When I was
just a little pup, I can remember laying around the kennel and listening to the older dogs
talk about our ancestors. The stories have been handed down from generation to
generation for about 2000 years. We lived with some people called Mongolians, in a
place called China and we worked hard for our food and a warm place to sleep. Some
of the Mongolian pack leaders owned as many as 2500 Chow Chows at the same time.
These were not good times. We had to hunt and serve as guard dogs, which wasn't too
bad. Some of us, as the tale goes, were used for food! Our true origin is
unknown, but some think that we were the descendents of Mastiff and Spitz dogs. How we got
our black tongues is also not known and the only other animal that has a blue tongue is
the bear. We also have the same number of teeth as bears, which is different than
dogs. Kinda makes me wonder if there was a bear in the family in the dark distant
past. There is one fable that I doubt is true, but it goes like this. God was
painting the sky blue and dropped some of the paint. The Chow followed and lapped up
the paint which colored his tongue blue. From that day forward, all Chows had blue
tongues! About 100 years ago, ships traveling from China brought some of us to a place called England. We didn't have to work so hard there and we didn't have to worry about being eaten. Times were getting better. By the way, we got our names, Chow Chow, from the men on the ships who called everything in the hold of the ship Chow Chow. I guess the name stuck. In England we were treated like royalty. We belonged to rich people, who took real good care of us, and took us to places where there were a lot of other kinds of dogs. We got lots of prizes for being so unusual. Eventually we were kept as house companions, because we are so well mannered, never dig, and seldom bark. We don't potty the floor either. It is also said that we are independent, dignified and sometimes stubborn. I think that's just part of the fable too, cause I'm not like that. I am very protective of my mom and dad and my territory, and will challenge anyone who looks suspicious. I weigh about 60 pounds now, at 15 months, and I find that I can intimidate most anyone with my baritone woof. They just don't seem to notice that my tail is wagging all the while. Well, that's a human for you.