Chow Chow - TOP 10 Interesting Facts

1) Ancient History

The Chow Chow is truly ancient breed with thousands years old history. It is believed, that roots of the Chow Chow dates back 4000 years. Since its history is so long, it is hard to understand it clearly, but we do know, that they originated in China and it is often questioned whether the chow chow developed from spitz-type dogs or whether spitz-type dogs developed from the chow chow.

2) Versatile Workers

The Chow Chow was probably developed in the northern parts of China, but they were most frequently seen in the southern parts as working dogs. And they were very versatile, because they were used as guards, sled pullers, hunters and they were even used to herd cattle.

3) Blue Tongue

If you are new to this breed, you might be worried about your dog when you see its tongue for the first time! As puppies, the dogs have standard pink tongue, but with age, their tongues turn much darker and when they are fully adult, the tongue is blue-black. There is only one other breed that has tongue like that – the Chinese Shar pei.

4) No Swimming

Chow Chow knows how to swim, but it is not the best idea to try it. When their heavy fluffy double coat gets wet it can easily weigh the dogs down and it leads to bad swimming skills. But you can try your Chow Chow swimming abilities on shore, where you can help them easily.

5) Strangers

Chow Chows are devoted to their family, but they are known to be standoffish, aloof and even agressive towards strangers. But thanks to that, they make good guard dogs. And with a little bit of training and socialization, they will learn how to act correctly towards strangers.

6) Famous dogs

Some Chow Chows in the history were pretty famous thanks to their owners. For example Martha Stewart was a big chow chow lover and she often featured them on her TV show. Another Chow Chow was owned by Sigmund Freud who used them with his patients. Queen Victoria, Calvin Coolidge, Janet Jackson and Walt Disneys wife Lillian were also big Chow Chow lovers.

7) Teeth

I already mention, that you might be surprised when you open the Chow Chow mouth and you see the blue tongue. But there is one more interesting thing inside their mouth. Most of the dog breeds have 42 teeth, but Chow Chow has 44 teeth. They have two extra!

8) Health

Chow Chow is not the healthies breed and they do sufferr from some more or less serious health problems. The most common are hip and elbow dysplasia, diabetes, bloating, patellar luxation, cataracts, glaucoma and skin melanoma.

9) Size

The Chow Chow is medium sized, square dog which is strong and sturdy. Their height should be between 18-22 inches which is 46-56 cm and their weight should be between 50-70 pounds which is 22-31 kg. Females are naturally little bit smaller than males.

10) Grooming

If you look at the Chow Chows fluffy coat, it must be clear that they need a lot of care. You should brush them regularky, at least twice a week and they also need regular clipping, not just to look good, but to keep hair out of the eyes where it can impair vision. Other than that, you should regularly clean their eyes and ears.