672 The Dog Book 



their origin. That is only natural when we recognise that breeding for 

 points is an unknown quantity in the far East. 



In America the history of the chow as a show dog may be said to date 

 from the time Dr. Jarrett went to San Francisco to judge the show there and 

 took Mrs. Jarrett with him. That good fancier had to have some chows and 

 it is to her we owe the promotion of the breed. Then Mrs. Proctor took a 

 hand in exhibiting them and she was for a year or two alone as an exhibitor 

 and having drawn her dogs from England she has had the advantage of 

 securing better bred chows and more variety of colour than is easy to 

 get from China direct. Mrs. Van Heusen has now joined the fancy, 

 having bred from Mrs. Proctor's stock and added importations thereto. 



In addition to variety in colour there is also a difference in coat, which 

 is classified as rough and smooth. There seems to be some question as to 

 this division being thoroughly sound, and from the few smooths we have 

 seen we do not consider our opinion as of any value. In a letter from Dr. 

 Ivy of Shanghai, he writes of the roughs and smooths as being apparently 

 distinct. Dr. Ivy has good dog knowledge and his mention of the varieties 

 in this manner is entitled to every consideration. At the same time what 

 we have seen looked more like a half-bred in the way of coat, or a dog with 

 a coat just coming in after having lost his old coat entirely. We leave the 

 question open as chow breeders are not at all unanimous, and when author- 

 ities are arguing it is as well for outsiders to let them settle the matter. 



The chow is a medium sized dog and is very stoutly built. It should 

 not have the slightest appearance of being leggy, indeed with its outstanding 

 body coat coming below the elbows there is a suggestion of being the least 

 bit short on the leg. We have noticed in some of these English dogs a sus- 

 picion of legginess which is certainly not correct. Forelegs straight as a 

 terrier's and somewhat heavy in bone, adding thereby to the appearance of 

 stoutness, or sturdiness of frame. The head is short and this is made to 

 appear still more so by the width of skull, the thickness and bluntness of 

 muzzle, the forward pitch of the ears and the frill or mane encroaching on 

 the cheeks and skull. The same straightness of hind legs, even to the 

 extent of being double jointed is as evident now as it was in the case of 

 the pair whose description was penned in 1800. 



Nearly all the contributors of views on the chow in "The Twentieth 

 Century Dog" mention the pronenessofthechow to take to sheep killing, 

 which is much more serious in England than in America, for with us sheep are 



