to really care about the dogs. In regards to your question about the pup. I got Chowie relatively later... She arrived to me approximately 17 weeks and that's a little under 5 months so i only had her for about 2-3 weeks before her eyes had the "infection". My breeder agreed to a refund. All my dogs are on pet insurance. I was going tog et it for Chowie. It wouldnt have worked anywais since its a minimum 30 day waiting period and her eyes got infected a lot sooner than 30 days of having her. very expensive. Entropian surgery for a 5 month old Anatolian puppy cost $600. What was involved in Chowie's surgery? Re inheritence: Both sire and dam had no entopion or history of producing entropion. the puppy in question however had one of the biggest boofiest ASD heads I'd ever seen, spec vet thinks entropion resulted from skin / head structure of the individual puppy. I think price-wise its different depending on the case. I believe my dog had an operation on all four of her eyelids. So I think that's what made it more expensive. It couldn't be done at our local vet which they said they would charge us around the high hundreds if they did it.

Hi, I know how it can be as I have had three dogs of my own. What I've found really good was to go to a doggie park and let them off leash there. Otherwise if there isn't one, we just go to our usual park. Around our place, there's this park that's fenced (there's not suppose to be any dogs there but I try to only do it when there are not people around which is around 12pm). Anyways, socialising in an unfamiliar place is really good start for an unfriendly dog because they learn to play with each other. Stay there for a while (like one hour) and you'll find they'll get along better at home. I've tried introducing a pup at home before and it totally failed. Dogs were just fighting day and night. However, the park thing works really well and whilst they did fight a bit at home, it wasn't that much. You'll find that the pup will understand what it needs to do around the older dog and pups usually want to please, so that's the good thing about it. My little scatter brain was like a pest around my other one. She eventually learned the rules. Just make sure there's supervision so the growling doesnt become anything too crazy. Hope this helps

Oh dear, I haven't read this thread for a while as I had not expected anyone to reply after a while. Anyways just a quick update: Chowie's has already done her surgery and price of it went over $3000 (this is a lot considering I've spent $3000 on her and basically I've just justed $6000 easily within this month). However, I believe it was worthwhile because she had it done at an eye specialist who needed surgery on all four of her eyelids, both eyes. Yep, tacking was too late because it was really severe and she was sent to have the operation the next day because it was an emergency. Hi, I'm not sure too about the small eyes and I've forgotten to ask the vet. However, I'll attach a picture of her on the bottom of this link and see what you think. Thanks a lot. The information was extremely helpful. Too bad I hadn't had a read of it before I had done the operation but I think the operation was inevitable. Hi thanks alot for your input. This was really helpful to get a second opinion. Basically, yes the eye specialist I was referred to, didn't want to do the surgery at first. But after having a look at her eyes, it seems that she has lots of ulcers and damage on all four of her eyelids. The eye specialist also said there will be permanent damage and her eyes will impaired in the future, however he said that it won't mean much changes for Chowie because she seems to have had the problem for a while. He wanted to do tacking which he did on another sharpei pup last week. However he said she needed to do the surgery immediately as her condition was really bad and possibly he might have to do it again in the future (just like you said, her eyes might continue to fold as she gets larger). I just got a call from the eye specialist and it appears that the surgery was really successful and Chowie's going along fine. I should have read this thread a bit earlier to seek someone who knew a bit more about chows. But I think I did the right thing in having her surgery done at an eye specialist. I hope this whooping $3000+ surgery was a good idea. Fingers crossed and I hope they know what they are doing. Yeh there's a picture of Chowie which I got from the breeder. Her eyes do seem a little bit closed before I got her...

Hi Wolfsong, how's mistral lately? Yes, my vet referred me to an eye specialist to get a second opinion. This was mainly to see if the specialist needed to do the surgery or whether it was ok for the clinic to do the surgery. So, I suppose I'll get the specialist to double check about the condition. In terms of certificates, I kind of feel a little uneasy and intrusive in asking for the certificates especially right now... but yeah, I should have done it earlier. Yes, I have just contacted her. She asked for a vet report and I just gave it to her so she can forward it onto her vet. I'm hoping to get the eye specialist and fingers crossed it's not as bad as they all make it out to be. Thanks a lot for your comment. I'm feeling a little better about the surgery. Most likely I'll have to do surgery again because Chowie's still a baby now but hopefully the lucky second time would be a last. I'm sorry for your loss. I totally understand what it is like to lose a friend. Sometimes, I just look at all my dogs not knowing what it would be like without them. But you know, when you're ready do get another chow. I'm sure nothing could match up to your sunny boy but this new one maybe another sunny boy. I was scared of the same thing when I got Barney in replace of my RIP Ben because Pudding was really upset. I was scared he couldn't match up to Ben. But again, he was another sunny boy like Ben.

