About Chow Chow, Cocker Spaniel, Samoyed, and Eurasier - Precisely, Zero Dogs in My Life

I adoringly love dogs and I spent, sort of, a miserable life without them. OK, my life wasn’t that much unhappy, but it would be thousand times happier if I were blessed with a dog as a companion.

When I look in my neighborhood, I see dogs everywhere. Four live really close to me, a few other ones further away.

I’d like to introduce my closest neighbors to you.

The first one is a chow-chow. A dream of a dog!

He is golden in his color and looks like a ‘lion-bear’. His fur is mainly thick around his neck. It gives him the look of a lion. Nothing is edgy on him, everything is soft and round, even his small erect ears are rounded at the tips. This is why he looks like a bear. His cute tail does have thick hair and lies curled on his back. Gorgeous! We call him a ‘dog’, but otherwise he is born as a ‘lion-bear’.

This breed was developed few thousand years ago in Mongolia (no wonder, there is bitter cold most of the time). After this, the dogs have discovered China. There partially wasn’t much warmer; as a result, they decided to invade the country.

Much later, these dog beauties live all over the world…

And again, much, much, much later, Germans loved chows so badly that they even developed, around 1970, a new breed named eurasier. They say, they wanted to get the best positive characteristics of three types of dogs: chow-chow, wolfspitz, and Samoyed (the latter is the most beautiful, white dog in the whole world!). In this way, the breeders received in eurasier, a wonderful companion, which is suspicious of strangers, easy to train, and develops a strong bond to its family. I’ve seen one of those dogs twenty years ago and fell in love directly with him. At this time, I had a dream of adopting one of eurasiers… I still do have this dream :-). It is good to have dreams, you know.

I also love chow-chows ever since! As a small girl, I was completely in awe of these teddy bears. I really believed that teddy bears are in chows alive. I also believed that dolls were alive and were dancing every night when I slept. The real teddy-bear-chow was the proof for my theories.

At the time that I see my neighbor, the chow, on the balcony I’m, as we say in Germany, ‘desireless happy’ or I’m ‘in seventh heaven’! In correct English, it sounds a little bit dull: I’m perfectly happy. Doesn’t matter how it sounds, I’m happy when I see this dog on his balcony. Period.

I would be happier when I would meet this beauty in a real life! Sorry, but it has never happened.

I think his 'parents' aren’t walking him as much as needed. I see him running outside on a leash maybe ten minutes in the morning, and the same amount of time in the afternoon, and then sitting forever on his balcony. This is a little bit inhuman. Probably it isn’t enough exercise, though chow isn't build for long, energetic walks, some more activity wouldn't hurt him. I think.

Maybe I can ask the owners if I could walk their dog almost every day for, say, an additional thirty to sixty minutes…??? HOWEVER, I don’t know them! There is a boy, his mother, and maybe somebody else. The truth is, without their dog, I wouldn’t even recognize them on the street... Yes, this is sad.

Chows are also a little bit peculiar. They don’t accept strange, unfamiliar people around them easily. :-| They don't appreciate obedience training too; agitating, thrilling methods are taboo around chows. If the dog's 'parent' uses jerking teaching technique, chows have the custom to shutdown or to take revenge and return the 'compliment'. The best way to teach this breed is to use the food method. Mutual respect between chow's parent and chow himself is the most important basis for successful life as best friends. This rule is the substantial one in every relationship. I think :-).

Chow-chows are wonderful creatures. They are regal, noble, magnificent, and aristocratic. When you don't believe it, they will sure impart this knowledge 'into' you. Don't worry about it; they'll do it easily. Chows are serious and introvert, very good watchdogs, they're making little if any sound, they're charming, gracious, tidy, and calm.

The best thing you can do is to love them forever!

The second neighbor is a very old cocker spaniel; black with brown marks. I would love to walk him around too!

I always wanted this breed of dogs when I was a child. It might be because my Mom has owned a cocker spaniel, when she was a young girl. One day her uncle secretly brought a tiny puppy into her bedroom. He put it on her bed and left.

My Mom was sleeping at this time and didn’t notice anything. Next morning she got up and felt something warm and furry close to her. In the first moment, she jumped scared out of bed. You can imagine how great her joy was as she realized who was sleeping close to her (I can imagine it vividly!).

Since that time, the dog was her best friend, until the Nazis killed him. I never heard before that Nazis were killing dogs. She is certain that they were doing it. They didn’t want people to have dogs. Without dogs there would be no warning to the owners when the Nazis came spying around at night. It is Mom’s version. I don’t think that the reality was as she’s stated. However, I still wonder why Nazis would kill the dogs.

This is the sad story of a cocker spaniel in 1940 in Europe.

I understand that my Mom hates Nazis since then and I can’t imagine how she managed to survive after the death of her ‘Liebling’; it is a German word for sweetheart. It must have been unbearable for her. She was only twelve at that time. The shock of this lasted for her entire life.

Cocker spaniel is one of the oldest dog breeds. It is a very intelligent kind of dogs, keen to learn, and easy to teach. By the way, much easier than chow-chows. Cocker spaniels are very active and friendly tails wobblers, they love their ‘parents’ tenderly, they’re companionable with other animals and children, they are protective but maybe their specialty isn’t to be an exclusively guard dog. Traditionally they were used more for hunting purposes; this is why they don’t think much about things like protection.

To lose such a great friend must have been frightening and dreadful for my Mom. I can feel pretty well with her about her loss. Nevertheless, I'm unable to understand why she never allowed me, as I was a child, to adopt a puppy. I forgave her many things, and I’m forgiving her also this, but there always stays something between her and me what isn’t pure love. I’m sure our connection would be much better when I would be allowed to have a dog, when I would be allowed to learn how to take care of a pet-companion.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/114774/chow-chow

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/123659/cocker-spaniel