Chow Chow: Your new pet
The Chow Chow, or simply Chow, is a very independent medium-sized dog, similar in appearance to a lion. It is a fairly safe and dignified dog with aristocratic manners.
This breed comes from Northern China; it is one of the few ancient races that remain and exist in the world today.
It is believed that this breed was used by Foo, one of the stone guardians who appear in front of Buddhist temples and palaces as a model for his dog.
The Chow Chow is not an aggressive dog who bites, but it is not very familiar either.
You need an expert with much knowledge in the area so that it can coexist with people, if not, it is better not to have a canine of these at home because they are not very obedient and find it difficult to recognize leadership within the home, for them, they are their leader.
The Chow Chow, despite being known in China for about 2000 years, the name does not come from there, but it is of English origin.
At the end of the 18th century, English sailors bought all kinds of merchandise to sell in their country, they used a term to refer to their purchases and in that, a captain preferred to write “Chow Chow” to all the things that were inside the boxes and when they started to also import this breed of dogs the expression reached them and they remained so-called.
This dog was widely used in China as a shepherd dog, hunting dog, guard dog and until 1915 when the practice was eliminated it was also used as food.
In Mandarin, the way to describe this dog meant «swollen lion-dog.»
It is a medium-sized dog, robust, with eyes and small ears. Due to a very peculiar conformation in its hind legs, it has a movement in “stringers”.
It is an agile and balanced movement dog. Its fur is quite variant and therefore it can be soft or rough and most of its fur accumulates in the neck.
The color of the skin can be black, red, blue, cream, a little yellowish or a mixture of two colors together. A characteristic very marked in Chow Chow dogs is their tongue since their color is blue.
The Chow Chow is a very independent dog, calm, loyal and distant, it can be attached only to its owner: it only shows affection when it truly feels it, because this is a very suspicious and always defensive dog. Its character is different from other dogs because it is very difficult for it to obey and before doing so it thinks it over very well.
It is spiteful, so if its owner is hard on him, he will not be forgiven.
It is a dog that needs to socialize properly from a puppy so that it does not create problems with strangers; it must be well educated because with the animals of its breed and same-sex is more aggressive with the animals of other races or opposite sex.
However, they are characterized by being loyal to their family, and adapting to other masters is something that costs them a lot.
They can live quietly in an apartment since they are not a very active breed, but they still have to do daily physical activity, through daily walks and outdoor activities at least once a day.
The Chow Chow has several inherited problems that you need to know to help them when they arise. One of them is Hip Displacia (DC). It is an orthopedic problem that affects this breed of dogs due to a hip malformation, it can occur in one or both hips and the way of seeing it is through X-rays and for the pain to stop they must resort to surgery.
Another problem is dissecting osteochondritis (OCD), it is a problem where the cartilage that covers the bone of one of the joints thickens, enlarges and cracks facilitating inflammation and bone deterioration.
There are also eye problems such as Entropion, an irritation of the eyelids and the eyeball; the Ectropion, a stretch of the eyelid accumulating dirt and irritation in the eye and also as health problems, the patellar dislocation, a deformation in the patella when leaving the cast and produces lameness.
History and Origin of the Chow Chow
The origin of the name of the Chow Chow dogs was thought to be Chinese, however, today it is known that its origin is English, since its name was born due to English sailors who, when they bought merchandise to be sold in their country, generally pieces of ivory, porcelain figures, and jewels, used a specific term to refer to these items.
Subsequently, a captain of the ship in which things were transported wrote the word «Chow Chow» to all the various objects that were inside the boxes. Then, when they began to move and import the dogs among their merchandise, they included the dog among that expression. From there, they decided to call this peculiar breed Chow Chow.
The legends of the origins that surround this medium dog are countless. Its unique and unrepeatable character has made it for years one of the most purchased dogs in the market. This unusual appearance and its slightly varied origin have allowed this breed to be linked fantastically with other kinds of animals that do not belong to the world of dogs. One of the most frequented legends says that his offspring do not come from the wolf but the bear.
Currently, no sample verifies the relationship that Chow Chow can have with the bear, however, all those experts who affirm this offspring, reflect their hypothesis in the outstanding characteristics that this breed shares with that animal. Also, those who support this strange theory claim that the ancestor of the Chow Chow dog is a wild and primitive animal that is currently extinct.
