Why did you get a chow?

[Schmooshie]

Excellent question! I have checked to read everyones' answers because they make me smile and make me feel less embarassed about being so obsessed with our dog-ter Schmoosh!

[chow fancier]

My first dog was my parents before I was born (a supposedly purebred cocker that had long legs and an undocked tail). He guarded my crib and was mine until he died at 17 (I was 14). My parents then got a Keeshond, and another and another. They were pretty but very hard to house-train and that put me off a bit.

I moved out at 18, married at 20 and lived in apartments where a dog was not an option for a while. Then we moved to a two-flat that had a fenced yard and the lease stated that the tenant would not get a dog without notifying the landlord. (I suspect that they meant without the landlord's permission, but that is not what it said). So I set out to get a dog. My husband, who had only ever had cats (to which I am terribly allergic), said only if he got to pick the breed. So we did some research and he chose a chow because they were aloof, low energy, beautiful, and had a cool purple tongue. Kara Kum's Princess Chana joined our family and stole our hearts. She was housebroken at 12 weeks when she came to us, playful and loving, beautiful and enjoyed obedience class, learning very quickly. When she was a little over a year old, we took her back to see the breeder (admittedly a back yard breeder but we didn't know the significance of that at the time). And what should be there but another litter from the same parents. And Kara Kum's Princess Tasha came to live with us. The girls were fast friends and we had a lot of double zoomies while they were both puppies. Then when Chana was 4 she kept running into things. She had SARD (Sudden Acute Retinal Degeneration) and had lost all her sight. We learned not to leave things on the floor or move the furniture around and she did fine. We had a really, really rough period when they were around 7 and 8 when Tasha attacked Chana when frustrated, but we got past that eventually too.

And when the time came that one of them left this world there was a hole in our hearts and our lives that only a Chow could fill. Cinder was found as a stray and was in a shelter a couple of hours from here and she joined our family. And after the other Princess left us for the next world, I was lurking on this site and read a post about a blind chow from Tennessee that needed a foster mom and Teddy came to stay for a while. But he stole our hearts too and we failed as fosters but won the right to be his forever family.

There will always be at least one chow in our home and many in our hearts. And in the end, I have to ask, "Who rescued who?"

[threedogjeep]

I grew up on a big farm in KY and we always had all kinds of animals...for dogs there was a hound, then a collie, then a skipperke. And then my first husband and I had cats, but always longed for dogs. When we finally could afford a house with a fenced yard, we got Rufus the weekend after we moved in. (Plott hound, staffordshire mix) and in two weeks or so I Caitlyn picked me out of a litter a guy had at work because his lab girl had a night on the town. She was lab/springer. I got a jeep for my dogs and became 2dogjeep. Then Dave died and then I met Kevin and moved to PA and my two joined his yellow lab tobie and I became 3 dog. When Rufus got cancer and went to the bridge, I was devastated. My stepson is mentally ill, and he liked to visit the SPCA. On one trip when I was at work, they brought Leela to him and she went over to him and put her head in his lap and stuck out her purple tongue. And that was it for my husband. She chose Dylan. So when I get home they are going out the door because we were already approved (since they knew us from our visits) and I'm like WHAT. A CHOW? I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT CHOWS!!!! I was about to split an atom. Then I saw her and I just couldn't believe how magical she was. I did lots of research and elsewhere, and she has been a total dream. A perfect lady, not aggressive at all, well socialized, and loving, calm and caring. Now, if we could just get her hips taken care of....which we will, which was why she was given up....hip dysplasia/arthritis. We're going to get her through this and on to more chows!!! LOVE the breed!!!!

Love my Princess Paws a Lot.

[Kashmere's Dad]

When I was younger, I always had a dog. They were always mixed breeds that my parents woudl pick up from an animal shelter. I loved them no less. One day, a friend of mine got the Birthday present that changed both of our lives. He received a beautiful Black Chow, which we all named Onyx. Onyx was the best dog she could be! She was kind, and she was very patient with us as kids considering the 'chow nature'. After that, I knew that I would want a chow. Well Onyx had a litter, and My friend gave us one of them, a beautiful little girl named Chess. Chess ended up being my borthers dog, which he took to Atlanta. I absolutely loved visiting my brother, because Chess was so loving and caring when we saw her! My heart melted every time I saw her, and broke everytime I had to leave. Well, Long Story Short,I moved to Atlanta, and I have my own place. I wanted a puppy to come home to. so I bought Kash. He's the best idea I've had in a LONG time!

