I used to have a chow mix!
He was very low drive for food and toys. Until you build that drive, use what he likes. Even if you have to cook food for him. I used to have to bake chicken just to play focus games with Otis, but eventually, he was able to do incredible things for a tiny piece of kibble or a game of tug. You have to really do training at their pace and balance skill and challenge: Too easy and they are bored and walk away. Too hard and they are overwhelmed and walk away. Chows will not suffer a poorly designed training session. You want to build the love of learning and food and toy drive typically can grow from being associated with training sessions, IME.
Chows (and chow mixes) tend to be very independent, aloof dogs who aren't affectionate in the traditional way dogs are. Sometimes, luring tends to be a tiny bit stressful, as you are invading their personal space bubble and trying to get their bodies to move in certain ways. I recommend trying shaping. However, you have to be VERY good at shaping to get a chow (or a chow mix) into the game. Use a high value reward and a high rate of reinforcement in a very short session.
They also don't really care about petting and praise as far as a reward goes. Petting is VERY much on their terms. Otis preferred quiet praise vs animated praise once I taught him that praise meant he was on the right track (learned by association--he got more praise when he was about to figure something out).
When training, incorporate breaks in the training. Train like two reps of something, sit down somewhere. If he does his own thing, OK. If he comes to you and say, "HEY? I want more chicken!" Go and train him some more. You want to set up situations where he is asking you to get up and work with him. In addition, teach a "go sniff" or a "be a dog" type of cue so you can incorporate breaks in training outside, too.
Otis used to be VERY reactive as well. I recommend BAT 2.0 above. I used BAT with Otis and it was SUPER effective. 2.0 is supposed to be even better and I've already used 2.0 with my new fearful girl and she's a thousand times better!
I found that my chow mix (I say mine, but he was my dad's and I just trained him while I lived with my dad) blossomed with positive techniques. Don't get too frustrated and just remember that the more difficult the dog, the more he can teach you. Don't be afraid to get help and work with a trainer.
Otis taught me so much that I use with my new dog: A high drive, sensitive terrier mix I got from the shelter.
He was very low drive for food and toys. Until you build that drive, use what he likes. Even if you have to cook food for him. I used to have to bake chicken just to play focus games with Otis, but eventually, he was able to do incredible things for a tiny piece of kibble or a game of tug. You have to really do training at their pace and balance skill and challenge: Too easy and they are bored and walk away. Too hard and they are overwhelmed and walk away. Chows will not suffer a poorly designed training session. You want to build the love of learning and food and toy drive typically can grow from being associated with training sessions, IME.
Chows (and chow mixes) tend to be very independent, aloof dogs who aren't affectionate in the traditional way dogs are. Sometimes, luring tends to be a tiny bit stressful, as you are invading their personal space bubble and trying to get their bodies to move in certain ways. I recommend trying shaping. However, you have to be VERY good at shaping to get a chow (or a chow mix) into the game. Use a high value reward and a high rate of reinforcement in a very short session.
They also don't really care about petting and praise as far as a reward goes. Petting is VERY much on their terms. Otis preferred quiet praise vs animated praise once I taught him that praise meant he was on the right track (learned by association--he got more praise when he was about to figure something out).
When training, incorporate breaks in the training. Train like two reps of something, sit down somewhere. If he does his own thing, OK. If he comes to you and say, "HEY? I want more chicken!" Go and train him some more. You want to set up situations where he is asking you to get up and work with him. In addition, teach a "go sniff" or a "be a dog" type of cue so you can incorporate breaks in training outside, too.
Otis used to be VERY reactive as well. I recommend BAT 2.0 above. I used BAT with Otis and it was SUPER effective. 2.0 is supposed to be even better and I've already used 2.0 with my new fearful girl and she's a thousand times better!
I found that my chow mix (I say mine, but he was my dad's and I just trained him while I lived with my dad) blossomed with positive techniques. Don't get too frustrated and just remember that the more difficult the dog, the more he can teach you. Don't be afraid to get help and work with a trainer.
Otis taught me so much that I use with my new dog: A high drive, sensitive terrier mix I got from the shelter.