On the other hand, it is known that the offspring of all dogs are found in the wolves, which is why the dogs mostly when they are found with other wolves in their first time, prepare to attack or look away so immediate.
Do not discard the idea that this dog can have a bear’s offspring, since when we stop to think about it, that pompous way of walking and the characteristic blue tongue, are characteristic of the independent nature of the bear, and it is because this is understood as how and where the Chow Chow theory with bear cub descent came from.
Although the Chow Chow has always been proclaimed as China’s breed, in Chinese documents that exist historically it is reflected how they define this dog as «the foreigner Chow Chow.» All this scientific detail comes as a result of an investigation that reveals that the Chow Chow dog emigrated to China but its origin is in the Arctic.
These invading barbarians possessed dogs of formidable stature, which according to some descriptions, were so fierce that they could take down men very easily and their tongue was black. Besides, on different occasions these warrior dogs referred to the lions, reminding them not only of their color but also of their characteristic head, in addition to their hairy hair and long claws.
Although the long history of the Chow Chow in China can be traced through its paintings and images in bronze, in the year 225 B.C. much of the documented memory of the race disappeared, since at that time Emperor Chin Shih got rid of almost all existing Chinese literature. And that is why interesting details of the old descriptions are added in the archives that survived concerning these warriors.
It is necessary to emphasize that these writings affirm that the Chow Chow was a completely different dog from other breeds, with their large and wide heads, those small eyes and their short snout, and their medium yet peculiar body. These dogs were quite faithful to their masters, but with strangers extremely hostile, that fierce nature made them perfect and ideal candidates to be used as war dogs, but in addition to that, it is very interesting that they also proved to be very good dogs of the flock and excellent hunters.
Over time, the breed softened that fierce nature and from there they could be assigned other tasks closer to the domestic nature as well as a draft dog, shepherd, guardian, hunter and even as food for the family. Since then, to refer to something edible in China with a vulgar word they used «Chow». It is considered a fine delicacy for those dogs that were intended for that purpose. And in 1915 the law prohibited the consumption of these animals in food and their sale for the same purpose.
It is necessary to remember that the Chinese legend offers us different pure practical reasons that most distinguish the Chow Chow and are that the bluer the tongue is, the more delicious and tender the animal is and the more its hind limbs were straighter then the meat would be more abundant.
Main Features
The Chow Chow is a canine breed from China, more precisely, northern China; they are nice-to-look-at dogs, of medium size and robust, muscular and compact body structure, it has a short back, a wide head in the that small, short, erect, triangular ears are arranged, slightly rounded at the tips and slightly inclined forward.
Its head also has a nose with wide-open nostrils that is also small, triangular and almost always black, although the color of this can vary slightly in lighter colored specimens.
It has a wide and deep snout with a rather strong and scissor-shaped bite, its eyes are small and a little sunken, they are always a dark color and almond-shaped, they are usually of some shade between brown and black.
These dogs can have two types of fur according to their length, those with short fur have a texture like that of cotton with straight and quite dense hairs, those with long hair have a sufficient coverage with a woolly and soft inner layer, their fur makes them resemble, especially in the head, the lions, the colors that are seen most frequently in the fur of dogs of this breed are red, black, blue, cinnamon and cream, however sometimes they can be white or gray.
It should be noted that these dogs are of a single color or at most with tabby fur, those that have more than one color are not recognized by the clubs; these dogs have a broad chest, the tail is located in the upper part of their back and they always carry it high and curled on the back, their hind legs have a peculiar configuration.
They are unusually straight, which makes them walk with short steps and strides, yet this one walks with an agile and balanced walk. They share with the Tibet bear a couple of characteristics, one of them is their walk and the other, possibly the most representative of these dogs, a bluish-black tongue, finally to close the physical characteristics the height to the cross of these dogs, for males it ranges between 48 and 56 centimeters, for females between 46 and 51 centimeters. The average weight of the males is around 28 kilograms, although it may be a little above or below, it should not be less than 25 or greater than 32 for a healthy specimen, for females the average weight is about 22 kilograms, and neither should it be less than 20 or greater than 25.
