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In This Article You Will Read About
Designer dogs are fast becoming popular nowadays. These are dogs that have purebred parents of different breeds. An example of a designer dog is the Rottweiler Chow Mix.
What is a Rottweiler Chow Mix? This is the product of the cross between a Rottweiler and a Chow Chow. The Rottie is a large-sized dog, while the Chow is a medium-sized dog. The offspring they produce is also called the Rottie Chow.
Designer dogs or hybrids like the Rottie Chow will usually inherit and exhibit a mix of traits from both parents. We’ll look at these traits below:
Features of the Rottweiler and the Chow
Rottweiler
Rotties are intelligent and large dogs with a mix of amazing characters that endear individuals and families alike. As a large dog breed, a Rottie can weigh up to 80 pounds to 135 pounds, depending on the genetic makeup and sex (females usually weigh less and are smaller than males) of the dog.
Rotties can also grow as tall as 22 inches to 27 inches, but again, this depends on the individual dog and so figures will vary from dog to dog. As for coat color, these dogs have a characteristic black fur with bronze markings. The coat is short and dense and requires moderate grooming to get rid of shed hair.
In terms of temperament, Rottweilers are loyal, goofy, protective, obedient, calm, and playful dogs. As with other dog breeds, early socialization and training like obedience training at a young age is vital if the animal is going to exhibit these awesome temperaments. An undesirable trait in a Rottweiler is stubbornness, but if you give the animal obedience training as a puppy, you should not encounter this behavior.
Chow
The Chow is a medium-sized, muscular, and powerful dog. According to the American Kennel Club, “Chows are powerful, compactly built dogs standing as high as 20 inches at the shoulder. Their distinctive traits include a lion’s-mane ruff around the head and shoulders; a blue-black tongue; deep-set almond eyes that add to a scowling, snobbish expression; and a stiff-legged gait. Chows can have rough or smooth coats of red, black, blue, cinnamon, or cream.”
The Chow can grow as tall as 17 inches to 20 inches and will also weigh between 40 pounds to 70 pounds. The animal has a lifespan of 12 years to 15 years, provided that there is adequate love, care, and attention. The Chow has been described as being cat-like in nature and having the look of a lion. Traits of a Chow include aloofness, independence, stubbornness, intelligence, confidence, quietness, and dignity.
Now, we’ll take a look at the features of the Rottweiler Chow Mix or the Rottie Chow to see what characteristics the dog may get from either or both parents.
The Rottweiler Chow Mix
This hybrid is a very interesting one, both in looks and character, as it combines the traits of its different looking parents. The animal has a strong build and may be smaller than the Rottweiler, but bigger than the Chow. As per size, the Rottweiler Chow Mix will have an average height of around 23 inches to 24 inches and a weight of 50 pounds to 100 pounds.
In terms of looks, most Rottie Chows have the black with bronze markings coloring of the Rottie. Coat length varies, with some hybrids having a short and dense coat length akin to that of the Rottie and others having the fluffy coat length of the Chow. The tail of the hybrid is likely to be slightly curlier and fuller than a Rottie’s tail.
A Rottie Chow has a lifespan of up to 10 years with the right amount of care, attention, and exercise. Adequate feeding is a must if the animal is to be healthy, but be careful of how you feed your pooch. Rottie chows are prone to gaining weight easily, and too much weight gain is not good for a dog.
In fact, obesity has some serious health complications that no dog owner would want to see their dogs have. Therefore, it is best that you feed your dog the right proportion of food and watch the animal’s weight to know if there is a possibility that your dog is becoming overweight so you can take precautionary measures.
The temperament of the Rottie Chow
The Rottweiler and the Chow have some different temperaments, and so it is difficult to rightly guess which parent the Rottie Chow will take after. The following are traits that the Rottie chow could exhibit based on the traits of the Rottweiler and the Chow.
- Protectiveness: Both the Rottweiler and the Chow are highly protective of family members, and so, it stands to reason that the Rottie chow will equally be protective, if not more so. You will find a worthy guard dog that will protect your home and family from intruders in this dog.
