What is it, that makes a chow so different?

[bevgo]

My CC is a mix and is many ways is very non-chowish. She loves affection and is very in your face for it. In some ways I can see the chow in her behavior. She is very smart and learns fast but seems to be considering if she wants to follow commands or if there is a reward involved. She is also very fastidious about her cleanliness and potty trained FAST! She is the first puppy I have ever been able to housebreak. If she has an accident she seems embarrased almost.

So I don't really know what living with a true chow is like. Maybe someday but this is a one animal family so I guess I will have to just have a part time chow.

[woof_pack]

I love this topic! I have 2 chows (sisters). They are mixes but from everything I've read here and elsewhere they exhibit extreme chowishness in their personalities and behaviors. I have 5 dogs... Lena and Loki (chow mixes), Takoda (husky mix), and Catori (husky/rhodesian ridgeback). And then there's Vegas, a german shepherd. The huskies and chows are very similar (other than their acceptance of strangers...). I could go on for days about the difference between the 4 of them and my shepherd! And the 4 of them notice it too, they treat him like he is 2nd class, like whatever he's doing is totally weird & appalling.

I wrote this a while back, from my husky's perspective to my german shepherd, but it works just as well for the chows:

Huskies Rule ... German Shepherds Drool
AKA ... Why I am Better than My Brother Vegas OR How To Be a Better Shepherd

Written by Takoda with help from Catori

1. 1st and foremost, that stupid ball you chase all day long simply is not prey. It flies only when aided by human intervention. It smells of nothing but your slobber. They keep throwing it and you keep chasing it. This accomplishes nothing, other than either amusing or annoying the humans and feeding your Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I repeat BALL IS NOT PREY!

2. Speaking of your OCD we must do something to get that imbalance under control. Perhaps we shall try medicating you. I’m thinking Paxil, Prozac, or maybe Zoloft? Have you considered joining a therapy group? There must be other Shepherds out there with your issues.

3. Third, one word: DROOL! I don’t need an explanation on why you do this. Please stop.

4. I am not a sheep. Joggers, bikes and children are not sheep. Please stop attempting to herd and nip those that do not remotely resemble sheep. That goes to you and anybody else in your silly herding breed group.

5. Water. Water is a wonderful coolant on hot summer days, it is also necessary for hydrating the body. Natural bodies of water also provide us with dead fish to de-scent and possibly eat. This water is not to be used for hours upon hours of swimming and chasing tennis balls – which again ARE NOT PREY! Please re-read numbers one and two – a little OCD help here please.

6. Obedience. You must stop doing everything the humans tell you. Hanging on their every word, and being so sickeningly loyal. Have you not a mind of your own? Did you retain none of the independent spirit of our ancestor the wolf - that wolf which your breed supposedly originated from far less years ago than my own. A fact that I find awfully hard to believe, despite your wolfish looks and prick ears.

7. Gates and doors were meant to be run through, fences to be leaped over, cages to be escaped from. That is why the humans grace our necks with identifying tags. So that after your run and adventure you may be returned by the person, who is inevitably your new best friend, to your home. Break the chains that bind you. Have some fun. There is more to life than obedience.

8. Next, you must refrain from putting on that tough dog act when you hear a strange sound or a knock at the door. You and I are both aware that the minute a stranger enters the door, you will lose the big, deep bark and will be licking the humans hands and face and begging for just a hint of their affection. And you know that I have noticed that when a truly scary sound does occur, you do not bark, you do not move, you pretend you didn’t hear a thing and that you are asleep. I know that you are hoping the humans will handle everything for you, for you are both lazy and a coward in the true face of danger.

9. Food. You are going to get some every day. You will never miss a meal. You will never go hungry. Must you beg and plead with the humans to feed you from the table? While DROOLING?

10. I hate to be a bore, but I feel I must mention one more time that the BALL IS NOT PREY! I am sure that if you have read to the bottom of this list, your OCD has taken over and you have long since forgotten that the BALL IS NOT PREY!

[debraschow]

Wow what a cool discussion! With Milo being our second Chow there have been simularities and differences. Milo loves cats and cats love Milo. For some reason our 3 indoor cats and the two neighbors cats actually "worship" Milo and Milo accepts the "worship". Hobo would have cared less and would have probably walked away. Any situation that Hobo disliked or felt threatened, he would just leave.

I don't know where I read this and probably don't have the numbers right, but I had read that the temples in China were guarded by like thousands of chows.
Can you imagine what that must have looked like? But then the pro blem I have with that, is that I find them to be a very solitary kind of dog, and don't even see how a 1000 chows could have gotten along together.

They are an absolutely amazing breed of dog. I had a Samoyed before Hobo, supposedly the same ancient lineage, loved her to death, but a Chow is a Chow. I can't even express the passion I have for the breed.

For over 13 years I have had the most awesome greetings when I come home. I thought at first with Hobo it was because he was blind and had lived on the street for so long that he was so grateful, and then we got Milo, and I practically cry when I come home every night because I get this crazy dance from this guy who gives me his whole heart, and wonder what I did to get such unconditional love.

[kingalls]

While I have not had a canine in my adult life, my husband has...one of the most distinguishing thing about our Chowdren is how they don't snatch the treat AND your fingers....Every time we give them a treat, they are SOOOOOOOOO careful to gently take the treat and not take your fingers at the same time. Mr. N is so extremely careful about taking a treat - he holds his mouth open and "cradles" his treat - like he's making sure he only has the treat (and not my fingers) before he chews.

[WeLoveLeRoy]

Everything vicster605 says is exactly true of how Leroy is. Wow. And he also is so careful not to bite you when you give him some food.

[panshay]

one of the most distinguishing thing about our Chowdren is how they don't snatch the treat AND your fingers....Every time we give them a treat, they are SOOOOOOOOO careful to gently take the treat and not take your fingers at the same time

absolutely true!!!!!! pan tao is soooo gentle, he even drops the treat sometimes when he is unsure, 1: to see if its edible, 2.when it is too big, to avoid accidents with yr fingers....
shayna is the opposite, although a mix, she is so food frency that she sometimes forgets her good manners...lol

[Sahara91]

I don't think Xhena knows she's a Chow - she certainly doesn't live upto their reputation! Only differences really is that she rarely barks, isn't all that impressed by dog toys, has never been destructive and is independant when out and about - no way I could trust her off the lead. Otherwise, she is very much your typical dog, bless her

[Judy Fox]

I think one can seriously say that Chow Chow is not actually "dog".

We have had this discussion a good while ago on the site and some sort of pooh-poohed that statement.

Milly and Mabel are certainly not dog. They are gorgeous and manage their own lives just how they like. They do not do things that dogs do - chase sticks, carry balls, beg for treats etc. etc.

They have an incredible sense of humour, especially Mabel. They are very smart and even though we might not always know where they are, you can bet your bottom dollar they know where we are.

They talk to us with a whole vocabulary of differents sounds. They have several tones of bark and people in our small avenue of 14 bungalows recognise this. When the postman turns into the avenue on his bike, they shout to him to hurry up. When the young man next door comes in they call to him and he comes and tells them what he has been up to.

They understand so much.

Now our Hector is all dog! He acts like a dog, barks like a dog, creeps for a treat like a dog, takes his walk like a dog and I love him for it - he is bright and bouncy and totally canine.

But Chow Chow is all Chow Chow.