New Member: My Chow does not act like a Chow

Introduce yourself and ask questions of the forum Chow Chow enthusiasts.

Moderator: chowadmin

Post Reply
dhemelberg
Rank 0
Rank 0
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2021 10:20 am

New Member: My Chow does not act like a Chow

Post by dhemelberg »

Hi everyone!
I just joined this forum hoping to connect with other chow owners and share my experiences raising my now 1 year old chow chow. My 1 year old female chow, Zara, was adopted by me and my family when she was 9 weeks old. My family has always owned chows and my first dog was a chow chow who was with us until she was 17 years old. She gave me so many special memories and she had as one could say typical "chow behavior." She was protective, smart, independent, but she was also sweet, gentle, and had not a single mean/aggressive bone in her body. Now my new chow is a different story. Right off the bat when we got her we knew something was different. Zara is quirky, smart, rambunctious, loves attention, comes when she is called, follows me around everywhere, and loves affection. She is protective and on guard with strangers as chows tend to be but once she gets to know you she won't leave you alone. They say that chows "act more like cats" than dogs but I can definitely say that Zara acts just like a dog, in fact me and my brother jokingly say that she's a golden retriever hiding in a chows body. I hope to hear feedback from others and their stories/experiences owning chows.
MrsDee
Rank 0
Rank 0
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon May 09, 2022 2:06 am

Re: New Member: My Chow does not act like a Chow

Post by MrsDee »

Hi,
I have an almost 3 month cream female chow chow, named Pree (short for Pretentious) who seems to be growing up like your Zara, as in sometimes I question if she is a Chow Chow. We got her at 8 weeks and yes, this is our first family dog….(I know, most people are like Chows aren’t family dogs, and they aren’t good for new dog owners - my husband and I grew up with German shepherds and husky’s in our lives so we’re kinda new pet parents.) Pree seems to be a wonderful addition to our family which is pleasant and wonderful surprise (we were expecting a catlike dog.) She enjoys cuddles, sleeping on peoples laps and snuggles into our 8 year olds death hold hugs and will willingly ask/paw our 10 year old son to be picked up and baby carried around…. She loves playing tag with our kids and the neighborhood kids (with daddy and I monitoring everyone’s behavior.) She does speak in fluent snuffleupagus 😉 as in she chuffs, huffs, snorts, grunts to communicate on a regular basis and barely barks unless she deems it worthwhile such as a new person steps into the house or if us humans did not interpret her snuffy sounds correctly.
Currently her only “normal” chow behavior is she will place herself between an approaching stranger and her humans- she will do her regal sitting pose, while giving a death glare and will sound like a tiny motorcycle however if Pree gets to approach the stranger first (she likes to approach strangers with a deviant, toothy smile) if you can handle her stalking prey approach she seems to deem those people worthy and will plop down for some pets and possible full body wags as in to say “I approve, you stood your ground and we can be acquainted.” The only strangers who turn into immediate friends is when me or daddy pick her up during the introductions and let that stranger hold/carry her for example when she met all the grandparents (who she adores because she nudges them with her paw for pets and will huff and puff and she is ignored.)
I could go on and on with her non-chow shenanigans because she’s our furbaby who we all love and coddle and we are trying to get people on board with how awesome Chow Chows are.
Post Reply