Chow Chow

[liadaintheirishpoetess]

A good friend of mine has asked me to find some information on Chow Chows. She wants a puppy and would like ideas of health problems, temperaments, grooming, colours of coats, breeders and tests that should be done. Please do reply as she's relying on me. Also, how are they with other dogs and exercise requirements.
Thanks, Liadain

If she wants similar to a pug what about a French bulldog?

Ours is super chilled and full of personality . But again you need to be careful about breeder.

I would never have a chow due to the temperament issues.

I agree! Honestly, if it wasn't for her being such a good friend, I'd have ditched her as soon as she said that. And both my dogs are rescues but once again, I've been shot down in flames. She has however expressed an interest in a Coton De Tulear if not a Goldie. Are goldie's really calm and chilled out?

I know someone with a chow and he's beautiful and suprisingly very friendly. They often have house parties and he just loves everyone, comes up for cuddles constantly. He does have a dark side though and when playing can be very rough. Oddly for a chow he seems equally bonded to all three adults in the house. He is very rare for a chow though and definitely not chilled. He has 3 hrs exercise a day and is still pretty full and and demanding at home.

He's also huge and aparently a bit of a yob when walked unless you are very firm with him.

A coton de Tulear is about as different from a chow as you can get! What she wants is a cute fluffy dog?

Right so she's basically looking for a pretty fluffy dog and not considering temperament or lifestyle
This will end well...

In that case it's pretty tricky to give any sensible advice on breeds that would suit her

Chows are nothing like pugs in attitude and temperament. They are spitz type so are more akin to a husky than a pug.

My last dog was a Chow X. I loved him. He was my perfect dog. Luckily, I like my dogs big, hairy, stubborn, anti-social and with a complete 'fuck you' attitude. He only tolerated us because he couldn't open the fridge himself.
And the vet bills. My god, the vet bills. I stopped counting at £20K. Mostly due to cruciate problems and the resulting arthritis. Very common in chows. Thankfully we had a good (but expensive) insurance policy. By his final year, the insurance premiums were £160 per month but his vet bills, meds and treatments were a minimum of £400 a month so I couldn't afford not to insure him.

I'm looking for my next dog now but I'll be giving Chows a miss. They're not a dog for the faint of heart (or light of wallet).

I've rang her and gave her a good talking to about looking for a dog to suit her lifestyle and she really thinks that a Goldie might be the way to go. Her DH is in ecstasy about this. Would it be worth it opening a new thread for more info about Goldies or shall I keep this thread going?

Goldies are quite frisky puppies though. The calm down later.

Then again, all puppies are mad.

Goldies are a working breed, they need plenty of mental and physical stimulation otherwise they will go self employed. This means they will bark/chew/dig/destroy or all of the above.

My golden is 9 now and is pretty chill although she will still walk for miles and loves to play.

But she was a crazy, bitey puppy whirlwind for a long time. Very easy to train but a young golden will never be described as calm!

Goldies are also nothing like pugs....
Why does she want another dog?

It's the cute in them.

My Goldie looked cute when he was a puppy but he was a horrible vile creature and if I hadn't loved him so much I would have happily given him away
He's now less cute ( but very handsome) and much more chilled, getting his nuts off helped.

Goodies are like little fluffy sharks.
Cute sharks, though.