Chow Chows

[becca_4321]

Chows and Chow Chows are the same thing. Also my husband nor I have ever heard of this thing with the brain. If it's true then thats sad. Thats all I can say. That dog was old, maybe his eye sight is failing him, must have something going on with his health. Doesnt sound like that behaviour was the norm for him.
Yes, Chows are very protective of their loved ones. They are very devoted and quite often they have that one person that they love so very much. I am that person with Gracie. She loves my husband, she loves my kids and my grandkids. She enjoys my husbands best friend, our neighbors and my sister and parents. She is fine with company and other people she has never met but if she isnt comfortable she will sit by me until she is. On walks she doesnt freak out at strangers. Just because she might be protective of me and my family doesnt mean she will bite anyone. This is why socializing a Chow as well as other breeds is so very important. If someone never socialized their German Shepards which people are highly fond of, how would that dog act towards people it didnt know? Would that dogs behaviour be the norm for all German Sherpards? Every chihuahua I have ever met was a barker, unfriendly, would bite if you got to close, and very protective of it's owner. Do I think all are like that? NO. It's just pretty much their nature if they arent socialized. I dont dislike that breed because of it.
The problem with Chows that people dont seem to realize is their eyesight. They dont have the ability to see out of the sides of their eyes. Their fur blocks so many things. So sudden movements startle them. This is why older Chows and young children do not go well together. Because of their sudden movements.
This chow you talked about has got some kind of health issue that is causing him pain. Shoot, I know humans who get cranky as hell as old people and would bite if you wasnt paying close attention. Dogs would be no different. If they have serious health issues, they hurt or they dont feel good, maybe cant even see good anymore they are bound to get cranky. Please dont classify Chows as being mean dogs. They are no different than other breeds who have been classified as mean. The only difference is, some people dont understand certain breeds. My vet explained it as of all the dogs she see's, a Chow is the only breed she is unable to read.

 

[Ash47]

I don't believe this. But it is interesting that someone would actually think that and I wonder what led to the thought anyway...
I love Chows. They are just very aloof. Precious is NOT aloof. She has the Lab personality all the way. Just the Chow color, tongue, and tail.

Eli,
It is sooooo true that everything is mixed with Lab. Or supposedly mixed with Lab. I know Precious is, cuz I saw her black Lab mama with the sagging teats. Never saw her daddy, but I think that part is obvious. LOL
But at the clinic, on the paperwork that new patients fill out, their dog is always mixed with "Lab." But, this could be since Labs are the most popular and most likely the most overbred dog in the US. So, with so many running around, it could very well be true. Agree, disagree??

 

[Ash47]

becca,
That is true with Chis. Lots of toy breeds are like this because they are carried around their whole life and not socialized. The Chi has more of a tendency to be this way though. I am not quite sure why, but I know that we did socialize Roxy like crazy. Dogs, cats, children, older people, people of different races, took her everywhere and allowed her to actually walk on the ground lots of the time so she didn't get too spoiled. Roxy is not snappy at all. Unless, I am holding her and another dog jumps on me. Then, she snaps. I spoke with a trainer about this and she said it is Roxy being protective of another dog jumping on her mama. Other than that, she does not snap.

Thank you for not generalizing the Chihuahua breed to be snappy, because of all the ones I have met, only one has been snappy. And she was old, sick, and spoiled.

 

[becca_4321]

Sometimes I get so upset when I hear the putdowns of Chows, yet the other bad rap breeds get defended to the end. It's as if the rules of never a bad dog only a bad owner applies to all dogs but Chows. I could find flaws in every breed. But I dont because I just simply love dogs. I know certain breeds just arent for me. I thought my ex husband was insane when he brought home a doberman with us having a baby. That was a killer breed. Yet that dog was such a sweetheart.

I always told my kids, never judge a person by their race. In your lifetime you will find that every race has it's jerks, and every race has just as many or more wonderful people in it. Same with breeds of dogs.

 

[juliefurry]

I didn't think that was true about the brains never stopping growing either. The guy told me that and I was just like "are you sure?" The dog was never really mean to people it was just the last three months they had it he said it just would ge wierd and since it had already lived longer than the expected life span the vet said that it needed to be put down. I don't know maybe the guy was just saying that to his wife so they could get another dog (because they got a pup soon after) and he's just trying to keep up the "illusion" of that's what really happened with the dog.

