Can you tell me what kind of temperment to expect....?

Question

My husband and I just adopted 2 German Shepherd/Chow Chow mix, 3 month old puppies. They are sisters but 2 different looks: one is blonde haired, small and looks almost like a Lab puppy but has the curling Chow tail. The other one is a little larger, has the coloring of a black & tan Shepherd but has the purple tongue evident in the Chow breed. They are sweet and rambunctious like all puppies and they know who their "parents" are. We want them to be social and around people but I don't know what their temperments will be when they get older. Anyone have any ideas/comments?

Thank you so far for many wonderful and contemplative answers. My husband and I are very social people and we want our "babies" to be the same way! They have already met MANY of our friends, their dogs, neighbors including many children. We will be sure to induct some sore of obedience training and the love....well, it's already become unsurmountable!

Answer 1

Having two of the same sex will be fine as pups but when they hit the age where they will be sexually mature you may have smae sex fights.
Two females will often fight worse than two males.
They do not know or care that they are sisters. Only that another female dog is in ones territory. You may have problems.
Spay early as you can get it done 5 months or so would be good.
TRAINING and get started now.
Chows are adults dogs they do not do well with obedience or agility or most any other activity. They are not overly active dogs and prefer to be in the company of adults who do not run and play with them. They are very content to sit and watch the workd go by. They are not the most social dogs and really could care less about strangers. They fully well believe that you were put on earth to service their needs.
Being physically more like one dog than the other breed means very little.
Proper training and working with them will help and will make mush more differnce. Get them into a puppy class and go from there.
Good luck with the new pups. They sound very cute.

Answer 2

Alot of it will be from good training. Starting with the not jumping on people is a good start. Just socializing them with people is the best way for them to learn to behave around people, like no growling etc. The basics, sit, stay, down and no should be sufficient while they are puppies, remember puppies have a short attention span so anytime before 5-6 months is really a waste of time for regimented training but you can get started, especially with NO.Getting them used to a leash is also good at this point, they won't fight it so much later on. Even if you just put it on and let them drag it around for 1/2 hour or so. Believe me it will come in handy later and there is nothing more frustrating as a dog that balks at a leash. Both dog breeds are naturally protective of their "family" but as they learn from you that certain people are "OK" they will calm down. You have a long road ahead of you, don't give up. A well trained dog is a joy to have. They don't have to go to obedience class to be trained enough for your household.

Answer 3

There is no way to know what their temperments will be. People can give you a bunch generaizations about the breeds, but thaty it. It always depends on the individual dog. You should keep socializing them as much as possible (the more places you can take them the better, the poeple/dogs they can meet the better). This will help, but youll just have to wait and see what they grow up into. Sorry to be so general, but this is the most honest answer youll get, especially with mixed breeds b/c even if youre making genralizations about the breeds these two are very different, so you have no idea which traits will show up even if youre generalizations were right.

Answer 4

I have a chow mix that I rescued and shes a lover. She gets along w/other dogs but if one gets nasty w/her she doesnt take kindly to it. She is excellent w/my kids and she can be taken anywhere. She is very diciplined and worked out well w/us. We rescued her when she was 1 1/2 yrs old and had my baby 2 weeks after getting her and she excepted it all well. My baby is 5 now so you can see we still have her and it worked out well. The best thing you can do is take them everywhere and teach them manners and socialization skills. Never isolate your dogs. Work w/them and it will be great. She even excepts strange dogs in the house as well. My girlfriends will bring over their dogs and she allows them their space. I have 4 corgis that live in the house as well and the only time we have an issue is when breeding is in the air for the corgis. Thats when we just keep them seperated but other then that, everything is fine. Good luck w/your 2 chow mixes.

Answer 5

Thank you so much for asking this question. Unfortunately, Chows aren't very predictable, and 3 months is a little old to start, but you should get them into puppy school as soon as possible. You can train a dog that wants to be aggressive to think before they act and that tends to tone down their aggressiveness. I wish you the best of luck with them, but there really is no way to predict temperment. It's 90% in the owner and the training.

Answer 6

Well they are combined with breeds that protect and carry a high drive. Your pups might be more inclined to always "go". I would keep them busy doing a job like agility or obedience, as they are very smart breeds they will probably excell with a good foundation and consistency. Just socialize your dogs once they have all the appropriate vaccinations and for goodness sake DO NOT coddle them when they act afraid or growl at an unknown object or person. Give a firm correct voice or tug on leash and keep moving! Good luck!

Answer 7

I don't really have any experience with Shepherds personally, but my girlfriend has one that is very active, strong willed, and a trouble maker. She did not take him to formal training and I believe that has something to do with it. Shepherds are intelligent dogs that need a lot of stimulation.

I had a Chow/Border Collie mix for 15 years. Chows are famous for being snippy and not so friendly (to put it nicely). My Maverick was the friendliest dog you could imagine. And not overly friendly. He was a fast learner and wanted to please. Maybe the Border Collie dominated his personality, but don't let people scare you with details of the Chow. Yes, you need to be informed of the breed and it's traits and always have that in the back of your mind, but my mutt was the best thing that ever came in to my life! (Besides my son.)

Mutts rock! Good luck to you and your new puppies.

Answer 8

Take them everywhere you can now, socialize, socialize and more socialization. The more they experience as pups, the less uncomfortable they will feel in new situations.

Be supportive if they show fear, with out coddling them... never scold... your their parent, protect them and guide them and they will soon love going everywhere, and be trusting enough too do so. Obedience training is necessary, as is proper exercise.

I have a Dob/Chow cross that everyone warned me would "eat my kids" LOL, she is 5 now, and the best dog I have ever had... loves kids too

Answer 9

well congrats on adopting but really you should have looked into temerment beforehand...
Chows in particular are to be watched closely they are unpredictable and dont give warnings... (purebreds are dangerous)
German Shep are intelligent dogs bred for herding.. as such they need mental stimulation
the fact that one looks more like a lab and one looks more like a shep/chow doesnt mean anything if you know what the breed actually is (although its true they MIGHT have 2 different dads)
ok so what this means is with both dogs (being sisters) they should BOTH attended OBEDIENCE LESSONS.. basic puppy socialization classes then level 1 Obedience.. you need to practice what you learn at home... this stimulates their minds...
good luck

spay at 6 months..

Answer 10

My experience with Chows have been that they can be quite viscious. I have had a couple of them attack me when I was just walking past them. The Sheppard I believe is a smarter dog and usually only attacks when provoked or ordered to. You have potential for a dangerous dog here but if you work with them every day and provide a lot of positive feedback to the dog you may get lucky.