by Jenny Coleman

The Chow Chow is undeniably one unique dog breed and it is often defined by experts as a dog having the nobility of a lion, the jocosity of a panda, independence and grace of a cat, appeal of a teddy bear and loyalty and devotion of a true dog breed. These characteristics and 4000 years of existence is what make this breed mystical and interesting to many fanciers. The Chow mainly flourished in China and innumerable ancient Chinese art illustrated its popularity during those times.

In recent DNA testing efforts, the fact was revealed that the Chow Chow is one of the oldest breed of dogs and that it is one of the first descendants of the wolf which resided in the northern parts of China and Mongolia. Some believes that the Chow Chow is originally from the Arctic Circle and only migrated later on to Siberia, China and Mongolia. Experts also conclude that the Chow Chow is the predecessor of several modern breeds such as the Pomeranian, Samoyed, Keeshond and the Norwegian Elkhound.

In China, the Chow Chow was mainly used as a guard dog, hunting dog, cart-puller and watchdog. This breed is that effective in hunting that Chinese history said, an emperor once own 2500 pairs of Chows, all of which accompanied him and his 10,000 hunters during hunting expeditions. Not only do the Chinese consider the Chow Chow as pets but as food as well for Chow Chow meat is considered a delicacy from then till now. The Chow Chow is not only favored by the ancient Chinese but of today’s many families as well including the then President Calvin Coolidge, which owns a Chow named Timmy.

There are a lot of misconceptions about the Chow Chow and therefore many of this breed experiences mishandling and wrong treatment. As a result, Chow Chows that experience this kind of environment become ill-tempered towards strangers, animals and even to the master himself. The Chow Chow is a unique creature and requires a rather special kind of care so if you’re a novice in handling a Chow Chow, be sure to research good in order to provide the correct terms of care it needs.

It is in the nature of the Chow Chow to love being quiet and alone by itself and people shouldn’t interpret this as rudeness and ill-behavior on its part. It does love to socialize but it is generally a one person type of dog. In order to develop the Chow’s social inclination, it must be exposed and trained to be sociable at an early age because failure to do so will make the dog wary and suspicious of strangers as an adult.

The master of this breed must possess a superb leadership skills and this is manifested through consistency and authority of voice and command, persistence and confidence. Without these traits, the Chow will overshadow the master and thus will tend to lay the rules instead of the other way around. The Chow is also a natural problem solver and so new leanings keep its interest but repetitive tasks would definitely bore it.

In terms of obedience and intelligence, the Chow Chow performs rather poorly and ranks 76th only in Stanley Cohen’s The Intelligence of Dogs. Indoors, the Chow Chow is not very active and is in fact, placid for most part of the day. An apartment living suits the Chow Chow and a small fenced yard will suffice their activities, however, it still needs daily forms of exercise such as walking in order to keep it healthy mentally and physically.

This breed is wrapped all over with a fluffy, double coat of hair and its head is surrounded by bushy hairs giving it a lion kind of appearance. Moreover, the Chow is one of the rare breeds that have a black/blue or purple colored tongue, a hairy and curled tail and stick straight hind legs that give it a stiff gait. The most common coat colors of this breed are red, black, blue, cinnamon, fawn and cream.

About the Author:
Author Jenny Coleman is a Chow Chow breeder for decades and she is inviting you to come visit her online site and read countless of information on the Chow Chow breed including chow puppies, and chow chow puppies for sale.

No related posts.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Filed under: Dogs

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!