So how did you know you wanted a Chow?

[Cam Atis]

how did you know you want a chow?

I haven't heard about chow chows except their name. I got curious when I heard someone told a tale how his dog was, which was given to him. He said he does his pooping outside, covers it with dirt and smell it to make sure he covered the evidence well. If unconvinced, he'd cover it more with his hind legs. He knows his place in the car, front seat. If someone sits in there, he'd insist it's his place, and squeeze himself and would butt out the intruder with his well, butt. If the person did not understand, his dog will now "smile" and say "grrrr" so the seat usurper will bolt out the car and sit at the back. This dog also always sleeps beside its master's bed. once, someone the owner knows, came to see him inside the bedroom, the dog have showed a fierce stance and if the owner haven't awaken in time, the unfortunate fellow will have his stitches all throughout his body. But the owner eventually got married and had kids. the dog have biten one of the sons, thus he was removed from the house upon the grandfather's advice. He was a chow chow. And the owner is a busy man with not much time to train dogs. So how come he got such a nice dog? He's not the kind who'd spend on trainers. My interest was piqued and i searched the internet what the heck is a chow chow? I looked it up in my dog books and what do you know, also a Non-Sporting Breed like a Dal. A dog whose background and utility varies if not fully unknown. 
Its initial appearance of long hair have made me think TUFFS of hairs or mountain of hairs, and brush brush. 
Reading on and an impresssion that its got to be a good breed that it has endeared itself to someone who is not so much into dogs... I saw fierce loyalty, good guard dog, and a dignified character that one does not need to shout at him to be understood, Short tempered, Easily snaps (uh-oh that's why I joined here to read more before making a purchase)

Finally, this site helped me decide I'm going to have one. And here I am enjoying Cassie so much that I could not have it any other way. Thanks guys! What a very dignified breed indeed!

[Auddymay]

I had a Chow mix when I got my PB. I was actually debating between a Pomeranian or a Chow and the Chow won out.

[Victory]

I always liked collies or borzoi personally. My mom always told me about a chow they had when she was a teenager, when my dad retired they got MingToy a chow, then when my mom retired they got LiChi another chow. My dad had a stroke and had to move to a care facility, my mom still had the chows, when she passed away, my brother said he couldn't take them. Taking them to a place would have resulted in them being put down, so I took them. That was over 20 years ago and I've had the pleasure of being owned by chows ever since.,.all six of them.

[TyChowgirl]

I didn't at first! I wanted a dog something awful because I was slumping into depression. My cats are wonderful, but they're not the same. I really wanted a lab because that's what I had growing up and that's what random members of my family had and I loved them. I also knew them when they were older and had time to grow out of that nasty crazy puppy stage. But I live in an apartment and worked 8 hour days, where my fiance worked 12 hour days and had some time off after.Not the best place for an energetic puppy because that's what I wanted. Brian, does not like labs. He says they are the vanilla of dogs (I always argued there was a good reason for it) and despite their trainability, they're not the brightest. I don't necessarily agree, but I'm more ready to believe it after owning a chow. He told me (to deter me actually lol) that the only way we were getting a dog was if we were to get a chow. I was put out because I didn't particularly like them from what I heard about them, but was determined to do my research to see if there was something I could love enough about the chow besides being perfect for apartment style living. I read and looked at pictures, and read some more. I decided I liked the sound of them, but knew I may have trouble because clearly you can't treat them like "normal" dogs because of their stubborn personalities. I searched the web for someone, anyone with a litter of puppies because my work hours were going to be less during the summer (I had been working two jobs) and I wanted that time to train a puppy, but it had to be soon. Now, I'm stuck with the breed. Seriously stuck. Maybe even obsessed. There are so many great things about these dogs that I think outweigh the bad reputation. And I'm working hard to reverse that stigma in my dog community. We go to the dog parks, we go to the pet stores and many of the people have seen him grow up(which he was incredibly calm and laid back despite the nervousness towards strangers when we went somewhere) and think he's a great dog. They're not used to seeing a well raised chow lol but it makes them all think again now. There are still some that highly disagree (mainly the thugs that live across the street) or oddly enough pit bull owners (which still confuses the crap out of me, since you know, they are used to dogs with a "bad rep making awesome pets if raised right" mentality) But I digress. I LOVE chows now and can't wait in a few years to perhaps add another to the mix (even though Brian has said, no more animals! I had him agreeing to another chow at puppy some point.) The best weapon against the No more animals argument...is a picture of a chow chow puppy! (Sorry for the ramble guys, just woke up and still a wee bit loopy from sleepiness!)