[chowchowdaddy]

Truthfully, I never really wanted a chow. My first dog was a black labrador and she lived to be 17 years old, healthy up until the day she died (got her when I was 4 and she died when I was a senior in college). Then, my parents had a couple of miniature schnauzers. Finally, years later and having been away from home for years and not getting any support from my other half on getting a dog, I was really pushing for a dog but wasn't having much luck when I had lunch with a colleague and mentioned that I wanted a dog, probably a cocker spaniel, and was going to the Humane Society to "save a life..." He indicated that his wife ran a kennel (bred great danes) and they had a dog for whom they were trying to find a home (the owner had apparently gone into the hospital for tests and never left). When I asked what type of dog, he said it was a chow. Nope, didn't want anything that big (we lived in a condo at the time, way before moving to the big house). He convinced me that she was small, only a few pounds more than a cocker spaniel. So, long story short, we came home a couple of days later with Chia Pet! So named because if you added water, the hair would grow!!! Now, having lost Chia a few years ago, we have Emperor Ming and Tempest, our little diva. For us, there is NO OTHER BREED we would ever consider.

It's been said many times on this site, and I firmly believe it to be true, that once you give your heart to a Chow, it belongs to them forever...

[willfrommaine]

My Fiance really has always wanted a dog. I never used to like dogs, but some friends of ours had a well behaved boxer and I saw that dogs could be fun. Some other friends of ours had us dog sit their Chow for a month one year and I liked him immediately. He had lots of personality. We looked for chows ,but never had any luck. We looked at lots of dogs at shelters but the timing was not right for the ones we liked. We met one dog at a shelter that we thought was ok but then the dog started biting people there... We took a break from looking, and then one day we were driving down the road and saw a spray-painted ply-wood sign for Chow Puppies (this is Maine). We saw the puppies they had and could not resist. We talked it over and went back the next day and picked her up. We had to chose between two and picked "the adventure dog" that was looking at everything an roaming about, rather than her more timid sister who eventually got scared and wanted to bite me. Made the decision easier. We took her home and it has been an adventure ever since.
-will

[Tsunami22]

My chow story is long (like every other post I write)

When I was a little girl my irresponsible uncle's chows has puppies. I was away from the house for the weekend, when I came home Cubby wasy waiting for me! She was nothing but an incredibly sweet sweet sweet bundle of joy. As a kid we moved several times and my only constant companion (other than my significantly older siblings) was Cubby. She played with me, protected me, and comforted me. I remember once I was crying hysterically after fighting with my brother, refusing to come out from under the blankets. Then my sister whispers to me "look at what cubby's doing..." I peek out and she's crawling in and out from under the bed. She never did that so it was strange and cute and funny. How could I stay upset after that? She passed away a handful of years later and absolutely broke my heart. I still have her picture on my wall all these 12 yrs. later.

And then! just 3 years ago, at our family business, we were driving the back way and I saw this huge fluffy dog that I knew just HAD to be a chow! It was the dry cleaners (they're in the same complex as us) chow! She's a relatively grumpier but absolutely adorable chow. my sister and I would drive in the back on nice days where they let her sit on their back doorstep, peeking at her. I tried calling to her and she answered in normal chow fashion, by turned her head and ignoring us. I even took pictures of her!! The dry cleaner's chow made us crazy!!! I missed my Cubby from when I was a kid.

Then one day my sister decided that it was just her in her home and she had the time, money, and love to spare. Looked on craigslist, typed puppy, what do you know! The first result, the first time my sister looked, it was an ad for adopting some chow chow puppies. That's how she got Tsunami.

My sister likes to say, "why would you like ANY OTHER DOG?"

So I guess, I picked a chow through a series of chances. I couldn't be happier.