 

[becca_4321]

Hard telling. The dog was old. Chows can get all kinds of eye problems so chances are good that the dog had sight problems and lord knows what else. What kind of pup did he get?

 

[EliNHunter]

Chows and Chow Chows are the same thing. Also my husband nor I have ever heard of this thing with the brain. If it's true then thats sad. Thats all I can say. That dog was old, maybe his eye sight is failing him, must have something going on with his health. Doesnt sound like that behaviour was the norm for him.
Yes, Chows are very protective of their loved ones. They are very devoted and quite often they have that one person that they love so very much. I am that person with Gracie. She loves my husband, she loves my kids and my grandkids. She enjoys my husbands best friend, our neighbors and my sister and parents. She is fine with company and other people she has never met but if she isnt comfortable she will sit by me until she is. On walks she doesnt freak out at strangers. Just because she might be protective of me and my family doesnt mean she will bite anyone. This is why socializing a Chow as well as other breeds is so very important. If someone never socialized their German Shepards which people are highly fond of, how would that dog act towards people it didnt know? Would that dogs behaviour be the norm for all German Sherpards? Every chihuahua I have ever met was a barker, unfriendly, would bite if you got to close, and very protective of it's owner. Do I think all are like that? NO. It's just pretty much their nature if they arent socialized. I dont dislike that breed because of it.
The problem with Chows that people dont seem to realize is their eyesight. They dont have the ability to see out of the sides of their eyes. Their fur blocks so many things. So sudden movements startle them. This is why older Chows and young children do not go well together. Because of their sudden movements.
This chow you talked about has got some kind of health issue that is causing him pain. Shoot, I know humans who get cranky as hell as old people and would bite if you wasnt paying close attention. Dogs would be no different. If they have serious health issues, they hurt or they dont feel good, maybe cant even see good anymore they are bound to get cranky. Please dont classify Chows as being mean dogs. They are no different than other breeds who have been classified as mean. The only difference is, some people dont understand certain breeds. My vet explained it as of all the dogs she see's, a Chow is the only breed she is unable to read.

VERY informative post. I learned a lot myself... thanks....

 

[juliefurry]

it's a great dane mix. They got him from a shelter. It's suppose to be a dane and a lab, but I think they just said it's part lab because it has some black on it.

 

[Love4Pits]

I don't mean to offend anyone but
If this is true could this possibly be a reaction to being bred for a long time as mainly a food source? i don't know much about that breed but it does make you think.

 

[juliefurry]

I don't think of a Chow as a "bad" breed. I met the one Chow that this post is about and for the most part it was REALLY friendly. It was just the one day we got up to leave and the dog came in the room and just started growling and backed me up into a corner and as soon as she looked as though she was gonna bite she just changed and wagged her tail and when I put my hand out she licked it.

 

[BigDog2191]

Chow Chow's, huh? I've looked into this breed a lot...

They're definitely not for a new owner, they shed a lot, and from what I was told by someone who works with them, they're EXCELLENT guard dogs.

So, for an experienced owner they can make wonderful pets!

 

[oriondw]

Sometimes I get so upset when I hear the putdowns of Chows, yet the other bad rap breeds get defended to the end. It's as if the rules of never a bad dog only a bad owner applies to all dogs but Chows. I could find flaws in every breed. But I dont because I just simply love dogs. I know certain breeds just arent for me. I thought my ex husband was insane when he brought home a doberman with us having a baby. That was a killer breed. Yet that dog was such a sweetheart.

I always told my kids, never judge a person by their race. In your lifetime you will find that every race has it's jerks, and every race has just as many or more wonderful people in it. Same with breeds of dogs.

Personally my self.

Reason I sometimes defend pit's and other breeds is because I see great dogs with my own eye's. Well with chows, I have yet to see a stable, well mannered dog... Im sure they exist, but out of 10 or so I saw in my life, all of them were vicious dogs with screws loose.

 

[becca_4321]

Is it really the chows had screws loose or is it simply you cant read a chow and so you have convinced yourself they are a problem dog? I find it hard to believe that you have only met bad Chows out of that many. When I was in my early 20's I knew someone who bred Chows. Of all her Chows she had one that had to be penned. He was mean but guess what she did, she bred him anyway. Back then Chows were being over bred. She wasnt alone in breeding a dog like that. Every Tom, Dick and Harry out there was breeding Chows for easy money. Not only were bad dogs bred, then there were people who loved the look but knew nothing about the breed buying them. Because a Chow puppy is often very well mannered they often were left untrained, unsocialized. Then when they became adolrscence there often would be a problem.