- Aggressiveness if not properly trained: Training and socialization is best done at the puppy stage when a dog is still very pliant. It is therefore important that as soon as you bring your dog home, you start to train and socialize the animal. Failure to do so, especially in a breed like the Rottie Chow can cause aggression towards strangers and other dogs.
If you have other pets such as cats and other dogs in the family already before bringing the Rottie Chow home, socialize them by getting the Rottie Chow used to them. Even if you bring home new animals after you already have the Rottie Chow, introduce them gradually to one another.
- Energetic nature: The Rottie Chow has the energetic nature of the Rottweiler and so will require an adequate amount of daily exercise to burn off this energy.
- Independence: The Chow has an independent streak, and it is not unlikely that the Rottie chow will have this trait too.
- Difficulty in training: Unlike some other Rottie hybrids that are easy to train, the Rottie Chow is not so easy to train. This is not to mean that the animal is any less intelligent than those hybrids, though. If your Rottie Chow inherits the independent nature of the Chow, you may find it a little difficult training the animal.
- Stubbornness: Both the Rottie and the Chow can be stubborn if not properly taught obedience training. It is not far-fetched that the Rottie chow can also inherit this trait.
Health Challenges, Exercise Requirements, and Grooming of the Rottweiler Chow Mix
Health challenges
The parents of this hybrid, the Rottweiler and the Chow are generally healthy dogs. However, this does not mean that there will not be some health challenges that Rottie Chows are prone to getting.
Health issues that the Rottie Chow could face on the side of the Rottweiler include bloat and dysplasia.
Exercise requirements
All dogs require some form of exercise or the other to keep boredom at bay. The Rottie Chow is more like the Rottweiler in terms of exercise requirements and does not have the low stamina of the Chow.
Therefore, you will need to exercise your pooch for up to two hours every day. Try to create time for long runs, walks, or hikes in the outdoors, as they will be beneficial to both you and your pet. Apart from taking walks, create time to play games with your pet and train the animal.
Grooming
Although this hybrid has the coloring of the Rottweiler, fur texture and length vary. Grooming your Rottie Chow will depend on the type of fur the animal has. Some Rottie Chows have fur that is akin in length to that of the Rottweiler while others have longer fur that is closer in length to that of the Chow.
If your pooch’s fur is short like that of the Rottweiler, you will not have to brush the fur so much. On the other hand, if your dog has a coat texture that is akin to that of the Chow, you will need to brush the animal more often to prevent matting.
Apart from brushing your dog’s hair, you also need to trim the animal’s nails regularly. You can do this with clippers, although nail grinders are probably a safer and less painful choice than clippers.
More about the Rottweiler Chow Mix
Do Rottie Chows make good guard dogs?
The parents of this hybrid are both good guard dogs, as they are loyal and protective. The Rottie chow inherits this trait of guarding from the Rottie and Chow Chow. You can depend on the animal to alert you and your family to intruders and threats as well as protect you against threats.
Are these dogs good with children and other pets?
The importance of socializing a dog cannot be overemphasized. It is the only way to get your dog relaxed and calm enough to get along well with your kids and other pets. With that said, Rottie Chows are good with kids, provided that they have received the socialization that they require at an early stage.
However, the animal may not be friendly with kids that are not familiar and will treat them as it would treat a stranger. The same goes for pets.
Is the Rottweiler Chow Mix a Dangerous Hybrid?
Many dogs will be dangerous towards strangers if not properly trained and socialized, and the Rottie Chow is not an exception. The Rottweiler is a playful and goofy breed and is not naturally aggressive if properly socialized.
The Chow, on the other hand, is aloof and confident. Both dogs are very protective of family and will be wary of strangers, but will only be aggressive or towards them if you do not give them proper training at a tender age. The Rottie Chow takes after them in this regard.
Conclusion
Rottweiler Chow Mixes are medium to large-sized dogs that may inherit the aloofness of the Chow parent, with the intelligence, confidence, and other traits of both parents. The animal also has the coloring of the Rottweiler but may inherit the coat length of either parent.
If you decide to get a Rottie chow as a pet, you will need to put in all the effort and hard work required to make the animal well-behaved. With the right training and socialization, these dogs will get along well with any family and will make a great pet and guard for any home.