Hi, thanks for your reply. I suppose I didn't ask for the eye certificates of parents. I did however ask if her eyes were clear and if she had any health problems.The reply was healthy and clear eyes. Not sure if it helps, but my vet said one of her eyes were very cloudy and it might have been cloudy for a long time. Btw, I've only had this chow for 3 weeks. When she came to us, she did have unusually smaller eyes and sometimes she would look at us with her eyes closed. I checked the breed standard and believed that chow just had super small eyes that could be barely seen. At the beginning my mum did comment on her blindness. When we neared her, she would bark at us, however after hearing our voices, she would establish that we were her owners. TWo weeks after getting her, we also noticed a lot of discharge from her eyes. Again, I didn't take much notice as just thought it was regular discharge. The third week (which is yesteryday) she did actually get an inflammation on a preexisting condition. Hope this helps. Cheers Yvonne

Hi guys, I recently took my chow to the vet because she had what it seemed like an infected eye. I thought it might have been because I accidently rubbed into her eye when I washed he face with a towel that morning. My vet said that it was not anything related to that. In fact my chow had a severe bilateral entropian, she was also suffering from conjunctivitis and mucropurulent discharge. My vet said "Sorry to say but your chow was very poorly bred" because this condition is usually only hereditory at her age (Chowie's only 5 months). She noted that this problem happened a while ago and Chowie was in pain for a long long time. I've contacted my breeder in regards to this issue. I trust her when she told me that she knew nothing of it at the time. It's going to be an expensive process now and in the future. Because the condition of her eye is really bad now, I might have to get the surgery done at the eye specialist. She will be having surgery asap but there will be more to come in the future as this process is often repeated. My first surgery would easily go over $1000. Also, I bought my chow from a breeder in NZ and I am thinking that if there are any eye problem that was noted at the time, Chowie probably wouldnt be able to get on the plane. So, I suppose I want some opinion on this situation. If you were a breeder or an owner, what would you do in this situation? I would like to be reasonable and negotiate something in terms of fiances as it will be a very expensive process. Thanks a lot for your contribution. Cheers Yvonne

Alright. Thanks for the input guys. I'll go give the behavourist thing a go.

Hey guys, The chow is 16 weeks. I got her from a breeder in NZ. My other dogs are samoyeds. My sams are really playful and I have seen them get into a little bit of trouble at the doggy park when smaller dogs have snapped at them. I did do my research on chows and I knew that they could be snappy as well but this behaviour could be prevented if they were trained earlier. My friend also has a really nicely trained chow as well and that chow is really good friends with my sams. So yeh, I suppose I was expecting to see a bit of a chow behaviour coming through but yeah, like you guys said, I was expecting it to be full on. My breeder also said she was good with other dogs, children etc and that was my main concern. Hope this answers a bit more.

Hi guys, I've recently got a chow chow puppy and she seems to mark her territory around my room and she won't let my other dogs inside. Once I called one of my dogs and she glared at him for a while before snapping as he slowly made his way in (i believe he knew she was pissed). I told her off after that and she took a while to get over the incident. She then refused to go in my room if the dogs were inside and I told her to come in and said it was ok for all of them to come into my room. Another time she snapped was when one of my dogs tried to take her food. They looked like they were fighting. Or she was trying to grab his neck with her jaws. I yelled on top of my lungs to stop and I'm not sure whether they stopped because of my angry voice or because my other dog made this whimpering noise. I got angry at her again and told her off. Anyways, is this the best way to approach this kinda of stuff? Am I doing the right thing by telling her off? She's only been at my place for two days. Would she like kill my dogs? I've been trying my best to socialise this dog because I've been told it's necessary of the breed. Everyday there's new people coming and petting her. I usually take my other two dogs to a fenced off leash park... Would it be a good idea for her to go too? I mean, I want to socialise her as much as possible to get her over her insecurities. Also I want her to kinda growl first before snapping? Is that possible? She kinda just gives the dogs a death stare which is enough to scare them anyways but growling is probably a more obvious sign to one of my silly dogs whose constantly testing her. Thanks to anyone who contributes

Hi Spirrall, Welcome. Great to see barney and pudding, Barney's looking like he is coming into some coat. Give him a big cuddle from me. Sure will. Yes, he's nice and warm and getting ready to make me snug during the cold winter.

Ooohh yes. my chowy is coming soon... around 21st april

Hey guys, I'm more or so new to this forum but I can't believe how much I've learned from participating and coming here. How can be they so horrible? How can someone just dump their dog or get it pregnant and not want her? How can you not love you dog that much that you can't rid get of them? There's so many questions but I can't comprehend why these impounded dogs are there in the first place! At the moment, I'm angry and confused. I would take all the dogs from the pound if I had the room... Everyone in our family are total dog lovers. We went to the extreme of renting a pet friendly place and when it rained for most of the days, we left after 3 days because we knew the dogs would rather go home. They still went swimming in the doggie beach though ^^

This is a good example that other dogs (crossbreds) also save owners. Not promoting those unauthorized home breeders but do go a save a life!

