The Colour of a Chow-dog's skin

[Pan]

Hey, all. I posted a thread in Pagan Family about my dog.. and I have a question.

What colour is the skin of a Chow?

My dog is a chow-shepherd and has rust-coloured fur. Should her skin be the same colour? I've never had a longish-haired dog before.. just all kinds of cats.

Can you help?

[Ahautenites]

Don't know about skin color, but your chow's tongue should be blue-black.

For more on what your chow should look like: http://www.chowclub.org/standard.html

You might try posing your question to them.

[Pan]

Thanks for your help.

Her tongue is pink with blue-black spots since she's a mix with a shepherd. I'll see if I can find an email address and ask them about it. :)

[Rainx]

The site I love for dog info is http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/

I usually click "Breeds Alphabetical" (near the top left) and go from there.

ChowChows - http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/chowchow.htm (there are a ton of links at the bottom of that page too).

I'm not sure if that answers your question but it's a great site :)

[Morrighana]

...have long black fur and blue skin. They're not Chows, mind you, but it goes to show that not all long-haired dogs have similar fur/skin colours.

[FlamedLilly]

ok I can definetly help here. Your dogs skin should be the same color as it fur, best defined, if it's black then it's black if it's brown it'll be either pink or brown, and if it's lighter colored then it's going to be pink.

At least that's how chows are supposed to be. . .

[MoonDust]

yup Lilly's right.
My mutt (Pomeranian/Chihuahua) is a mix of light tan and a chocolate brown and her skin tends to match the fur.


We also have some Chihuahua pups that are white with black spots (mini Dalmatians! :D) and their skin matches the pattern even on their belly

[Pan]

Thanks, all. This really makes me feel better.

I'm wondering if it's just her shedding? We brushed her last night and came up with half a big black garbage bag of FUR.

We'll find out if it's normal when we go to the vet tomorrow.

[MoonDust]

Yeah that sounds like quite a bit, then again I’m used to a tiny little thing so I don’t know what’s normal for larger dogs.

[FlamedLilly]

Thats actually perfectly normal especially this time of year. Your dog might loose as many as 2 full garbage bags full. It's really nothing to worry about as long as you don't let it get all ratty and matt up. Keep brushing and it'll help and it's great for bonding between you and your dog. I know a lady who keeps her dogs fur as it sheds and weaves it into blankets and rugs and the like.

the only time you really have to worry is if it starts loosing hair and balding in spots.