It's all how you raise them is a BS response and no one with half a break and a small amount of information will say that...
A sound animal is a sound animal, this has nothing to do with being around animals or people..
Genetics.. Socializing is not allowing an animal to play with other dogs or be petted by many.

Traditional stock Chows are HELL of guardians however redirect bites are common in training and correction, they are not for every one and Its not what your asking about..

Typical chows are fear aggressive, redirect, unstable due to breeding, dog aggressive and human aggressive that is often notcontrolled..

 

I was nearly attacked by my neighbors chow when I was about 8 years old. Thankfully I had my little dog with me and she whipped its ass back into its own yard before I got bit.

 

I know a lot of people are not chow-fans, I grew up with chows as my extenders family had them. I also own a chow malamute mix, though my father claimed him while I was letting them watch him while we find a house to buy. Lol! Because he is such a good dog! My chow mix is an amazing dog! House trained himself, knows a ton of commands, friendly to everyone....people love him. But he is a mix, not a full chow. The ones my aunts and uncles had were not well bred chows and they were human aggressive/fearful. If the male got loose and you went chasing aft him, he would actually growl and snap at you. Dog was freakin stupid.
All that to say, my family did own a quality chow from reputable breeders and he was a great dog! We also had a couple of APBTs. Chows are suppose to be family guardians and cautious of strangers. Ours was very gentle with my younger siblings, was fine with strangers and was very smart. As kids we taught him a bunch of commands. I will try to dig up a pic if I can find one of him. To me, chows are similar to Akitas and shar peis in many ways. They need socialization to people, but again they were bred to protect, just like collies were bred to herd. You can't expect a chow, Akita, or any other guarding breed to run up to strangers and want to be pet. I personally love a well-bred chow! And no, many of those show dogs are fat, overly wrinkly and practically Shar pies with fur. It's disgusting lol.


I got attacked by a cocker spaniel and so I am always worried about those dogs!

 

Hate Chows... my friend in highschool had 2 that were mean as hell... Jen got attacked by a family chow when she was younger... has scars on her back and ass from it

 

There are very few breeders of Chows in traditional form, when I have time and at a computer I'll have to show you a traditional Chow and the Chow probably most if not all associate with the name, there is a significant difference in almost all respects.. traditional stock Bandog by function, as I said above

Problem is much like traditional GSDs, Rottweilers and other guardians of nature, can't handle them... Seen many high rank and high redirect but superb in getting the job doneIs what it is, like many animals who have drifted far passed what traditional form allowed you run into a shit storm of genetic issues and mentality changes often for the worse when you are talking about such animals.

At one point in time these hounds were just as popular as the so called Pit Bull of today, with that you have a whole he'll of a lot of wash

 

Out of the dozens of chows I have been around I have only had one good experience with them and that was at a reputable chow chow breeders. The rest I experienced all were treated like junkyard dogs and used for protection but had no training and I have on several occasions just barely missed being bit. I will be honest as a teenager I almost had to stab one to keep from being attacked walking to a friends house. Luckily the owner seen I was willing to kill their dog if it lunged any closer to me and they called it off. I had full right though as the dog was off leash and we were in the middle of town with a serious leash law. Most of their bad behavior is poor breeding and training.

 

A lot of people seem to be under the impression that Chows are terrible, unstable dogs because they redirect on corrections. But that's is most definitely not the case, chows, like most Asian spitz, are still more primal than your average dog.

They have not been "dulled down" to take crap from humans like most breeds. It's seen very often in wolfdogs and wolves, they will redirect to a correction... because, as said, they've not been dulled down by our breeding techniques to tolerate that. It's a natural response to pain.

Chows were not bred for purposes that required powerful teamwork between dog and handler, they were bred for guarding, hunting (bond and trust, yes, but not elaborate obedience and such), dog fighting, and were even bred for meat animals.

You just have to adjust your training method to them, because traditional European methods don't work well on them.


They are a world apart from the APBT, not only in looks but distance from their ancestors as well.

 

From the parent club:

Keen intelligence, an independent spirit and innate dignity give the Chow an aura of aloofness. It is a Chow's nature to be reserved and discerning with strangers.
Displays of aggression or timidity are unacceptable.

Most Chows are intelligent so they may be lead broken and trained easily although at first they may be stubborn. Some Chows are especially willful and most are sensitive enough so that correction can come from the tone of your voice and not from physical means.

The Chow Chow is a highly intelligent dog and values his independence. He can be hugged and played with. He can even be corrected -often by a tone of voice, but he should never be allowed to dominate the household. He is usually amenable to being touched by strangers if he is introduced by one of his owners and approached properly. Quiet, refined, he should not be teased or treated as a lap dog. His dignity and aloofness must never be confused with a fierce or intractable temperament. He minds his own business and does not generally initiate trouble. Bad-tempered Chows are not representative of the breed, but are usually the result of indiscriminate breeding and a woeful lack of "socialization".

"The Chow as it is known today is easily recognizable in pottery and sculptures of the Chinese Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to 22 A.D.)

Here's a dog from 1903

 

I've grown up around chows most my life my family currently owns three all papered and from reputable breeders. I think the problem with chows is similar to that of "pit bulls". They are not for everyone. They require knowledgeable owners but many see how beautiful they are and purchase them on impulse. You can also find a lot of bybs selling them with no knowledge of what they are doing. This leads to dogs with horrible temperaments and chows are already bullheaded. They were at one time used for hunting so they must be socialized but some people just don't bother. Chows are also stubborn dogs so you have to train them early before they get set in their ways but new owners tend to spoil these dogs and end up having extra pushy dogs. Chows just like "pit bull" type dogs are wonderful pets but they are not for everyone.

 

My neighbors have one that they leave chained up outside. its already gotten off and bitten one kid. THAT Chow I DO NOT trust. I will not go near it.

 

back 30yrs ago or better one of my buddies had a big ol' mean chow, thought could whip anything, i never said anything because normally that is not done, anything other than an apbt i consider a 'cur'.

and you dont put anything with a known cur because then its 'fear' fighting, snapping.

but he showed up one day just me and him there, he asked me to put 'sinbad' on him, he just wanted to know,

sinbad was about 45lbs red,red nose, with cropped ears, from the back he looked just like arnold swisherswagger. ripped.

that chow was about 80lbs. he said bring him over and we'll see if we can get sinbad to go on him.

my friend who had sinbad, got about 10yds from him said turn him around and get him ready cause here he comes.

there was a red blur and so much action that chow was pissin straight up in the air,
my buddy with the chow started hollerin 'get him off, he's killin him'

but the reality of it was so much fur just ruffed him up some,

he went to pick up his chow and he bit him 3 or 4 times

my buddy walked over broke sinbad off with a parting stick and put him back none the worse for wear.


akitas the same way, another buddy had 'the pit bulls nightmare'
that what he kept sayin about his 130lb akita. when ever he was around guys that had smaller dogs, well, one saturday night he said it.

the next morning he was introduced to 'the akitas nightmare' a 65lb bad-ass apbt. needless to say we didnt hear that any more.

how bout those, all this is for fictional purposes only, right?????????









there was a red blur