One of the oldest all-purpose dogs
The Chow Chow is an ancient Chinese breed that spent its history doing a bit of everything: hunting game birds and larger quarry, herding, guarding property and hauling carts. Some regional lines hunted seriously, and the breed's build — powerful, deep-chested, with a notably strong jaw — suits a dog expected to look after itself in rough country. Hunting is genuinely in the Chow's foundations.
But foundations are not the whole building. The modern Chow, especially from show and companion lines, has had generations of selection for a calm, dignified, almost cat-like temperament, and the hunting instinct has been left to drift rather than being sharpened in the way it has in, say, a working spaniel.
A drive that depends on the dog
Ask a room of Chow owners about prey drive and you will get every answer from 'wouldn't chase a biscuit' to 'caught a squirrel before I saw it move'. Both are telling the truth about their dog. Many pet Chows notice small wildlife, weigh it up, and decide it is beneath them. Others, particularly younger dogs and those from more primitive lines, have a keen and committed chase.
Two Chow traits change how seriously to take the moderate label. First, the calm, aloof demeanour can mask intent: a Chow does not bounce and telegraph excitement the way a spaniel does, so the first sign of interest may be the lunge. Second, once a Chow commits, its combination of strength, determination and indifference to your opinion makes it hard to interrupt. The stakes of a mistake are simply higher than with a daydreaming Bichon.
With small pets, early socialization is the deciding factor. A Chow raised from puppyhood alongside cats usually accepts them permanently. An adult Chow meeting its first cat needs slow, barriered introductions over days, and rodent pets should simply live behind a closed door regardless of how the introductions go.
Do not confuse it with the guarding instinct
Adopters sometimes misread Chow behavior by mixing up two different instincts. The breed's wariness of strangers, its territorial calm and its protectiveness of home are guarding traits, and they are what most owners actually live with day to day. Prey drive is something else — interest in small, fleeing animals — and in a Chow it runs on a separate dial. A dog can be intensely protective of the house and utterly indifferent to squirrels, or placid with visitors and lightning-fast after a cat. Judge each instinct on its own evidence, and never assume a dog who has shown you one has told you anything about the other.
Managing a strong, self-directed dog
Walks stay on the lead: a Chow is stronger than it looks, and mid-chase it will not be negotiating. The garden should be securely fenced, and puppy buyers in multi-pet homes should invest heavily in calm, positive exposure to cats and small animals during the early socialization window — it is the single biggest predictor of a peaceful adult household.
If you are adopting, interrogate the individual dog's history rather than the breed average, because in this breed the individual is everything. With KinsLe, Transferrable Profiles do the talking this reserved breed won't: past homes, cat experience and small-animal history all transfer to the person adopting him.