The Origin

The Chow Chow is probably one of the oldest breeds, related but not a direct descendat of modern dogs. The chows' tongue is blue, just like some bears'.

Mongols invading China used to be accompanied by "war dogs" described as similar to lions, and with blue tongues. They were called man kou, which means "dog of the barbarians".

Budist monks living in the Tibetan mountains kept chows as guardian and shepherd dogs. An old chinese legend tells us about the strange color of their tongues:

"Many centuries ago, there lived a monk, who had settleddown on top of a mountain, sourrounded by many animals, among which there was a great number of dogs. He treated them kindly, and they were thankful. One day the monk became seriously ill, so much that he couldn't carry the wood for the fire. Some of the animals, dogs among them, went out to search for wood. In the nearby forest there were some trees, which had been burnt, so there laid some pieces of coal which the dogs carried in their mouths. Monkeys prepared the food untill the monk recovered. And the mouths and tongues of the dogs remained blue for ever."