Page 18 - 2024 02 Summer

AKC Gazette Excerpt
By Love Banghart
CCCI Gazette Columnist
The Chow Chow standard, like many of the
AKC standards, describes the characteristics of
the ideal adult specimen of the breed. During a
recent discussion of the breed, the question was
presented regarding our Chow Chows puppies’
lack of conformance to the standard’s definition
of color”.
The AKC Chow Chow standard defines coat and
color as:
Coat:
There are two types of coat; rough
and smooth. Both are double coated.
Rough - In the rough coat, the outer
coat is abundant, dense, straight and
offstanding, rather coarse in texture; the
undercoat soft, thick and wooly. Puppy
coat soft, thick and wooly overall. The
coat forms a profuse ruff around the
head and neck, framing the head. The
coat and ruff generally longer in dogs
than in bitches. Tail well feathered.
The coat length varies markedly on
different Chows and thickness, texture
and condition should be given greater
emphasis than length. Obvious trimming
or shaping is undesirable. Trimming
of the whiskers, feet and metatarsals
optional. Smooth - The smooth coated
Chow is judged by the same standard
as the rough coated Chow except
(This article first appeared in the March 2024 AKC Gazette and is reprinted with permission.
16 To read the online Gazette, visit www.akc.org/pubs.)
that references to the quantity and
distribution of the outer coat are not
applicable to the smooth coated Chow,
which has a hard, dense, smooth outer
coat with a definite undercoat. There
should be no obvious ruff or feathering
on the legs or tail.
Color:
Clear colored, solid or solid with lighter
shadings in the ruff, tail and featherings.
There are five colors in the Chow: red
(light golden to deep mahogany), black,
blue, cinnamon (light fawn to deep
cinnamon) and cream. Acceptable colors
to be judged on an equal basis.
It is quite common to see puppies (6 – 18
months) being exhibited while changing
from the soft wooly puppy coat to their adult
coat. Color variation is most noticeable in the
darker red puppies (which may have dark red,
gray or black hairs interspersed or in patches
throughout the much lighter colored red puppy
coat) and in shaded red (light reddish blonde
with cream or white shadings) puppies which
may have a notable amount of gray undercoat.
Both of these are examples of what the breeder
refers to as “transition coat”. In most cases, the
color deviation (including the black mask) will
be totally corrected by 2 years of age when the
transition to adult coat is complete. As adults,
all chow chows should be in conformance with
the standard requirement for a clear colored
solid or solid with lighter shadings in the ruff,
tail and featherings.