Now we are going to refer to its temperamental characteristics; the Chow Chow is an independent dog, it may be shown withdrawn or reserved and always very calm, it is rather lazy, it is not at all devoted to physical exercise.
However, this does not mean you do not have to take at least one short walk a day; often, given that it is quite territorial, you will find him taking short walks as a patrol, to ensure that no one approaches “its territory” nor other dogs, nor unknown persons, then you will rest when you have already verified that no alien beings are approaching their circle.
For this reason, it is emphasized that training and socialization at an early age are more than just “necessary” since, in the future, the territorial instinct can become a problem when the dog has to interact with people who are not from the family or other dogs, in places such as a park.
However, these qualities surely helped him in the past to play the role of a guard dog, he is a quite dominant dog sometimes and perhaps too often tries to impose his dominance even on his owners.
This could be a problem when it comes to educating him, although once he has overcome the problem of obedience and dominance, his education will be a fairly easy task since this breed is very intelligent and learns with surprising speed, nowadays and since a good amount of time has been used as a companion dog, the Chow Chow does not show as much as in the past, shyness or aggression, can even coexist with a home with children and be patient with them although not very affectionate, that is not his style, despite his sweet appearance as a stuffed lion, is not a dog that greatly seeks the attention and affection of his family, as already mentioned in these lines, is very independent.
Despite their independence, once the submission of a Chow Chow to their master has been achieved, it is really difficult to make the dog change its master, they are very loyal dogs to their family and they find it difficult to adapt to a new familial or social circle.
Behavior with other dogs
It is known that the Chow Chow, which are some adorable-looking dogs, slightly flattering or bearlike, are also quite independent, as well as stubborn and, especially males, dominant.
Dominance does not take long to manifest, and that should be controlled before it becomes a severe problem, if you are not educated about it, the dog will try to impose its dominance on their owners and also on other dogs.
Because in the past it was a dog used for hunting, it has developed a rather strong character, if it is not accustomed to seeing other dogs, it is common to be hostile towards dogs smaller than him, and also towards cats.
It is also important to mention that in many occasions it is an arduous task to get it to live with other dogs much larger than it, especially if they are male, as it is also difficult to live in harmony even with another dog of the same breed and sex, two Chow Chow will get along better if they are of different sexes, two male dogs almost certainly end up fighting to occupy a leadership position and demonstrate their superiority over the other.
A dog of this breed usually sees the other dogs that inhabit the same space as him, as a kind of competition or another family member, but rarely as a play and life partner or anything like that; usually the attention they need is sought directly from humans and not from other dogs, nor is it at all common for a Chow Chow and any other dog to sleep together, on that side, the independence of the Chow Chow comes afloat and they will seek to have their space and will be distant.
Due to the strong territorial sense of the Chow Chow, if you want to live with some other dog, it is necessary then that the Chow Chow has socialized very regularly from the earliest stages of his life so that this has been greatly diminished or even if you want, completely eradicate your protective and territorial instinct, which makes you keep your guard up and be defensive, otherwise, the other option is that both live together from puppies and grow together if you do not take any of these measures there may be (and most likely there will be) problems and quarrels between them or even the Chow Chow may simply refuse to agree to share his space and his family.
The character of the Chow Chow sometimes resembles that of a cat rather than that of a dog, even with training and socialization there is a possibility that the Chow Chow may be distant not because it feels anxious about being with other dogs, because of shyness or fear but simply his independence makes him act selflessly and maintain distances.
To get a Chow Chow to live with another dog, it is necessary to have enough space for each one, ensure that the other dog does not have an equally dominant character to avoid confrontations and keep them distracted whenever it seems that they are about to fight If any fight is avoided even before the habituation process occurs, which is that the dog learns to ignore elements of its environment that do not pose a danger and that it manages to see them as another parameter of its environment, it will occur more quickly and the dogs are going to get used to being with each other, although this can be a little more difficult for the Chow Chow than for his partner since he usually prefers loneliness and isolation.
You can aspire to share certain spaces and family attention if the relationship between them is good, but not to become inseparable, play together all the time, share food or those kind of things; the Chow Chow will try as much as possible, with each action taken, to keep its dignity and “ego” by calling it somehow, sharing is not a word that suits you or that we can call characteristic of the specimens of this breed.