The bad Chows you see are not because they are bad dogs, its because the owner didnt understand the breed and didnt work with them as pups. I had never had a Chow before, my husband has worked with Chows for years. He warned me ahead of time a Chow is like no other breed out there but are wonderful dogs. So I educated myself on the breed before ever taking on a Chow. I wanted to make sure I was ready for this. They are stubborn, they are funny. To someone who doesnt understand the Chow they are unreadable which makes people think they are mean. Some are. But my Lord, every breed out there has some mean ass dogs! I puppysit a pug puppy. Comparing the two breeds, my Chows have been so easy to pottytrain, the pug is taking forever. My Chows have never growled at my grand-daughter, the pug has. My Chows play with bones together, stealing them from each other....the pug gets ticked off. I walk outside my house and get barked at and growled at by 2 pomerainans daily that live next door to me. Yet that neighbor works in his yard and my Chows never bark at him or growl at him. The meter reader for the electric enters my yard to read the meter with my dogs outside. I seen her one day and went to bring the dogs in, she laughed and said I didnt have to do that, they are good dogs. We take our walks and if the boxer down the road is in his yard running free he has to be taken in or held. I see sometimes a couple of females with their young kids walking their dogs. Differnt breeds, one Chow. The Chow walks off leash the others unable to.
Its all in understanding the breed. If a person takes a Chow and doesnt understand the importance of socializing it and working with it as a pup then problems can happen. Again, that is not a flaw in a Chow, that is the mistake of the owner. I dont know what kind of people you know that they'd all have vicious Chows but believe me, there are good people in this world who have raised wonderful Chows. There are good breeders out there that love the breed and are careful about what dogs are bred and are getting very careful about who they allow to have their chows! A Chow cannot be hit or be treated in a violent way. Chows simply are often misunderstood.

 

[becca_4321]

Oh Bigdog, Chows dont shed alot. What happens is once or twice a year they shed heavy. You have to brush them regularly and during the shedding process you can fill a garbage bag full of fur. The rest of the time they arent shedders. And they do make good guard dogs, if that's what your after.

 

[oriondw]

Oh I can read dogs just fine,... They all have same body language.

I think you answered your own questions about my post with your reply

 

[becca_4321]

By the way, I forgot to say one thing. I didnt mean to sound like I was putting anyone down for defending other breeds like Pittbulls. I personally have never spent anytime around a Pitt. I've come acrossed one that was running free which I think might be one but I'm one of those people who couldnt pick one out of a crowd....I'll admit that. I think it's great so many people are fighting to educate others about these breeds that are getting bad raps. Its ok for a person to not feel certain breeds are for them. I love this little pug puppy I puppysit but I can tell you for a fact that I'd never go out and buy one! Nothing agaisnt the breed, it just isnt the one for me. So anyway, please dont think I was putting you or anyone else down for defending other dogs. Someone needs to be their voice and speak out for them.

 

[Ash47]

becca,
It is extremely true that you just can't read Chows. That doesn't make them a bad dog or a person mean for being a little scared. Ya know? I think Chows are a very interesting and very beautiful dog.

 

[puppyluva4life]

i used to have a chow. i loved him to peices but once in 14 yrs he snapped at me sigh..i luved him though

 

[bubbatd]

There was a Chow at the barn where we used to board our horses. He was fine with me, but in the past had bitten his owner, owner's mother and a repair man. My daughter in law went with us to visit the horses one day, and when she saw him got on her knees , grabbed both cheeks and said " Aren't you a sweetie ! " I quickly told her to stand up slowly .....luckily there wasn't a problem, but he could have taken her face off !! Unfortunately, you can't figure them out !

 

[becca_4321]

We was at the gas station about a week ago, had Gracie and Princess with us. I stayed in the van with the dogs while my husband ran in. Someone pulled up beside us and I heard the lady in the car say "thats not a Chow". I turned to look and the guy hollars over asking me if thats a Chow. I said yes. She got out of her car and stuck her arm in the window to pet Gracie and by then Princess had squeezed in to get her share of attention. The lady went on and on about how pretty she was and she'd never seen one that color. The hole time I'm thinking what if I hadnt been in here! Does this lady make it a habit of sticking her hands inside windows of cute dogs? I know thats kind of off topic but what you was saying Bubbatd reminded me of that.