are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog breeds

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haifinn
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are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog breeds

Post by haifinn »

i am a new chow chow owner, i've had my puppy for 3 months now, so far so good (:
she is going on 5 months old. and she learns so quick. she learned to be potty trained in 2 days when i got her. she learned sit in under a minute, she learned shake in about 2 minutes. she knows when to come and when to stay... very well mannered. the only flaw i can really point out about her is her stubbornness but what chow doesn't have that? does anyone else think the chows are probably one of the smartest dogs ever? i think i am going to teach her roll over today (:
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by Judy Fox »

Yes absolutely!
Chow Chows are very quick to learn. :)
Stubborn, aloof, snotty totty! Well that is what Chow Chows are about. :lol:
Good luck with teaching her to roll over - she will if she wants to - otherwise...................................... 8)
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by nnguyentang »

I tried to teach my 3 month old to roll over.. sometimes she does it, sometimes she doesn't. If you get her to do it, post up pictures and or vids! I would love to see... ): mine is too stubborn.
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by Rory's Dad »

Agree that they definitely are among the smartest. That being said, some of the training is just natural. Potty training has been known to be so easy because Chows are inately clean dogs. They just hate a mess in there perceived home. Sit can be a reflex reaction. The other items though, yes those are pretty quick recognition times...congrats.

And so true on roll over. Rory still wont do it just because i want him too. He would much rather save a good belly rub for after a nice nap and during a good stretch.
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by Fozzbear »

I read some published research that said that chow chows were in the top ten most stupid dog breeds! I think the likelihood is that the chows couldn't be bothered with taking part in the silly research. My dogs are very clever - just selective about when they put it into practice.
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by Judy Fox »

That research about chow chows being dumb is absolute rot in my opinion.
Chows are not like other dogs and that is fact and just because they don't want to bring a ball back does not mean they are stupid.
It took me all of two days to train Matilda to spend a penny on paper in the kitchen and then another two or three days to show her if she gave a paw to ask she could go out and that was when we brought her home when she was 8 weeks old.
If the researchers want to mark a dog on how many sticks or ball it retrieves then I consider the intelligence of the researcher should be researched! :roll:
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by Victory »

The research is done in a way that chows and most other truly independent breeds fail. They test things like repetious commands in a row, like sit ten times in a row, they also will put a towel or something over the dog's head and see if hey uncover themselves. Chows don't repeat commands over and over without a reason, and by the 5th or 6th time they are commanded to sit, they'll be looking at you like, "are you nuts? You told me to do that already, I did it, so now what." They also will not normally shake off a towel or blanket put over them because they didn't do it, so why should they remove it. If you scare them with it, they won't even allow it. They are perfectly capable of removing it, they just figure, you did it, you should remove it. Most of them don't fetch, especially after puppyhood, so that counts against them too.

Many chows aren't motivated by treats or toys, so it makes them hard to train with those rewards, and that to a lot of trainers makes them difficult to train and therefore they call them stupid. It's all about motivation, and the truth is chows aren't motivated by the things most dogs are motivated by. In my book that makes them very smart indeed, most of us say they are too smart for their own good.
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by TyChowgirl »

I agree with Victory. Usually these tests are based upon trainability. Kind of a blind obedience. Those dogs are eager to please their master without thinking. Literally a jump, how high sort of attitude. It doesn't make them smart or stupid. Fetching is kind of a repetitive behavior and easy to teach and you have dogs who have that natural want bred into them. My chow can fetch, but will only do so in the apartment and when he feels like it. He enjoys it, but on his terms. They are stubborn, and a lot of normal and easy training techniques may not work because they learn differently and think differently. It's kind of like being an audio learner versus a visual or hands on learner. You just have to find out what motivates them and pick the right time. I went through so many different kinds of treats when Ty was a puppy because he wouldn't touch any of them. My neighbor got nearly all of them. Finally, I figured out he had a love for cheese. Cheese is positive no matter what. Then I bought treats with cheese and other stuff as the flavors and we've worked our way into having a better variety. Some webpages have them listed as not stupid just stubborn and cat like making them independent and harder to train. Others have them listed as being a pampered pet and stupid. We all know that's not the case. Despite not having a huge motivator when we got him,(and the breeder hadn't done anything with him unfortunately) the first night home, he learned sit, the next day, down and shortly there after, he learned how to give me paw. Really easy to train when he was naturally kind of doing the behavior and rewarding it at the right time. He knows a variety of tricks and likes to learn. But we can't go through them too long or he gets bored lol.
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by Rory's Dad »

there is currently a tv commercial showing in my area the is supporting a rescue society. it shows a beagle type dog with a bunch of toys on the floor. The dog comments that his new human is playing a game of hide and seek but she keeps hiding the toys in the same basket in the same spot. He then comments on how easy and silly the human is for making the game so easy. In reality, the human is just picking up the toys and putting them away.