Many breeds of dogs, when they do not learn to socialize in time, become shy, scary and show noticeable social deficiencies, but this is not usually the case with the Chow Chow, although the part of the “social deficiency” obviously remains the Chow Chow is not exactly shy, a term that best suits his behavior is «reserved» and instead of scary.
It is usually rather aggressive and threatening, however, if you follow up on the relationship you have with other dogs with patience and dedication, as well as their behavior and reactions and of these the desired ones are encouraged and those considered unacceptable are corrected, a healthy and impeccable social life will be guaranteed for Chow Chow.
Diet and feeding of the Chow Chow
All living beings consume energy with the simple act of breathing, the more we must move and make physical efforts, and as everyone knows, energy is not created from anything; it has to come from somewhere, and for dogs and we who belong to the animal kingdom, we take that energy from the food we consume.
The food is not only important for the energy we spend and we must replenish, but from it, in the early stages we take out the necessary nutrients for development, and in the later stages the components we need to sustain the totality of our bodies and processes which are carried out in them.
A good diet will result in a healthy body with beautiful hair, nails and strong skin, in addition to a feeling of well-being, in this the dogs are very similar to us, a well-fed and properly treated dog will inevitably result in a strong, healthy and happy dog.
The Chow Chow does not have a rustic stomach, on the contrary, it is delicate and therefore it must be fed carefully, especially before speaking that it can be fed it should be mentioned as it should be given and this is in small quantities and with relative frequency in instead of large quantities between considerable time intervals.
It should be fed with easily digestible foods and avoid those that are highly processed, as with any animal, its diet should consist of a balanced amount of fats, vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, and minerals.
It is necessary to pay special attention to its feeding when it is a puppy since a deficient feeding will be reflected in a deficient development.
During the first months it should be fed 4 times a day in small portions so that its absorption of nutrients is constant when it is larger, between the fourth and seventh month it can be reduced to 3 meals a day, then to 2 the eighth and Eighteenth and finally only one after 18 months, however, an exception must be made if it is a pregnant female, which to properly breastfeed would need between 2 and 3 meals, not necessarily physical, a day from the second month of breastfeeding, everyone should know that energy is conserved, so if a dog receives energy from their food and does not spend it, it will get fat.
It has been estimated of an average Chow Chow, that is to say, a lazy one should consume between 1,250 and 1,440 Kcal to maintain its weight, the fats provide twice the energy that proteins or sugars, so you must properly balance the foods that you provide it; it is not the same to feed him 1kg of a pure protein food and feed him with 1kg of some high-fat food, the excess energy will be transformed into fat which will usually accumulate on the sides, the loin or the cross, if you notice something more fat or if you weigh it and you realize that it is gaining a lot of weight, you should take away meals between meals and avoid giving it leftovers of your food, in case you are not feeding it between meals or giving part of your food, then you should consider lowering the ration and try to do a little more exercise.
One point about Chow Chow is that in the past it did not have much access to meat, he was fed with more common foods in China, such as fish, soybeans, and rice, because of this, if you supply him with enough protein he will not throw in the meat is missing.
On several occasions it responds well to fruits and vegetables, however, there are exceptions so you should monitor how you respond to them, usually, a healthy diet consists of at least 50% of proteins of animal origin, which can be covered by meat, fish or poultry.
If you plan to alter your diet by changing a specific food for another, the ideal would be to inform yourself of the nutritional content of the food you were given, so you can remove the exact amount of the old food, and replace it with the new one you are adding, from this way you have the certainty that the net amount of calories is maintained and that the dog will not get fat.
In the first stage, this is from birth to 55 days should let the mother feed the puppy, although from day 25 you can supplement the diet with milk and egg yolk, and after 30 days It should be considered to provide more dry food and start separating it from the mother to leave the tit, you can give milk with minced meat in pieces.
At 40 days it can be fed with well-cooked rice, meat, and fish. Initially, it will need more protein and fat than anything else so that the meat, milk, and oils will be provided in greater quantity, progressively you can reduce the amount of fat and protein and increase dry and fibrous aliments like cereals.
Necessary care
These friends suffer from several health problems since they are purebreds, that is, they are not crossed with others to correct certain defects in them, so they inherit certain conditions from their ancestors although most of these diseases are not a serious problem and can be easily overcome.