[chewfozz]

What a great question...I have enjoyed reading everyone's post. Honestly I believe my chows picked me. It was fate both times. I had been familiar with the breed since my brother had a chow chow (Nikita). She was the best dog, so when I saw Chewie for the first time I knew that I could handle a chow. Chewie and Nikita became fast friends (both girls) until Nikita passed away suddenly. I moved out shortly after that and knew that Chewie needed a friend, so I decided I wanted to rescue a male chow puppy. We found Fozzie through a rescue in PA that no longer exists (Taklamakan Chows). To this day I am grateful to them for helping us find our boy. We had 10 1/2 awesome years with him.

Our newest addition is not a chow, but we are actively looking for a female chow chow puppy (cream or cinnimon) since Chewie is now 13 1/2 and the other dog is a male. We have not found one yet, but we will not stop looking until we have found our perfect rescue. I will continue to have chows because they are the perfect dog...They rarely bark, do not smell, potty train easily, do not require a ton of exercise and are very neat. Need I say more? LOL!!

[Elena]

I've met a pet sitter yesterday, and after my saying please do not pet her, do not brush her, please do not do anything... she was just spechless. Why would you want such an unsociable dog like this? she asked. I told her that chow is not a dog, she is just another person in our life who does not want to be treated as a toy. She understands everything, listens to everything (sometimes disagree), never once we had to use any power even when she was a puppy. All the tricks she knows took us a minute to teach. I had poodles when i was growing up, and they are the second most intellegent dogs. I disagree, chow is the most intellegent and dependable breed. There is not even a question of another breed for us to have. You are getting a companion, best friend, and whole lot more.

[CHowgal]

I don't think I ever had a say in choosing. My parents bought my first chow when I was two and really, I think he chose me, 'cause my mom knelt down with me and he was the only pup to come up to us. But he was the one who began my love for chows. He was a steriotypical chow, didn't like much of anyone except our family. But when I met Tippsy at my uncle's house I fell in love again and from that day on I've sworn I will never own any other breed. They're just the perfect breed for me.

[Penelope]

I knew I wanted a dog in the Spitz family, I love sled dogs and fluffy animals. I have a very fluffy persian cat who sheds everywhere as it is. She is very independent but loyal to me, and that is a combination I quite like. I was looking for American Eskimo puppies and couldn't find any in my area, I didn't really bond with a husky puppy I looked at, and right after that I walked outside and a woman was walking two gorgeous red chows right down a very busy street in front of my car. I had no idea what they were but I wanted one! I jumped out of my car and yelled after her to find out what they were, and after about 10 minutes of iphone research on the breed, I knew chow chow's were the perfect dog for me. I love their cat like independent personality while still being a dog, and I think chewfozz above said it best:

because they are the perfect dog...They rarely bark, do not smell, potty train easily, do not require a ton of exercise and are very neat. Need I say more? LOL!!

[kevinaddes]

Hi,
I am animal lover and I have always wanted a chow from the age of about 12 when we were given a set of observer books of rabbit and dog .I already had a rabbit so the dog book was the one I fought my elder brother for and won for the first time in my life! One day We also went to dog shows to see the different breeds from our own eyes, to talk to the breeders and owners about their dogs personalities and ask lots of questions.We eliminated quite a lot of breeds but the dashchunds were too small, the English bulldogs did not live long enough, the labradors were too common, the jack Russell too excited, the Bouvier bernois were too big. They were so beautiful that we decided on a chow.

[AmberLea]

What a lovely post!

My family had Chows before they had children, i then grew up surrounded by Chows lifelong until i was able to own my own home and Chows, I've always had roughly 4 at a time.

I love old style lines of Chows in the UK and have been lucky to share my life with them.

Now I also share my home with Rough Collies, my other love.

[Coco Chow]

I have always wanted a chow from the age of about 7 when we were given a set of Observer books of planes, cars, horses and dogs. Planes and cars were of no interest to me at all and I already had a horse so the dog book was the one I fought my elder sister for and won for the first time in my life!

I have always wanted a chow from the age of about 12 when we were given a set of observer books of rabbit and dog .I already had a rabbit so the dog book was the one I fought my elder brother for and won for the first time in my life!

Is that so?

[Coco Chow]

We went to dog shows to see the different breeds from our own eyes, to talk to the breeders and owners about their dogs personalities and ask lots of questions.
We eliminated quite a lot of breeds: the dashchunds were too small, the English bulldogs didn't live long enough, the labradors were too common, the jack russels too excited, the bouvier bernois were too big (...) they were so beautiful that we decided on a chow.