[reddog]

My answer "A Chance Encounter"

In 1978 my husband and I went to Europe on vacation. One day the tour group we were with happened to stop at a buffeteria in a small German town for lunch. Across the room from us sat a little old gentleman with what appeared to be a small black bear on a leash. As we were eating he got up and started coming towards us to leave. I happened to smile at him and he came over to me and the "bear" sat down beside me. The gentleman and I had a nice little chat, via our tourguide serving as an interpreter, regarding his "bear" which was a beautiful black chow.

For whatever the reason, I was smitten and told myself that someday I'm going to have a chow. Anytime after that when I'd come across articles on chows I read them. My husband told me "no dogs" because we had a small daughter. He worked for an insurance company and at that time there were several cases dealing with maulings (but none connected with chows).

Fast forward 1998 our local humane society posted a picture of a chow that was up for adotion. Come to find out they had the mom and her son and daughter. The 3 of them had been found tied up in a burned out building on a near by farm. They were in sad shape with badly matted fur which was singed as well as their paws being singed and they were very skittish. I wanted the mom but she was already spoken for so I decided to adopt the daughter. I named her Chloe. I had lost my husband a few years prior, I lived by myself and she needed a home. Basically, I rescued her and she rescued me. We were meant to be together and we were together for over 13 years. She passed away 1-26-11.

This past December I rescued my current chow, Whitby. She is going on 7. A senior rescuing a senior - that's a good thing!

[Ursa's daddy]

Like Reddog, it was a chance encounter, but it was a chance encounter with a chow puppy. A few years ago, I was working in Savannah while my wife was working at her job in Mississippi. On Saturdays, I would go to the animal shelter to visit the animals. It was fun, relaxing and free. As I was walking out, there was a teenage girl holding a basket with a dog. I look, and it is this little ball of fluff. I pet it and ask if she just got it at the shelter? "No, I want to give it to the humane society, but they won't take it because she does not have any hair on her feet and tail, and animal control is going to euthanize her. Would you take her?" Now this is a six week old black chow puppy. This is the picture associated with cute in the dictionary. How can I say no. The girl and her brother had found the puppy. The best guess is she was dumped by a puppy mill because no one would buy her since she was missing hair, and they had no intention of taking her to the vet. I go straight to the vet and find out that she is covered with fleas, appears to have allergies, and has chewed the hair off her feet and tail. So I have a 6 week old totally unsocialized, frightened and very shy puppy. I know nothing about chows other than they have a questionable reputation, but at 3.6 pounds, this is not much of a danger to me or my cats. So the cats and I worked on bringing her out. I have had other dogs, and had leash trained the cats, so I figured I could handle this situation. This is my little girl, Ursa. When she was one year old, I was at the shelter and saw that they had a black male chow. He was the favorite of everyone at the shelter, so he was well socialized. I was so impressed with how sweet and loving Ursa was, a second chow seemed like a good idea. I adopted Malachi, which was his shelter name. Malachi with his self confidence has helped Ursa come out of her shell. These two dogs have shown me what wonderful pets ChowChows can be. They are a little different from other dogs, and that may be why I really love my two.

[Tippsy'smom]

My parents got our first chow when I was 2, I loved that dog (even though, due to limited socialization, he had a bad attitude towards many people) he was a good friend to me. When he died when I was 4 (heat stroke from my dad's stupidity) I was devastated. But I never truely knew chows were for me until I met Tippsy when I was 9 (she was my uncle's puppy then), I KNEW I wanted a chow after that. And shortly after I made my connection with Tippsy, my aunt and uncle gave her to me. Now, I know my life will never be complete without a chow or chow mix in my life.

[Michael's Maggie May]

I would visit my Nephews house for a barbecue and one of his neighbors would be there with a large black male chow. He would growl at everyone so they kept their distance but I loved the look of the dog. Walked into a pet store to buy fish food for my aquarium and they had this black female chow. $500 later with a 40 lb bag of lamb and rice I had a black female Chinabear. We loved each other for 16 yrs and now stands St Francis over her in my backyard. I missed her so much that I scoured all Chow breeders in the southeastern U.S. to find another black female. Finally I get an e-mail from a breeder who has been showing a black female 7 month old puppy and asked if I would like to see her. I drove to Atlanta and fell in love with Maggie May. The most gorgeous,spoiled ,fresh, lovable, arrogant,aloof show dog you ever saw. I spent $4000 on a fenced in playpen with the finest grass for my beauty.
3 years later We are inseparable,Think I'm nuts? I am.