They are quite prone to suffer from hip dysplasia, which is a problem of orthopedic nature and affects several races, not only this one, it consists of malformations in the hip joints when it occurs in a specimen it usually occurs In changing hips and not in one, it can sometimes be quite obvious and notorious as well as painful for the dog.
On other occasions it can be so mild that it cannot even be noticed with the naked eye if it is not diagnosed by X-rays, other conditions to which they are prone are hypothyroidism, patellar dislocation, dissecting osteochondritis, ectropion, entropion and sometimes respiratory diseases due to the little opening in their nostrils and even eye diseases due to deficiencies in the opening of their eyes, another rather curious feature is that due to its abundant coat.
Sometimes they can suffer allergies, in addition to these conditions the Chow Chow is not usually a dog that gets sick very often nor a weakling; it is mostly a strong and healthy breed its life expectancy is above the average of other races, most of them live near 12 years although it is known of specimens that have lived up to 15 years.
It is not particularly complicated to keep the Chow fur in good condition, but for this, you have to groom them very often since they are puppies, to get them to get used to contact, brushing and so on, in case this is not done from an early age and regularly Chow Chow can be aggressive from the moment they are touched with a brush.
As far as baths are concerned, they should only be bathed in case they are excessively dirty or smell very bad, otherwise, about two or three baths per year are sufficient, these baths should be done with shampoo and soap that do not alter the properties of the fur of the dog and that they are of a neutral PH so that they do not affect their skin, they should not occur while the dog is digesting as well as during the vaccination period also before wetting them it is important to plug the ears in some way so that water does not get in, preferably with something soft that does not bother them and that can be easily removed later, such as cotton balls. It is very important to emphasize that they should not be exposed to excessive moisture or excessive sun heat because it could mean considerable and irreversible damage to the skin of the Chow Chow.
This is why after each bath you should take the time necessary to dry it carefully in each corner, brushing the fur should be a task that is done daily, with a bristle brush and a barbed brush, taking care to remove only the coat that looks dead and bad-looking and not the nascent and beautiful, if it is not done daily, the knots in the fur are likely quite uncomfortable and even painful that can only be removed with a shear.
Another detail of great importance is the vaccination program, which must be dictated by a veterinarian and followed just as ordered, also from time to time it is good to take it to have a deworming as well as two annual visits to the veterinarian at least so that any health problem that may begin to manifest in your beloved pet is detected in time to act against it.
The Chow Chow is not a very energetic breed, they prefer to be thrown out most of the day, but that does not mean that they do not have to do any exercise, lack of exercise can lead to muscular atrophy, overweight and even something similar to depression, the dog may appear sad and decayed, 80 minutes of walks and walks a day should be enough to avoid this, however when walking it must be taken into account that these dogs are quite sensitive to heat, especially if they carry the long mantle, so a walk-in summer just in the hours when the sun shines brighter are not particularly a good idea, in these conditions a walk in the morning or well into the afternoon avoids any risk of suffering a heat stroke, which are not unusual in this breed.
How to train and educate a Chow Chow dog
The Chow Chow has a quite strong character which you have to know how to handle, they are a very dominant dog breed and with marked territorial instincts, if they lack an owner who is firm and acts as the alpha male of the family, they will take that place, they will behave as if they were the boss and when it comes to performing a particular action or even when things are not arranged as they wish.
They will try to impose their dominance by force and through aggression, so it is strictly necessary that they are educated with a firm hand from an early age.
They are quite intelligent dogs and that is why they learn easily and quickly, but they do not respond well to obedience training, although with a lot of patience and work this attitude can be corrected little by little.
An important detail of this breed is that they are very faithful dogs, once they are used to a “master” it is extremely difficult to make them adapt to a different one, this must be taken into account when acquiring a Chow Chow so that it has time to get used to you and do not owe fidelity whoever raised you should get it from a puppy and get connected with it, more precisely the recommended age of adoption is between 8 and 12 weeks of age.
You have to be consistent with the permits that are given to it, if something is allowed a couple of times and then it is forbidden it may react stubbornly and not take it precisely well, for example, if as puppy it is allowed to sleep in the bed and then when it is older it needs to sleep on the floor, he will take it very badly and it will cost a lot that sticks to our new desire.