We also went to dog shows to see the different breeds from our own eyes, to talk to the breeders and owners about their dogs personalities and ask lots of questions.We eliminated quite a lot of breeds but the dashchunds were too small, the English bulldogs did not live long enough, the labradors were too common, the jack Russell too excited, the Bouvier bernois were too big. They were so beautiful that we decided on a chow.

Oh really?

[PowdersMum]

The reason that I chose to have a Chow Chow in my life is, quite simply, they are amazing dogs. When I was 2 years old, my parents bought a beautiful cinnamon Chow and named her Tugs Bear, after the Care Bears. She was an awesome dog, very stoic but loving when around my brothers and I. When my baby brother Camden was born, she would stand watch around his crib and if he woke up, Tugs would go wake up my mother so that Camden was tended to. She was the best dog ever. When Tugs got on up in years and started having problems with her skin and her hips, my parents decided to get another cinnamon Chow. Her name was Kasea, and she was a great companion to Tugs Bear until she passed. Kasea always was the goofy one, doing zoomies until she was horizontal on the couch and you didn't think a dog could run any faster. She was the light of my life, and she passed in March 2007. She always knew how to put a smile on your face, no matter what was going on with you. She was a big lovable goofball, God rest her soul.

After getting married and having children of my own, I can't see another dog being as good with my children as our Chows were with my brothers and I growing up. We had a husky for a year and a half, but unfortunately she was stolen from us late last year. We also have 2 rescued Chihuahua's, as my husband is rather partial to Chihuahua's. I keep telling him how special Chow Chows are, but I don't believe that he will truly understand until Powder comes home from the breeder. I hope to make as many fond memories with Powder and my family as I had with Tugs and Kasea.

[Oscar rules]

Our first chow was Chang, a beautiful boy, we had just lost our Butch, he was cross between black lab and staff, oh what a wonderful dog he was, we were absolutely devasted, he was 16 when he died, such a protector. Anyway, feeling totally lost we ended up at a puppy shelter (didn't know what type of dog we wanted so went there to get a feel for the different breeds), there were loads of different types of puppiess, horrible place it was, but the puppies were in really good shape, fully innoculated etc, we saw this beautiful little boy and girl and immediately asked to see the male, he was the cutest little thing I have ever seen. A couple had their eye on the little girl so we were satisfied she wouldn't be left on her own otherwise we probably would have brought her home as well:

Chang fully grown


We didn't really know much about the breed but quickly bought books, spoke to breeders etc to get as much information as we could so our puppy could get the best start in life after being stuck in that horrible place.

Five years on and we heard about a little boy who had just been born, so we went along and found another little angel, Jasper, he was such a charmer, totally took over Chang's role and quickly became the boss of the two, Chang was so placid he didn't even mind this little monster being in charge.

Jasper fully grown

.
They where both red chows and were inseperable. Anyway sadley Jasper died at a young age of 9, and Chang soon followed 12 months after. He was a grand old age of 15 nearly 16. We decided we weren't going to get any other dogs as it was too heartbreaking loosing them. But low and behold we found Oscar and you know the rest, he is my baby and a wonderful little monster, I wouldn't be without him.

Oscar this monrning in our new fallen snow.

[nean007]

How old is Oscar now?

[cmyers]

Just crazy, or I'm a glutton for punishment. I have 17 of them here now?

[Mountaindogs]