[mebo]

Coco picked us. Our first chow was a 10 week old rescue ball of black fur. My mom and brother were just going to look. This little chow actually had nipped at the person picking her up. They dropped her and she ran into my brother, he picked her up, she snuggled into his arms...and she stayed with us until her sudden death at 9. We knew nothing about chows...and we did just about everything wrong. We were very lucky that she never attacked anyone because she was very protective of her yard and house. Other dogs were not welcome, and cats...well, those were just toys to chase, right?!

Anyway, it took 3 months after we lost her to decide on another dog. This time we ended up getting two sisters, one for me and one for my parents. I read everything I could get my hands on about chows. We have two of the sweetest, most sociable chows. My Minnie is 3 now, and she is my heart.

I firmly believe that chows find their humans--not the other way around!

[PCC]

I have only ever had Chows. My parents got our family a Chow from a neighbor when I was a teenager. Her name was Char Siu, and she was our first dog. We knew nothing about dogs before that. We loved that dog, but in hindsight, we did not treat her well. Mind you, we did not abuse her per se, but she was never walked, socialized, or anything.
My second Chow, Siu Mai, I only had for about six months. I was her second home; apparently she was too much for her former home, and returned to the breeder. I lost her to an accident.
After losing Siu Mai, I found Dim Sum. He has been with me since he was eight weeks old. I cannot be happier.

[chowchowdaddy]

My first dog was a black labrador that I got when I was 4 years old, and she died when I was a senior in college. I thought I was going to die, too. But, I survived and then my parents went through a series of miniature schnauzers (two, at separate times) then a cockapoo. By this time, I was out of their house and we eventually decided to get a dog, but I wanted something smaller, perhaps a cocker spaniel. I had lunch with a man from my office whose wife operated a kennels (they bred great danes) and they had a dog they were trying to find a home for, a client had brought her dog in for boarding while going to the hospital for tests and she never came out again. So, I asked what kind and was told, "Oh, it's a chow." Oh, no, I didn't want a chow, they were way too big. But, I got talked into going to see her and went the next day and the day afterwards Chia (as in Chia Pet) came home with us. We've since lost her to cancer, but got Emperor Ming to keep her company as she aged, then we got Tempest to keep Ming company and I guess we are now officially owned by chows and will continue to bring them home as needed!!! I truly cannot imagine ever having anything other than a chow...

[Sirchow]

Somewhere way back we had this post before and I was amazed then at the diversity of situations that brought each of us to ownng a chow.
My story was that when I was very young around seven or eight we were given a pile of observer books and I got the dog one, my sister the horses and pony's, and my brothers cars and aeroplanes. I spent hours and hours looking at all the dogs and just fixed on the chow chow as the cudliest and most bearlike, and to me it was a no brainer even then....why have a dog when you could have a chow!
Fast forward to over forty years later and my hubby got the dog he had always been hankering for and I thought if we have a dog why not a chow too. So Bramble came to join us and as the old saying goes "one chow is never enough" so Izzie followed about a year and a half later. I cant imagine ever being without a chow in the house now but I still maintain I am not really a "dog" person!

[Yvonne]

When my brothers were younger (before I was born) my parents had a farm. My Mom always talked about a chow they had for 16 years that was the greatest dog ever. So, although I never lived with one growing up, I was raised to believe that a chow chow was the best dog there was.

When I was a kid, we always had a mixed array of mixed breed dogs. My mother got a pomeranian (I still don't care much for them - they pee too much!) and I had a basset hound when I still lived at home.

After I was on my own, I wanted a dog - one that would be a real buddy and partner, so I went looking for a chow.
The rest is history. Odd thing is I really didn't know anything specific about chows when I got my first one - it all just worked out. Even odder, I had chows for about 10 or 12 years before I even realized some people thought they had bad reputations. I still don't really understand that.

[Rory's Dad]

Well posed question Cam.

Like many that have come to own the breed, we were taken in my the puppy appearance. My wife and I had dated for many years, had the ups and downs, etc, and a 5 year old son. We decided to end the suspense, get married and buy a house. Our 1st Chow was actually bought as a birthday gift and was definitely a pet store/mill variety. He really was too tall and lanky for the typical chow, but was very bright and loyal. He tolerated the rough play of a 5 year old boy and they literally grew up together.

Fast forward a few years (6 actually), and my daughter was 5. Lo and behold, my girls walk into another pet store, and they have a chow pup. So Teddee becomes my daughters 5th bday present. He was much more to chow quality, shorter and stockier. Again, he was purchased because he was such a cute, fluffy pup. But at least we had experience by that time.