For this reason, it should be taken into account what behaviors are to be encouraged since places are thought to grant access during the rest of their days if you want to condition each aspect of their behavior you have to use more effort from the common because it can be something capricious. As an example, it is possible that if you prepare a basket as a bed for its first days, it prefers to sleep on a carpet or directly on the floor, like this, there are many other examples of occasions in which something It is planned to be done in a certain way, due to the stubbornness of Chow Chow, it cannot be this good at first.
In the past, it was used with a watchdog, and it may still have remnants of such behavior. If so, it would not like strangers to enter their comfort zone, which is usually your whole house, so if you don’t want it to behave hostile with visits you should take it out regularly.
For the dog to be accustomed to having strangers in his environment, he does not alter himself with them and in some way ignore his guardian instinct, the socialization properly carried out and from early stages with other people, particularly children and other dogs, is mandatory, with strangers, it is usually only distant but with strange dogs, it may even be aggressive, which is why socialization with other dogs should be emphasized.
The Chow Chow is not very fond of exercise, so if you want to enroll in contests of physical effort or agility it may be a somewhat difficult task, nor stand above the average in obedience, really their attributes are both their appearance and intelligence.
The link that a dog of this breed maintains with its breeder can become very strong, so we emphasize that you should watch how the dog behaves when there are people near his master since the Chow Chow can be overprotective or even possessive. Behaviors of this type must be detected and corrected in time, they should not be reinforced or rewarded since they could be the cause of aggressive behavior when the dog’s master meets other people.
Due to the little exercise that these dogs need an activity that can be taught is to find and bring a toy, although you must choose the toy carefully, this should not be very fragile because it could break it as well as very small and in both cases run the risk of swallowing it.
Whatever commands you want to teach the learning of these commands should be done through training that is based on incentives and positive reinforcements and not on punishments and negative actions such as shouting or even worse, blows, when it performs an action correctly or behaves exactly how we want, a treat, caresses, and words of encouragement immediately after that, the dog will associate your positive behavior with our affection and reward.
Behavior around humans
The Chow Chow is a breed of dogs that have lived with the man for a long time. It is estimated that the oldest ancestors of these dogs already existed no less than 2000 years ago, so all this time the Chow Chow has managed to adapt to being with people and they are doing very well doing it.
However, the use or rather the work that people most often assigned to these friends made them quite selective in terms of their relationships with humans, because they were used as dogs that kept the properties.
These dogs developed a behavior and affectionate relationship towards their owners, but very unfriendly and even hostile towards the rest of the people, since their job was precisely to keep intruders out of their domains and usually anyone who was not from the family automatically entered the category of intruder, this has caused that sometimes they are reluctant to accept the presence of strange visitors that have been voluntarily brought by the owners.
Of course, each specimen is different and therefore there may be exceptions but for the vast majority, if they do not have a good education, the dominant tendency is to be hostile to people outside of them, the most obvious solution is to get used to dogs to be among humans and to behave properly through the correct and constant socialization.
Chow Chow dogs often present the problem that because of their spongy and tender appearance many people tend to want to pet them, but they do not feel comfortable receiving any contact that does not come from one of their masters, with strangers, in the best of the cases, they behave with indifference and they are dedicated to ignoring the visits or to observe them from a comfortable and prudent distance, they are quite obstinate and they do not like even a hint that their personal space is invaded or violated by a newcomer.
Towards the owners the predominant behavior is one of possessiveness or overprotection, it is very suspicious of the proximity of strangers to their owners and even sometimes this can lead to aggressive actions; any behavior of this nature must be perceived and subsequently corrected instead of encouraged, to avoid having an aggressive dog that does not allow to attend visits with the house.
Another important point to keep in mind is that they are excessively dominant, especially males. They see the family as a kind of pack in which there must be a leader or alpha male and they will try to take that place if they are not treated with firmness and strictness, it is necessary to make clear what is his place within the family because his understanding of this information plays a fundamental role in the treatment he has with the members of that family.
If he is allowed to impose his dominant character on one occasion, there will be a confrontation when he wants to be made to understand that that was one thing at a time, from the moment he thinks he has won the position of leader treat others as if they were due to respect and obedience and not the other way around as it should be, the teaching of the hierarchy is, therefore, a point of high importance.
