Chow Chow

Chow Chow: Dog Breed Information Guide 2022

With their fluffy fur, unusual blue-black tongues, and teddy bear-like appearance, chow chows are an ancient breed that is dedicated to their family. They have a protective and sometimes stubborn nature that requires a strong guiding hand to help them thrive as members of their families and communities.

If you’re thinking about adopting a chow chow, you need to be sure that you can take care of their needs, guide them, and spend time with them. Although they aren’t affectionate pups in the traditional sense, their loyalty and desire for attention from you is their way of showing their love.

At Spot Pet Insurance, we hope that every pet finds an owner that suits them and can fulfill their needs. To help reach this goal, we have worked to provide educational resources about each breed so that you can be prepared to bring your new fur baby home.

Chow chows may look intimidating, and they can be protective guard dogs. But once you get to know them, they’re often lovable and laid-back furry friends.

Meet the chow chow

Chow chows are large dogs, though their fluffy manes make them look much bigger and more intimidating than they are. They may look grumpy, but they’re happy to be with their people.

Purebred chow chows have a medium-length double coat. The topcoat can be either smooth or rough, and the undercoat is wooly and thick. They have a mane or ruff around their head. People often compare their appearance to a lion-like animal or a teddy bear.

Since their coats are so thick, they need to be kept indoors in hot or humid weather. They enjoy cold weather, but they like to be indoors because they enjoy being around their family members and having all the attention.

The most distinctive features of the chow chow are their blue-black tongues, their manes, and their slow, stilted gait that is due to their straight hind legs.

Where do chow chows come from?

Chow chows are an ancient breed. They are actually one of the 14 oldest breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC). No one is sure of the exact history, but the breed's age was determined through DNA testing — and the breed may have originated in Mongolia.

For hundreds of years, the chow chow was popular among Chinese nobility as a hunting, birding, or pointing dog. After some time, though, hunting became less popular, and they began to live in monasteries in China.

In the late 1700s, chow chows were introduced in England, where they got the name chow chow. They weren’t very popular initially, but once dog shows became more common and exotic dogs could be shown off, chow breeders grew in popularity. Queen Victoria was a big fan of the chow chows in the late 1800s.

In the early 1900s, the American Kennel Club declared the chow chow an official breed. Their popularity has fluctuated over time, but they continue to captivate the hearts around the world.

What are the health conditions for chow chows?

Some of the conditions that affect chow chow are entropion, patellar luxation, gastric torsion, elbow dysplasia, glaucoma, cataracts, diabetes mellitus, hip dysplasia, and distichiasis.

There are two types of glaucoma. One is more sudden and causes blindness and intense pain, while the other progresses more slowly, although it also ends in blindness. Cataracts, another health issue that can cause blindness in chow chows, also progresses slowly.

The increased pressure from glaucoma damages the retina, optic disk, and nerve in a chow chow’s eyes. The damage to the optic nerve causes blindness. If your pup is diagnosed soon after the onset of the condition, blindness can be prevented.

Diabetes is also common in chow chows. The pancreas is supposed to produce a hormone called insulin, which helps to control the levels of sugars in the blood. Once your dog’s pancreas can’t produce insulin, the blood sugar becomes dysregulated and causes problems.

Diabetes mellitus can occur in most dog breeds, but the chow chow breed tends to have a higher than average occurrence of this health problem.

Diabetes can occur for three reasons: your pup has no insulin-producing cells (type I), your pup has very few insulin-producing cells/cells are resistant to insulin (type II), or other hormones cause insulin resistance  (type III, usually seen in pregnancy or if your pup has a tumor).

It’s important to discuss the possibilities with your vet so you can know what signs to look for.

How to be the best pet parent for a chow chow?

Although every individual dog will have their own personality and therefore their own needs, most dogs of the same breed have similar temperaments, so it’s important to learn about the breed you want to adopt before adopting.

To be a great chow chow parent, you need to have a strong personality. If chow chows don’t grow up with someone who can outlast them in a match of the wills, they’ll think that they are the boss, which means they won’t listen to anything you say.

Chow chows need a firm but friendly hand to help guide them so they can be great members of the family and community.

Basic training and behavior etiquette for your dog

Since chow chows are territorial and protective, it’s very important to properly socialize your pup. As puppies, chow chows need to be interacted with and introduced to new situations, people, places, and dogs so that they don’t become aggressive and antisocial.

It’s also important to have young chow chows interact with children. Otherwise, they won’t be good with kids as adults. You should always watch your pup when they play with children anyways, but early socialization can mean the difference between tolerance and dislike.

Professional classes can be beneficial for training a chow chow, as chow chows need to learn basic commands like sit, stay, heel, and come. Chow chows should be taught other tricks so their minds can also be exercised.

If you want to own a chow chow, you need to be firm and strong-willed when training them.

What type of foods should a chow chow never eat?

Although there are plenty of human foods that your chow chow can enjoy, like blueberries or cauliflower, there are also foods that we enjoy that are toxic to our pups.

Some of the foods that are toxic to chow chows are:

Exercising tips to keep your dog to stay fit and healthy

Since the chow chow’s hind legs cause them to have a stiff gait, they aren’t really dogs suited for runs. They also tend to have a lower energy level. As a result, chow chows do well with multiple short periods of daily exercise.

A short, leisurely walk four times a day should fulfill your chow chow’s exercise needs. It’s also a good idea to give them toys to play with or allow them to rough house or find another form of high-impact play for your chow chow to do.

Chow chow life stages

Puppy: 0-18 months

Adult: 1.5 years- Unknown

Senior: Unknown

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