Hey guys, Here's my sammies: Pudding (left) and Barney (right)

My dear Ben, You were sick for a long long time. You came to us with a rash on you neck, you had diarrhea. We didn't know that was bad because you were our first one. Slowly, that rash disappeared but you had different and new problems everyday. We were confused as to why you were sick because you did everything Pudding did, you ate everything Pudding ate but you continuously looked sick, vomited, and was very inactive. We visited the vets all the time but they couldn't give us an answer. You looked healthy, everything was fine but something haunted your body. We loved you even though we had to force feed you everyday for those long months. You would suddenly get better and active and then suddenly go sick and depressed. This was our last memories with each other: That day was a Saturday: You suddenly jumped on my bed licking my face. I was so happy because I thought you were all better suddenly. I thought the medicine had worked. You and Pudding were playfully fighting for the first time in months. Mum and I was so happy that we took you to the doggie park because we knew you loved it. Once in the morning and we took you again that night. We didn't understand why you had peed yourself after a nice bath. We thought we had bathed you too soon after the doggie park and blamed each other for it as we always did when you became sick. Little did we know it was a sign that you were ready for a journey to the afterlife. Sunday: Again we took you for a walk. Still active we thought you had finally overcome your problems. We gave you lots of hugs and lots of kisses. You looked like a really big white fluffy bear just like any Aust Champ Samoyed. Although we never showed you, you were always our champion and we always talked about the imaginary prizes you would get if you did enter a dog show. We were really proud of you. Sadly, you started getting a little inactive that day when we took you to the dog park. You just sat there looking at Pudding play and putting on your big smiley face. I hugged you so many times in the park that the other doggie people walked past wondering why you were just sitting there. They were sad as I am when they found that that you were sick for the past few months. It was a beautiful and breezy afternoon just before sunset. We got you to slowly walk with us and we were admiring your beautiful coat as the breeze swept past. Mum said you looked like an angel and indeed you did. But little did we know you were about to become one. Monday October 13th: Mum came home that night, you were hiding outside leaning on the walls and sitting on your pee. She slowly heaved your big body and set a nice bed for you. We tried feeding you but you didn't eat. Mum immediately told my brother to get some syrup from woollies. Inside she knew it was going to be hard to make it through that night. You really enjoy those sweets. It was the only thing you would drink but we only gave you two spoon full as we knew it was very very bad for you. We tried feeding you boiled drumsticks with rice, hoping that the syrup had increased your appetite. But you didn't eat. Mum then fed some medicine so you could sleep well through the night. Usually it worked very effectively, about half an hour you would go to bed. But there was one person you didn't see. It was me. One hour passed and you were still hanging on. Mum came out and told you to sleep. I finally came home to see you but mum told me not to bother you sleeping as you had a tough day. I struggled to sleep myself without seeing you. I waited for one and a half hours and finally could not help myself. I softly called your name but you didn't respond. So I went up and to stroke your head to find it solid hard. I touched inside your blanket and you were still warm. You had only just left us. I screamed and cried and woke everyone up. I tried to push you to wake up but you slept there, so peacefully. Til this day I cannot forgive myself for not coming home early that night. Pudding had a hard time without you, so we quickly had to get another companion for her. Barney was lovely but inside me, he was not you. It took me a while to accept that you were not there. But everything's good now. I love Barney just as much as I love you. If you knew Barney, you'd love him too. Ben, you did not get to celebrate your 1st birthday and although we really only had you for 9 months, it felt like I knew you for a long long time. May you rest in peace. Thanks for reading...

Thanks for all your replies guys. I ended needing to get from the Qantas Freight Centre but when I went there she didn't get on the plane apparently. Very upset and confused, I went home cause I realised they must have sent me something as I didn't check my email that day. She passed her vet check but ended up very stressed due everything and needing to stay overnight. So she kept biting herself and had all these infections. We're trying again on the 21st but at least I know where I'm going. Also, I'm trying to show her.... so hopefully, I succeed there!

Heyo, What we did was go to an off leash park (somewhere where the dogs are totally unfamiliar with their surroundings). So I had the new dog waiting and got my mum to get the other dogs for a run. They got along pretty well in the park and we just watched them for one hour. It was really good successful since they enjoyed themselves and there wasn't much fighting afterwards. I did one time, just bring a new puppy home and there was just too much distress between the two dogs. Going to a unfamiliar surrounding was a lot better plan.

Thanks very much! I live in Epping, if anyone wants to suggest a show training place. Is Brush one in Eastwood a training class? I might ask and see if I can get my little sammy into it. Unfortunately, for my sammy, I got her in Perth. My chow is from NZ. I hope I can make some show friends....

Hi, I've had a look at the Show ring at the Easter Show and I think I would really enjoy showing my dog. I just got a new chow and confirmed that it was ok to show her. I've also attached a pic my breeder sent to me. Let me know what you guys think. I've read the dogsnsw site on showing but can anyone give me a bit more personal advice with their experience. What should I do for starters? It's a shame that my Samoyed boy is neutered and I don't have a certificate and my Samoyed girl I think is too old (she's 1 years old). But at least i can start new and fresh. Also why do the judge need to open their mouths? and are the dogs on a proper leash? It seems they are on this really thin rope.

Hey guys, I'm getting my chow chow delivered from NZ to Sydney on 1st April 2010. It coming on Air NZ arriving 3pm in Sydney. I've getting the process done through Pets by Air (a NZ company). So where do I pick up the puppy? What do I bring for the puppy? What do I need to bring upon collection? Appreciate all answers coming through Cheers