I love this question!! What fun it has been to read everybody's responses. Some have brought tears to my eyes. All have validated the crazy obsession that I am having with my current chow Smokey. I, like many grew up with all kinds of dogs. We lived in rural Illinois and had many strays travel into our space. But I never even knew that the chow breed existed until I met my husband at age 28. He raved about his 2 former chows. I just couldn't understand. All I could picture were chihuahuas. My husband was a big burly macho guy and I just couldn't imagine him romping around in the mountain fields with a chihuahua. (I'm sure that there are burly guys out there who do... just couldn't picture my husband being one of them.) So about 6 months after we were married I asked my landlord if we could get a dog and he agreed. I didn't really have any breed in mind .. just knew I wanted to get a dog. Shortly after that I was in a petstore and saw a Chow Chow for the first time. (This was in 1993) A beautiful red who was half price because he was 13 weeks old. I played with him for about an hour - he attached right to me. I went home and got my husband and we went back there and bought him that very evening. We named him DJ (Don Juan after my husband and my first names - Donna and John). DJ was the best... I made a ton of mistakes in the process of rearing him because I didn't know any better. But he still turned out great for a puppy store dog. One year later we moved into a house with a fenced in yard. We decided to get him a pal to play with - we then got a beautiful black female named Lady. The two of them lived to be 13 years old. They died a year apart. They were the best dogs ever. I quickly learned why my husband raved about the chow so. After they both died we had decided that we would be without dogs for a while. Well, we are both suckers. My friend who does dog rescue send us a picture of a young chow about 3 months after our Lady died. It got me going on wanting another little furball. So we ended up getting two pups - Sierra (cream) and Smokey (black) - a boy and a girl. That was two years ago. And they have been a joy to raise. We traggickly lost Sierra back in December and it was in my grief googling Chow Chow that I found this site. And all of you other crazy chow owners. And now I am obsessed about getting Smokey back on track and over the loss of our Sierra. We are trying to adopt a female chow. We've tried twice now and both have fallen through... so it's back to the drawing board. I just know that our Smokey is happiest when he is around other female dogs. And this post and this question speaks for itself... I can only own another chow... so we are carefully looking for the next one to add to our family. They are the best. My Smokey is lying next to me as I type. I think he's ready for his walk... OMG do I love him!!!

Thanks for asking this question.

[Tracey Stevenson]

I have never owned a dog before and my inlaws suggested a chow chow. About 4 monthes later I was the proud owner of one and have had "Mad Chow Disease" since then!!

Me and the dogs.jpg (58.04 KiB) Viewed 11064 times

My blue male chow "Mcallister" and my female "Miya"

[Hugo]

Hi all
I have been interested in them all my life. As a child, I was only allowed 1cat, which was persian. I left home eventually and bought another persian. Then when I bought my house I wanted a dog but with the two persians I thought I wouldn't be able to cope with extra grooming of a chow so we got a purebred bull mastiff, Rodger who was just devine. He died at 9. Anyway, we got a spoodle not long before Rodger died, mainly for our 7 year old son to play and care for, which he does well. Of course, I'm the primary carer. One of the persian also passed away, so I decided it was time for my chow. Certainly worth the wait.
Michelle (Hugo's mum)

[Sirchow]

Wow I never expected to see so many answeres when I asked this question way back in september. It has been really nice to read everyones answeres and to see that we are just group of mad chow nuts! I love the comment about Mad Chow Disease. I have it badly. It is incurable you know.

[Oscar rules]

How old is Oscar now?

He was 5 on September 21st 2009

[ccyang]

me too, got the mad chow disease got it baddddddddddddddddddd lol
Pong is our first chow chow, he just turned 5 months old last sunday. I had a poodle before, loved him so much and when he passed away around christmas 2006, couldn't bear the pain. In fact, I still can't talk about Oty much....when I remember his last hours here on earth, it breaks my heart.
I've always been a huge animal lover, always wanted to have another dog but kinda felt like I was replacing Oty...which is really not what I wanted to do. When my boyfriend and I started talking about moving in together, I kept talking about us getting a puppy also. Almost 9 months before we actually moved in together, I was checking websites (including this one ) and youtube videos and went to borrow some books about chow chow to learn more about them to make sure we had a dog that will match our needs and what we have to offer to him. Searched everywhere for breeders, Chows are not common at all here in Montreal, Canada. Finally found a breeder, but had to wait for Pong to come to this lil world...he was still in his mommy
then we had to wait a few more weeks till he was ready, and finally Pong came home. He is the perfect lil baby, I'm constantly talking about him.....my bf is kinda sick of it im sure, but I cant help it!!!!!!! He's so precious, so proud of everything he does. Not only is he the cutest, but he's sweet, calm...(except when he goes out, he goes crazy....especially when there's snow, he doesnt know me anymore...I become a stranger, same thing when we go to the dog park lol).....loving, beautiful.....I'm so obsessed by him that when there's something unusual or different about him, I'm here checking or posting about his behaviour.