Chow Chow: A Lionlike Mane, a Dark Tongue, and a Stilted Stride
During Sigmund Freud's therapy sessions, a dog named Jofi was present. Freud felt dogs had a special ability to judge a person's character and admitted relying on the dog's assessment of a patient's mental state. Jofi was a Chow Chow, a breed whose appearance combines a lionlike mane, a dark tongue and lips, and a rather stilted gait. The thick coat around the neck gives the lionlike outline, while very straight hind legs produce the distinctive movement. A dog associated with a therapist's room also carries a much older Chinese background, with a form that predates modern breeds developed in the nineteenth century.
The Chow Chow is a spitz-type breed originally from northern China. Research has linked its beginnings to indigenous dogs in central China about 8,300 years ago, and it is identified as a basal breed preceding the emergence of modern breeds. The English name has an uncertain origin and is separate from the modern Chinese name meaning loose lion dog. Possible explanations for the English name refer to Pidgin English.
Chinese tradition gives the breed another kind of history through legend. One legend mentions large war dogs from Central Asia resembling black-tongued lions, and a Chinese ruler was said to have owned 5,000 Chows. These are stories associated with the dog, alongside a working role pulling sleds through swampy terrain. Marco Polo remarked on that sled work. In 2008, the American Kennel Club registered 1,359 Chow Chows.
The sturdy body is square in profile, with a broad skull and small triangular ears that stand erect and have rounded tips. A dense double coat may be smooth or rough, with especially thick fur around the neck. Deep-set, almond-shaped eyes add another feature of the head. The Chow Chow's curly tail is thickly haired and lies over its back. Height ranges from 17 to 22 inches. The Chow Chow's litter size is listed as 4 to 7. Males weigh 40 to 90 pounds, while females weigh 35 to 85 pounds.
The tongue may be purple or blue-black, with dark color also extending to the lips and mouth. That tongue color can occur in the Shar Pei too, and purple spots appear in other purebred dogs. The gene for the blue-black or purple tongue appears to be dominant. Mixed-breed dogs descended from the Chow Chow often retain the dark tongue, although tongue spots alone do not establish that ancestry. Nose color also has a place in breed standards: black is expected, while blue-coated dogs may have a solid blue or slate nose. In FCI countries, cream dogs may have a nose matching their own color, introducing a different allowance within the breed's appearance standards.
Coat color recognition varies among canine clubs. The American Kennel Club's standard colors include black, blue, red, cream, and cinnamon, while fawn, white, and merle fall outside its standard list. Different clubs may recognize different colors or use alternative names for them. Patchy or multicolored coats fall outside the breed standard. Red coats can range from light gold to deep red-brown, while cinnamon ranges from light tan to brown. Health research adds a separate measure of the dog's life: a UK study found life expectancy of 12.1 years, compared with 12 years for crossbreeds and 12.7 years for purebreeds.
Skeletal health has received attention in large North American studies. North American research examining more than a million dog records found hip dysplasia in 6.44% of dogs of this breed, compared with 3.52% overall. Cranial cruciate ligament deficiency occurred in 4.3%, against 2.52% overall. A separate investigation of more than 250,000 elbow scans found the breed had the highest prevalence of elbow dysplasia, affecting 48.6% of dogs over the age of 2.
Eye and skin conditions bring further health concerns. A North American study found glaucoma prevalence of 4.7% in the breed, compared with 0.89% overall, placing it third highest among the breeds examined. Research at a small-animal clinic at the University of Montreal identified a predisposition to alopecia X, while an Australian review found a predisposition to atopic dermatitis. A US study identified a predisposition to pemphigus foliaceus. A breed-specific mutation causing tyrosinase deficiency can result in leukotrichia. A UK study identified a predisposition to exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. The breed can also suffer from diabetes mellitus and is considered at high risk for autoimmune disease. An Austrian case series found an odds ratio of 23.53 for stomach cancer. A US study found the breed overrepresented among oral melanoma cases, with a relative risk of 7.89. In a Belgian study, females of this breed made up 6.4% of pyometra cases while the breed represented 1.6% of the population; anemia and endotoxemia were reported.
- Wikipedia, Chow Chow — en.wikipedia.org