Now, this is going to be long, and it is going to be a confession. Chochi did not just ''turn'' on my mom, we knew for a long time that we were living with an unstable dog. It was inevitable, we knew it, but we were blinded. Blinded by the love for this dog. We did not want to give him up for we knew what would happen to him if we did. He was a part of the family.
It all began in a year and a half ago with my dad bringing in a puppy that he said his coworkers were selling for free. The guy selling the puppies said it was a chow, but as the months go by it clearly wasn't a chow. At least, not purbred. We were excited nonetheless. I loved dogs back then, but only had basic knowledge of them, and I was immediately suspicious on getting a free puppy from unknown parents. And chows were the last breed on my mind and we had no knowledge about them. I was soon won by the cuteness of the puppy and set aside my fears. The only weird thing I notice about this puppy was that it did not like being the center of attention. Instead, it just stood there. It took some time before it started exploring the house.
Anyways, when we took the little fluff ball outside for the first time, he saw a man coming out of his car, and quickly stiffen. I thought that was weird, but again, I just thought it was him being protective( yet he was so young, like 7 or 8 weeks old, too young for him to be showing this behavior).
So as the days go by, he started being reactive to strangers. When I walk him on the leash and pass by someone, he'd stiffen, growl, and sometimes bark. When I took him to pet supplies( asking around for a trainer) an employee came near him with some treats to see his reaction( he was four months at the time). Chochi immediately started growling and staring the employee right in the eye. Even when he was given the treats, he still growled at her. She commented that this was strange for a pup this young to have these issues. We started watching the dog whisperer and taking up his methods on the walking and, after some time, Chochi did got over his reactiveness on walks.
We quickly notice that Chochi was very possession aggressive. Once he claimed it is his, he became quite aggressive with it. The first time we notice was when he was two months old, he went out on the balcony and discovered a trash can. When my bother was trying to get it away from him, he'd growl viciouosly and become something like a wolf. It was very frightening, and I started searching on the computer for a way to stop this. I tried teaching him the leave it command. Bascially, you have to switch his possession with something more better. I started practicing with him with a bone he loved. It seemed like he was progressing, but then one day when he was chewing his bone and I told him to leave it, he dropped it, when I tried picking it up, he attacked my hand. Since he still had his puppy teeth, it didn't puncture, but it left a mark. Form that day on, I was scared to work with him.
As the weeks go by, he had his bad days, and he had his good days. There was a whole month once where he'd steal tissues and get into trash cans and becoming like a wolf around it. It was very scary, but being that my parents were at work at the time, they only heard of it, but not really seen it as much. There were many times when we considered taking him away, but we always decided not to. We loved him, even though we knew he wasn't right. There were long periods of time, like months, when he didn't give a single problem, which made us hope he was magically fixed.
This was one of those times. For months, he didn't give a single problem. Until this week. He started throwing up and pooping a lot. We took a lot of care in waking up in the middle of the night to take him out. Well, in the morning of Wednesday, he threw up once again. This time, he stood over it, protectively.
My mom, needing to clean it up since it was starting to smell, began doing the dog whisperer method of using an object to push him away and take charge over '' your area.''( she is a dog whisperer fanatic) I was across from the scene getting ready for school when all of the sudden I heard a scream. I turn to see Chochi having a hold on my moms arm. She was able to release her hand, but Chochi kept coming and got her again, in the other hand. I grab the closest thing, which was a bookbag, and hit him on the back. He backed away, but was still on high defense. My mom was bleeding terribly from both hands.
My mom ended up going to the hospital, and Chochi was taken by the animal control called from by my sister. This incident finally made us realize that Chochi is just not right in the head. We loved him dearly, but blindly. He was not always like this. 80% of the time, he was an average dog. It was just that 20% that he just change.
He has seven days. The AC said they are going to try to train him, but most likely he will be euthanize. My family is depressed. My mom is saying '' no more dogs.'' I will continue to check on him, because no matter what he did or how long he got, he is still part of the family. We all love him to bits, and I am trying to convince my father if I can be there when it happens. He was always a dog that came back no mater where he run. I want to at least be there with him to show we have not abandon him.
