HOW TO BREED YOUR CHOW

If you are a newcomer to Chows and if you bought your Chow from a pet shop rather than from an established breeder, your Chow may not be of sufficient quality to breed. In order to educate yourself about breeding your Chow, you should study the Chow Standard, attend as many AKC dog shows as possible where Chows are being shown. Discuss Chows with the breeders and exhibitors who are at the show. Read educational articles concerning Chows published in the official publication of the Chow Chow Club, Inc., and in other all breed magazines.

Study your own Chow's strengths and weaknesses and evaluate them in regard to the Standard. Ask lots of questions of Chowists more experienced and informed than you. If there is a local Chow club in your area, join it and participate in its activities, particularly those activities devoted to education. Furthermore, you should buy a good book on breeding dogs. Study something about genetics and about the three methods of breeding used by Chow breeders -- outcrossing, inbreeding, and line breeding.

Study your Chow's pedigree and those of other Chows belonging to well known established Chow lines in this country. Here again, ask questions and discuss the answers. In short, educate yourself as much as possible on the subject of Chows.

In breeding quality Chows, like showing them, caring for them, grooming them, and judging them, the process of studying. listening, asking questions, and sharing opinions with others is a continuous process. In short, a complete novice should not breed his Chow for there are already plenty of Chows available that lack quality -- there is only a market for the well-bred Chow -- and the well-bred Chow does not come about by accident. He is the result, usually, of years of hard work, study, and accumulated knowledge. Very often the novice breeder produces just "quantity" and what is needed are "quality" Chows which are difficult to produce. It is rare that a novice breeder who has a nondescript Chow bitch will ever produce any truly outstanding, quality Chow Chows.

The Chow Chow Club Inc. provides a health and pedigree research website dedicated to educating the breeder on health issues, genetics, etc. on chow chows. The Chow Health website is a must for every serious breeder of chow chows.