Fast forward again and our 1st chow (Kodi) is 13 years old and has a serious case of displasia and arthritis. In kindness, we decided to do the right thing. Despite a few issues along the way with 2 full males in the house, they generally got along well, and it was obvious Teddee was lost without him. Rory developed seizures about six months later (9 years old), and although we missed the signs (dropped ears, ear canal fluid, etc) he had a cancerous tumor that could not have been operated on. Chows coming out of seizures can be a dangerous situation, and since he was home alone with our daughter, we had to make the decision again.

I have often told a story about our 1st chow protecting my daughter. Wife was sick and sleeping on the couch. My toddler daughter tried to go play in the back yard unescorted. I came home to find her on the back step with Kodi stretched across the 2nd step blocking her way and not letting her down the step. I dont know how he knew to do that, it was never taught, but that dog will always be remembered for potentially saving her from who knows what.

That sold me on the breed. After our 2 boys went down, we kinda felt that we had had enough with pets. My daughter didnt ask for a puppy or a play pal. Since she is still home after school alone, she asked who would protect her. That convinced me we needed another dog to make her feel comfy. We looked and looked, but came to the conclusion...only a Chow.

So in the current day in our area, pet stores that sell pets are pretty much gone. Store dogs and mill reps are everywhere, so we searched for breeders and were very lucky in finding Rory. He is the sweetest pup and we hope to show him (he's a beauty too). Perhaps the biggest complement we got on him is also his downfall...our handler says he is so attached to our daughter that separation is going to be the biggest issue she has.

[Ursa's daddy]

Even odder, I had chows for about 10 or 12 years before I even realized some people thought they had bad reputations. I still don't really understand that.

LOL
Yvonne, that is great. The problem with dogs are their owners. Yesterday I had to take Bunny (cat) to the vet, so I let the dynamic duo go along. As soon as I took the harnesses off the hook, they started to talk about it. At the vets, everyone was happy to see them. If you properly train your dogs, it isn't very hard to get your vet and staff socialized to chows. On the way back, we stopped at PetSmart, Bunny in the shopping cart, and the two dogs in one hand. I met a couple with a beautiful GSD, and we chatted a short while. My two knew what to do, and laid down beside me. On my way out I meet a man with a pit rot mix that is about to pull his arm off. This is a puppy, maybe ~40 pounds 18kg. He sees my two walking with slack in the leashes and ask why they are not pulling. "You have to work with your dog and teach it how to behave." It is the owner.

[MissV]

What a wonderful topic
Actually, the chow was DEF NOT my first choice! lol. We sorta just happened.
Im on my first chow, and as many of you know, I've had some horrid times with her... and some really awesome ones
I love the spitz breed. I refused to settle for anything else. My first choice was a samoyed, but there is only one registered breeder in the whole of South Africa and they wanted R20 000 ($2500) for a pup. There was no way in HELL that i could ever afford that They also didnt want to sell me a samoyed becuse I dont have a large garden.
I then began looking at schipperke's because they were small enough and still in the spitz family... then i considered a pom, but ive never liked toy dogs, so the next best was a chow.
I must have done solid research for a year and a half before it took another 6 months to find my pup.

all in all, i wouldnt change anything for the world. Both my boyfriend and I are total chow fans, and i doubt we would get any other breed after this!

[Clovers_Mom]

I didn't know that I wanted a Chow at First... I have always had large breed dogs (keep in mind I am saying dogs, you will see why My 1st dog as a child was a St. Bernard, my last dog (before Clover) was an Akita. Something about a larger dog, as I have always said- I want a dog where in the Winter Snow you can play with and not feel like you are going to 'break them'.
My husband has always vito'd an idea of getting a dog, especially a big dog. I would still try to bring up (every chance i could without pushing it..!) Ok, I am not going to win this one, ok-maybe i need to think smaller.. had decided ok then, what about an english bulldog? He agreed to this- I started looking into and price-wise for pups' then all of the medical issues, that wasn't something we would be able to provide for properly... I think my husband wasn't ready yet, and fully knew the money involved..., so I would say it isn't realistic.
Of course, any opportune time I would bring up, and that is when he said 'what about a Chow?', My response 'well what about a Chow?', I didn't know too much about them except that they were just amazing to look at! I did my Breeder research and in 2 wks I drove down in my Mini, Myself, to Southwestern Virginia from Massachusetts to pick up my precious pup, Clover-- which was named originally Isabella after her mother- However, since my younger sister had given birth to the 1st grandchild, my niece, in the family, who is named Isabella- on Oct. 18th, Clover's b-day being Oct. 20th, thought best to change her name to Clover i/o of keeping Isabella I really believe that the way everything has happened, how Clover came into my life, she/it was meant to be. The 2nd say of having her, my husband asked why we didn't get a dog sooner! ha..
Reading more and more about their 'traits', I think my husband wanted to test me on the training aspect- ok, I'll take it I'd say I'm passing pretty well, because she is such a sweet girl, and as for their other traits it has been joked that we (yes, Me & Clover) have many of the same, so maybe my Virgo/Libra cusp personality and Clovers'/a Chow's traits are similar... yup,... ha-ha- He could be joking, but I will take it as a compliment! I would Never have another Breed of dog. Miss Clover is such a wonderful addition to our lives, enhancing mine daily.