It all began in a year and a half ago with my dad bringing in a puppy that he said his coworkers were selling for free. The guy selling the puppies said it was a chow, but as the months go by it clearly wasn't a chow. At least, not purbred. We were excited nonetheless. I loved dogs back then, but only had basic knowledge of them, and I was immediately suspicious on getting a free puppy from unknown parents. And chows were the last breed on my mind and we had no knowledge about them. I was soon won by the cuteness of the puppy and set aside my fears. The only weird thing I notice about this puppy was that it did not like being the center of attention. Instead, it just stood there. It took some time before it started exploring the house.
Anyways, when we took the little fluff ball outside for the first time, he saw a man coming out of his car, and quickly stiffen. I thought that was weird, but again, I just thought it was him being protective( yet he was so young, like 7 or 8 weeks old, too young for him to be showing this behavior).
So as the days go by, he started being reactive to strangers. When I walk him on the leash and pass by someone, he'd stiffen, growl, and sometimes bark. When I took him to pet supplies( asking around for a trainer) an employee came near him with some treats to see his reaction( he was four months at the time). Chochi immediately started growling and staring the employee right in the eye. Even when he was given the treats, he still growled at her. She commented that this was strange for a pup this young to have these issues. We started watching the dog whisperer and taking up his methods on the walking and, after some time, Chochi did got over his reactiveness on walks.
We quickly notice that Chochi was very possession aggressive. Once he claimed it is his, he became quite aggressive with it. The first time we notice was when he was two months old, he went out on the balcony and discovered a trash can. When my bother was trying to get it away from him, he'd growl viciouosly and become something like a wolf. It was very frightening, and I started searching on the computer for a way to stop this. I tried teaching him the leave it command. Bascially, you have to switch his possession with something more better. I started practicing with him with a bone he loved. It seemed like he was progressing, but then one day when he was chewing his bone and I told him to leave it, he dropped it, when I tried picking it up, he attacked my hand. Since he still had his puppy teeth, it didn't puncture, but it left a mark. Form that day on, I was scared to work with him.
As the weeks go by, he had his bad days, and he had his good days. There was a whole month once where he'd steal tissues and get into trash cans and becoming like a wolf around it. It was very scary, but being that my parents were at work at the time, they only heard of it, but not really seen it as much. There were many times when we considered taking him away, but we always decided not to. We loved him, even though we knew he wasn't right. There were long periods of time, like months, when he didn't give a single problem, which made us hope he was magically fixed.
This was one of those times. For months, he didn't give a single problem. Until this week. He started throwing up and pooping a lot. We took a lot of care in waking up in the middle of the night to take him out. Well, in the morning of Wednesday, he threw up once again. This time, he stood over it, protectively.
My mom, needing to clean it up since it was starting to smell, began doing the dog whisperer method of using an object to push him away and take charge over '' your area.''( she is a dog whisperer fanatic) I was across from the scene getting ready for school when all of the sudden I heard a scream. I turn to see Chochi having a hold on my moms arm. She was able to release her hand, but Chochi kept coming and got her again, in the other hand. I grab the closest thing, which was a bookbag, and hit him on the back. He backed away, but was still on high defense. My mom was bleeding terribly from both hands.
My mom ended up going to the hospital, and Chochi was taken by the animal control called from by my sister. This incident finally made us realize that Chochi is just not right in the head. We loved him dearly, but blindly. He was not always like this. 80% of the time, he was an average dog. It was just that 20% that he just change.
He has seven days. The AC said they are going to try to train him, but most likely he will be euthanize. My family is depressed. My mom is saying '' no more dogs.'' I will continue to check on him, because no matter what he did or how long he got, he is still part of the family. We all love him to bits, and I am trying to convince my father if I can be there when it happens. He was always a dog that came back no mater where he run. I want to at least be there with him to show we have not abandon him.
