Observations

[Auddymay]

Lately, Lily has been doing some odd things, even by Chow standards.

At the beach, there are little tufts of dry grass that all the male dogs mark. Being that it is a beach, there are many human activities, like castle building and moat digging. The 'moats' tend to survive longer than castles in the sand, and Lily has taken to peeing in them, like a cat does. She does not bury, thank goodness...I wound be really concerned! She does enjoy castle smashing though. She bounces on them with her front paws (picture a polar bear trying to break ice) until they are leveled.

The last thing is odd. I was getting fresh water for the girls, and Lily rubbed on my legs like a cat! Back and forth, with gentle pressure. I thought it was a quirk, but it has now happened 3 times! Always 2 passes. Sometimes she walks me back to set down the dish, but once not. Oh- and when she had her allergies, she rubbed alot of fur from her head. Her forhead fur is noticibly thinner. It must be coming back in though, because one day I was scratching the top of her head in one spot, when she started moving back and forth in a sway like when Stevie Wonder sings...I kid you not. She was getting scratched ear to ear, and obviously enjoying it. I could have sworn I heard strains of Ebony and Ivory!

Does your Chow do anything that is way outside the Doggy Behavior guidelines? I mean, I always knew they had different behaviors than the average fido, but since living the Chow life, I have never seen some of this stuff!

[sweetpea]

Makes me think of a walk me and Gracie took on the trail. We was walking along as normal, all at once Gracie jumped up on a tree stump, got in position and pooped. I stood there with my mouth hanging open in total shock at what I was seeing. She had never before just randomly jumped up on a tree stump. She will back up against them and try to pee on them. Most of the time she is incapable of pooping without taking a few steps leaving a trail and here she stood balancing on top of this stump pooping! She finished her job, jumped down and there on top of this stump sat a pile of dodo that no one would ever believe was not placed there by the works of abnoxious kids! I personally would never believe a animal would have purposely done that had I not seen it for my self.

[Victory]

Every once in a while Darkwind would actually bury his urine, he'd dig a little hole, go potty and then use his nose to push the dirt over it, I kid you not! Dreamdancer seems to think that he's somehow bigger if he can get his bottom as high as he can to poop agains a tree trunk, it's so rediculouw to see him, I think he's going to fall on his nose one day. The most cat like thing any of my chows has ever done was when my LiChi would have to go out in the rain, and he'd do the cat-shake-the-paw-dry-with-each-step thing. It could take us 15 minutes to walk 10 feet, all the while he's trying to keep his feet dry, looking for the driest places to walk AND sighing with absolute disgust And let's not forget the constant dirty looks because I of course am goddess of the universe and it was MY fault that it was raining!

Yep, they fight like bears, act like cats and sometimes remember that they are canines!

[Dogdad]

Maxine will try to pee on trees, she is so wierd, it looks like she is going to do #2. She also takes her paw like a cat and will swat you with it, if she wants attention or scatching time is to short in her mind. Yoshi's wierd behavior is rolling on his back and letting me scratch his tummy, he will also let me grab his front feet and wiggle them back and forth, he thinks it is fun.

David

[TJordan]

Well that sums it up. Chows may be a dysfuncital breed!! LOL. This explains why we as owners can be a little different.

Butters does the cat rubbing on my legs thing also. It is so funny. My brother finds it rather amusing that I have an 85lbs guard dog that I have to protect from various monsters (real or make believe). Of his funniest and weird behaviors is his new clepto thing. He has stolen countless balls and toys from the park. I think we end up with a new ball or toy each week and of course he won't play with them after he carries it all the way home in his mouth

[Red Dragon]

The Stevie Wonder thing is normal, Po does it everytime I blow dry her. I know someone with a Chow that rubs on stuff like a cat too.

[chow fancier]

Cinder throws her head so far back it seems she has no bones in her neck. Usually when riding in the car to look out the opposite window without turning around.

[Auddymay]

Good to hear she is normal...or at least like Po, and other Chows...lol. We went to the beach a couple times this week, she still used the holes to potty, and though Haley and I both made castles so I could take a photo, she did not fall for it, and they went unsmashed. And she has continued to rub my legs whilst I re-fill the water bowl. She does appreciate fresh water...

The trees in our neighborhood sound alot safer than some of yours out there! For a dignified breed, they sure can do undignified things. Becky, I remember that story. I thought the same thing then- Gracie was making an artistic statement...what else could it be???

Jerilyn, Chows must be double jointed. I have never seen any other dog look so 'broken' during normal activities, like sleeping, and Cinder's trick- they could rock in Yoga.

[chowchowdaddy]

Chia, our first chowkid, never did anything particularly unusual until we got Ming and, even though she was blind, she figured out what he was doing when it came potty time. She got to the point that she would actually back up to a tree and try to pee up it. As for rubbing up against you, Ming will definitely sit on your foot at every opportunity, but Tempest will rub up and around your legs, very cat-like...

Bizarre little things these chows are!!! Must be why we adore them so...

[woof]

Hi auddymay--Just thought I would chime in too...sounds like your Chows are very unique! I had to really laugh when I read the posts by sweatpea and victory on gracie and dreamdancer, respectively. Black likes to do something very similar to your Chows. We have moved to an apartment in the city and are going for more frequent walks these days. Our area has a lot of old trees and stumps everywhere as well as various ledges and piles of sand and rocks everywhere. Black has always tried to 'perch' his #2's high up on top of a stump or a similar type of surface (sometimes it is really embarrassing as he may make an attempt on top of a some kind of placard or decorative item). He will even go to the top of a sand pile to add his 'bowtie' on the very peak. The methods he uses are always unusual but do usually involve his backside being elevated above his front part so that he is facing down and he tries to make sure the 'perched item' is as high up as possible. Additionally, he tries on top of this precarious position to raise his right leg in the air in the midst of his toiletry. He does also try to back into large tree trunks with the hind legs crawling up the back of the tree as if this will cause the item to be lofted.

I do of course clean up after him! I had to laugh...we thought it was just one of his idiosyncracies. I used to have a West Highland White Terrier growing up who had his own peculiarities but nothing quite like this!