[tammer1973]

I did research on the breeds. The chow chow fit what I wanted in a dog. 25 Years later I still have chows and they are still my favorite animal. Well I treat them like my children.

[chowchowdaddy]

We have a friend (very wealthy older woman) who has always been extremely "social" and involved in various guilds and many years ago, she was president of a local Humane Society Guild, but had never been exposed to Chows (she didn't ever deal directly with the dogs and cats, just fund-raising, etc.). So, when she first met our Chows, she was amazed at how lovely and how friendly they are, and she continues to feel that way and tell us how glad she is that she finally got to meet some Chows and how she wished she'd known more about them earlier! So, at the age of 87, she's now a Chow convert and will tell people everywhere how wonderful they are...

[bellachow]

I had no idea chow chows existed & back then there was no Internet so no researching either. I wanted a miniature poodle but my husband had no plans for a fru-fru dog. His brother-in-laws family had chows and convinced him that chows were big guard dog types. So my husband brought one home one day & it was love at first sight. Even though Belvedere was only with us for 2 months (he was poisoned) he sparked a love for a breed that perfectly suits both me & my husband...we will proudly be owned by chows until we die.

[Yvonne]

Bellachow,

So sorry your first chow was poisoned. That's terrible. Was it an accident, or do you think someone did it on purpose?

[bellachow]

We were young & dumb...we lived in a nice subdivision and just let him run free during his potty breaks. So we will never know. We learned from that lesson & the dogs were walked on a leash until we fenced in the back yard. Everything happens for a reason...if Belvedere hadnt passed away we would not have gotten Leo, Iggy, Lady, Leoette, Noddingham, Jr, the 2 we have now (Belle & Chumley) or our foster chow Buddy (he reminded me of Leo).

[612guy]

Wife and I wanted a medium size dog and then saw a Chow puppy. That's all it took.

[Fozzbear]

My grandparents lived in Norfolk, next to a chow breeder (or maybe just a fan of chows, I don't know - she had about six of them, all red). I remember looking through the fence and wondering if they were bears or lions or dogs or what!? I never saw any other chows round or about.
Many years on ... I have always had cats as pets and am not really into dogs but all my friends have dogs and enthuse about them. I decided that it was time for another pet (possibly a maine coon cat - I'm obviously a fan of big, furry and lion-like). I did loads of reading on the internet and saw somewhere that a chow is as near to a cat as a dog can get! Did loads more reading and the more pictures of chows I saw, the more I feel in love. Luckily for me, the chow chow fits well with my lifestyle and personality (I did all the internet 'which breed is the right for you' quiz things).
Upon getting my puppy, I resolved to train her to within an inch of her life but wasnt really fully appreciating the stubborn streak I had been warned about. My puppy trainer was very negative about chows and wanted me to almost choke her to death with a chain, with the warning that I'd have an aggressive beast on my hands if I didnt. So we dropped the puppy trainer like a hot brick. Fozz knows lots of commands, but just chooses to ignore me unless there is something in it for her. Still, she is very well socialised, friendly and as soft as rainwater - all our vets say what a lovely temperament she has. We go everywhere together and she sleeps at the side of my bed. She is fine off-lead and always comes back (in her own time). She is cat-like in that, as long as I am near by, she is content to do her own thing. Her laid-back, stubborn personality makes me laugh every day and I couldn't live without her. I'm now thinking about chow # 2 and wouldnt even consider any other breed.

[Hugo]

Hi
I was never allowed a dog growing up only cats, so I had persian cats with squished in faces and I loved dearly for 19 years that they were with me. Like someone else said they were looking through a dog breed book and I discovered the CHOW. So since I was about 6 yrs old I've wanted one. Moving into married life, with my 2 persians who took alot of grooming our first boy was a purebred bull mastiff who I adored. Then we had our first child and when he was 6 we decided to get him a spoodle, (small and active). Both cats and Bullmastif were put down within a couple of years of eachother and I finally got my chow after researching and finding a breeder. I wouldn't have it any other way. The spoodle is great for our son, they are like twins both active and well active. My chow is my chow but lovely with everyone. I love him like a child.