I really think this captures pretty well how our chows must be thinking most of the time.
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by Ursa's daddy »

Here is the comment I made to Sirchow in another post
There has been some discussion about just how smart chows are. That stubborn streak makes me wonder sometimes. They are not border collies and are not likely to learn a lot of tricks. BUT, they are a quick study of humans. I had a GSD/collie mix, and he was smart, but my chows amaze me in how they relate. I dropped a plate of tater tots. Now the general rule is that food dropped on the floor belongs to the dogs. I don't think I said anything. (At least not to them) They knew that this was not for them. They stayed back almost like it was hazardous material. I cleaned things up and all was well.

TyChowgirl's comment about stubborn and cat like making them independent and harder to train seems to cover it rather well. I have trained cats to walk on a lead, play fetch, etc, my two chows exhibit a lot of those independent cat qualities. At the same time, I can tell that they are checking me and trying to read my body language. They can be quite good at it.
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

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This topic makes me have to share this pic once again ...
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by Judy Fox »

I agree with what you all have said! :lol:
We have had this discussion more than once before and the comments were just the same.
When the subject came up years ago I tried the towel thing on Milly and Mabel. They both reacted differently - Milly just sat down and waited but Mabel, always the clown, just walked about with it on, covering her head - right out into the garden and when it eventually fell off she was laughing at us. :lol: She knew she had been funny. I haven't tried it with Matilda and Maisie - I must! \:D/
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by Ursa's daddy »

After reading Judy's post, I decided to try the towel thing. First I put it on Ursa. She didn't do anything, but Malachi saw it and decided to come over and see what was happening. I then put it on him. He walked back to his spot and laid back down. So Kitty decided to try it on the little dogs. They immediately uncovered themselves. So what does this prove. I don't know. It seems like arguing if Einstein was smarter than Beethoven.
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by Thomas »

Teddie obeys commands she understands the reason for. She sees no point in the "shake" command so she simply will not do it. Here, sit, stay, down, up, off, heel she understands what they're for so it's no problem. Shake? No way. And "roll over"? You must be kidding. I tell people the big difference with chows is they think they have a right to an opinion when it comes to commands. "Shake? Really? So I'm supposed to give you my paw, then what? Exactly what is this accomplishing that benefits me? I don't care if other dogs do it. Do I look like other dogs? Get a life."
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by Victory »

Thomas wrote:"Shake? Really? So I'm supposed to give you my paw, then what? Exactly what is this accomplishing that benefits me? I don't care if other dogs do it. Do I look like other dogs? Get a life."
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: I love it, that is SO true! Sums up Chow perfectly!
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by Judy Fox »

We have taught our chows to give a paw if they want something. For example when they were young and we thought they wanted to go out to spend a penny, we would say "What do you want?" and hold our hand out. Then we would take hold of a front paw and then say "Good girl, do you want to go our to spend a penny?" We would then let them out and very quickly they learnt to give a paw if they want something.
Now, they know to offer a paw and we will then find out what they want. They will come to us and offer a paw and then take us to their water bowl if it is empty - and so on.
Also they offer a paw for their dinner - not in the way of begging for it - but as a thank you. :D
We find it a very useful form of communication.
Tilly and Maisie will often come in and get Fred in this manner if they want to show him something in the garden. They don't like their bundles left and will come and tell us! Cheeky little madames - we clear them up as soon as we see them. \:D/
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by Ursa's daddy »

Judy, that is so smart on your part to teach your chow a means of communication. The fact that they took the training and made good use of it is not as surprising. While I can't say that my chows have done anything like that, I have had a number of cats that would use communication signals.
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog bre

Post by Judy Fox »

Chows are definitely extremely intelligent. They quickly learnt what the words "What do you want ?" mean and now if they want anything, they are so sweet as they come up to one of us and offer a paw. On a few occasions, they have woken me up in the middle of the night by putting their front paws on our bed and poking me with their paws then when I wake and as them what they want, the paw is offered and I am up to let them out. It is so sweet. :D
They are a pleasure to live with. :D
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog breeds

Post by pomchow »

HAHAHAH, this towel test made me laugh sooo hard
so my chow pup (6 months old, first heat now) removed the towel in 20 seconds my pomeranian however (dog, 4 years) is still with it. sooo, it just confirmed what I thought my chow girl is much more intelligent.
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Re: are chow chow's like one of the most intelligent dog breeds

Post by KristynaChow »

Not only are the stubbornly smart but they pick up on patterns obnoxiously fast. I was having some problems socializing my girl in my house. Outsude of the house she is quiet, well mannered and essentially looks at the world as being beneath her. The problem was getting her used to anyone coming into my house. I live in very rural area so not allot of company. I was working with a trainer on this issue and I told her yana was remarkable at picking at patterns. Within 15 minutes of meeting her she couldn't believe it.

Yana is five, almost six, and has learned the basics (sit, stay, come [she's still snotty about this one], lay down, over. She will also do circle side, circle back, high five, double high five, hugs, dancing bear, she loves tug, hide and seek, tag, nose pokes [both of our favorites]. She is also learning search and rescue after I discovered just how good her nose is.

Chows, in my opinion, are the most amazing dogs that aren't "dogs". As i tell my friends she's a dog with the attitude of a cat. If you want a slobbery "yes" dog, chows aren't for you.

Oh and I don't know about the rest of you but my girl gives the best hellos when I come home. Nothing like the huge smile when the door opens
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