Today we have a scrum of Chow Chow puppies hanging out with the grown dog presumed to be their mother. One gets the sense that this mom wants a nap. But those puppies just want to have fun. Play with them now!
The American Kennel Club says that Chows are reserved, dignified and serious-minded. I suspect these pups are going to have a ways to go before they mature into type. AKC goes on to give some interesting history. Chow Chows are one of the oldest recognized breeds of dogs, with sculpture and pottery of their images dating back to China’s Han Dynasty (202 BCE to 220 CE) and evidence suggesting that Chows go back further than that. The dogs were a favorite pet of Tang Dynasty nobles, as evidenced by the emperor Genghis Khan who owned a kennel housing over 5,000 Chows as battle companions and is said to have employed a permanent staff of 10,000 people to care for them. Chows were valued as guard dogs, haulers and hunters. Their thick fur enabled them to survive the severe cold of Mongolian winters, where they were used as hunting dogs. One of the historical nicknames for the breed is Edible Dog, which might account for the modern breed name, with Chow deriving from the Cantonese name for “edible.” No, not Haitians, but historically Chinese people did sometimes resort to eating dog, such was the need for protein sources in a heavily-populated country. However, this practice was outlawed by the Chinese goverment in 1915. Koreans also valued their meat, breeding the dog specifically for human consumption. However, another and more popular explanation for the breed name comes from the pidgin-English expression for the small, unorganized items in a cargo ship hold, chow chow, which translates to “knickknacks” or “etcetera.” Because this breed of dog was carried by ship from China by the British during 18th century trading, they were grouped in this classification and the name became synonymous with the breed. The breed fell out of favor in China during the cultural revolution, with the dog being deemed “useless.” Fortunately, by this time, western sailors had imported the dog, where it became popular with the English. Dog-lover Queen Victoria adopted one in the second half of the 19th century which ignited the country’s craze for the breed and Queen Alexandra also kept Chows. Due to western breeding programs, the breed has since evolved from a large working dog to the more medium-sized standard we are familiar with today.
Source for the video:
American Kennel Club: Chow Chow
DogProblems.com: "The Origins Of The Chow Chow"
Chowtales: "THE PALACE CHOW – Was this Queen Victoria or Alexandra’s chow?"
Mom is not exactly making it easy for the pups to get to her teats. She's probably thinking "aren't you guys big enough for real food now?" Mom is tired of this. Also did you see the story about the zoo in China that had Chow Chows painted to look like pandas? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzw9GRQNWWE Now I'm wondering if those sun bears really were people in suits...hmmm. Thanks, Martini.