You can feel a deep affection when you have maintained a relationship with their owners but unlike other dogs that show their affection through caresses, licks and others, the Chow Chow as worthy as they are, can only show their affection and loyalty by offering protection, are not particularly given to the pampering and caresses and can even become obstinate of these by receiving them in excess.
Chow Chow dogs, unlike other dogs, are not so patient with children, they do not like to have nosy people in their space even if they are caressing or showing affection, children can sometimes act in ways that bother a Chow Chow, especially a young one who is not yet fully accustomed to dealing with people and becomes anxious when they bother him, besides there is also the possibility that because they are children they have heavy games that make him angry or that they hurt him unintentionally.
In these cases the Chow Chow does not show too much tolerance and may incur aggression, it is not advisable to have one baby and one Chow Chow at the same time, to adopt a Chow Chow it is best to wait for the babies to grow a little so that they I can explain how they should treat the dog and what they are allowed to do, after all, it is much easier to make it understood by a person who can understand and reason even if it is only a child than a dog that does not even understand the language in its entirety, if you can get the child to interact without problems with the dog, he will more easily receive other infants.
Its environment
Each breed of dog has its peculiarities that differentiate them, make them unique and stand out, but in the same way, the fur, texture, character, and temperament vary between one breed and another, the optimal environment for that each race develops, live better and more at ease.
What concerns us today in this article are the Chow Chow, who are not the exception of the aforementioned, although they do have optimal conditions for life, these are not very demanding, mainly we must highlight they are not a race precisely sports, do not need multiple long walks per day, hours of play, high physical activity or anything like that, a complete family is not necessary as is the case of other races that require so much time exercising daily that they have to the owners they would have to take turns to be able to attend to the dog and cover their obligations, an hour and a little more exercise each day cover this need since they are not fans of running in wide spaces they do not need a spacious house or that has a big patio, in particular; a small one will be more than enough.
An important consideration is that they are quite sensitive to heat and humidity, moisture can cause skin diseases, deterioration of the fur and make them feel uncomfortable and uncomfortable knots in it, but heat is the serious problem, they are quite prone to heatstroke which can be lethal at times, they have a dense and thick fur that may shelter them too much, but shaving it is equivalent to depriving them of one of its characteristics, so we recommend that in case you live in some area where you can enjoy the 4 seasons.
Pay careful and particular attention to your dog during the summer, it is a good idea to reduce the length of the fur in early summer, so that the heat can escape from them more easily, as well as keep them in a cool place, under the shade and if they are inside the house, with air conditioning; you have to avoid taking it to exercise, walking or playing in the hottest hours of the day.
For autumn and winter or if you live in a place where it is cold all year or most of it, do not worry about the low temperatures should not be a serious problem for them, since its double layer is usually enough to keep them hot, even this is the weather in which it is recommended that they live.
It is good for hunting, grazing, and even to pull a sled so that a farm or country life can not be said to feel bad, on the contrary, this is how his ancestors lived although it may cost a little turn it into a working dog since over time it has lived as a pet that has become somewhat lazy.
People who live with him and therefore are part of his environment have to be patient when treating him, his appearance as a stuffed lion can cause people to want to hug it instantly and this can be a mistake if he has not yet been educated, in each movement he has to be granted his time and space, his masters have to connect with him slowly and make presentations with new people almost a ritual until the dog sees other people as something natural, otherwise he will always be reserved, shy and withdrawn, you can live in a courtyard or garden that meets the street so that you get used to the passage of passers-by and other dogs that pass near it.
This added to a constant and correct socialization will succeed but not eliminate, at least reduce the feeling of alienation of Chow Chow by other living beings, also reducing any vestige of social anxiety and fear for their environment, even so, you should not rule out a space in which it can isolate itself or be alone from time to time, something that these furry friends value very much due to their highly independent character, even considering this independence they should not spare their affection and attention, once the dog comes into trust and feels comfortable, and as long as his behavior is correct, the signs of love for him are beneficial and well received.
An important point is that just as Chow Chow should be educated on how to treat other people and dogs, children who live with him must also be taught how to treat these dogs, almost all of the aggressions of these dogs towards children are due to inappropriate behavior of the latter.