Page 10 - Chow LIfe - Spring 2021

Do More With Your Chow…..

They Deserve It!

by Dr. Cynthia Becker, Companion Events Committee Chair
Performance and companion sports and Chows
seem to be incompatible. Reading blogs and short
informational articles seem to imply that the Chow
is difficult to train and you shouldn’t even try! I even
sense a bit of pride that people see their Chows as
too intelligent to “work” and they are a bit lazy. I
would like to have folks take another look at how
much fun it is to exceed expectations with their
Chow.

What in the world would a Chow enjoy when
considering the multitude of choices? Let’s start with
a sport that requires little to no training, or as I like
to call it, the “no work required” sport. That is a bit
misleading, as it does require at least a moderately
conditioned Chow. However, if your Chow loves
to chase things, ie rabbits, deer or squirrels, he has CAT - Zorro's Dynasty Andy's Phantom in the Dark
the drive to do FastCAT and Lure Coursing! Some BN RA CAX FCAT SCN SIN SEN RATS CZ8B CGCA
Chows may think it beneath them to chase a plastic CGCU TKA ATT
bag but I have found most think it is a very fun
game with a new toy. FastCAT is a straightline sprint
of 100 yards. It is a great way to see if your Chow
likes to run. Someone holds your Chow at the start,
releases your dog and you “catch” your Chow at
the finish. AKC keeps records of the top 20 fastest
Chows each year and also for the dog’s lifetime. To
date, we have not filled the 20 spots for the year,
and even in the lifetime category, we are not at 20.
So if you like seeing your dog’s name in the record
books, give it a try! If your Chow REALLY likes to
run, try the long coursing event CAT. It is a 600 yard
sprint in a figure 8 or a loop. You release and catch
at the end when the dog returns. Unlike FastCAT, it
is NOT fenced and you must count on your recall
or the lure to bring your dog back. Most Chows are
very focused on the lure and so easy to “catch”. Both
sprinting sports are done one dog at a time, unlike CAT - Kobi's Hugs & Kisses, RN, CAA, RATO, THDX, CGC
coursing with sighthounds so everyone stays safe!
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Maybe your Chow prefers to have their nose to the
ground, searching for wonderful smells. Two sports
cater to the nosey Chow, Scentwork and Barn Hunt.
Barn Hunt requires the Chow to look for PVC tubes
with real rats in them by scent, hidden under bales
and loose straw. They must also climb a bale and
go through a tunnel, easy at first levels and getting
longer as the difficulty of the hunt increases. Just
for fun, there are empty tubes and tubes with fresh
litter as well. Scentwork (AKC name) requires your
Chow to search for a particular odor hidden in
various environments and tell you when they find
it. The odor is on a cotton swab in a straw or a metal
tin, in a room, outside, buried in sand or water or
in a container. These two sports are for handlers
FastCAT - Donpen Walk Like An Egyptian Pharaoh who truly love to watch their dog’s every move and
RA CAX FCAT SCN SIN SEN RATN CGC TKA ATT