Chow Chow nutrition: calories, elbows and thyroid testing

A Chow Chow is a heavy, deep-chested dog with only moderate exercise needs, and that combination is what shapes its feeding. The American Kennel Club breed profile gives adults as 17 to 20 inches tall and 45 to 70 pounds (about 20 to 32 kg), with a life expectancy of 8 to 12 years. Many are fussy about food and slow to finish a bowl. That does not protect them from gaining weight, because a quiet dog burns little, and the thick double coat hides a thickening waist until the extra weight is well established.

Calories for a quiet, heavy dog

The Merck Veterinary Manual sets out the usual starting calculation. Resting energy requirement (RER) is 70 multiplied by body weight in kilograms to the power 0.75. Daily needs are then estimated as 1.8 times RER for an intact adult, 1.6 times for a neutered adult and 1.4 times for an adult prone to obesity. Many pet Chow Chows are neutered and only moderately active, so the lower two columns are a sensible place to start.

Figures are rounded to the nearest 5 kcal. The formula has no breed factor, and Merck stresses that any calculated intake is only a starting point to be adjusted by how the dog responds. Use the dog's lean weight rather than its current weight if it is already heavy. Feeding guides printed on bags are written for an average dog, and a Chow Chow that lies on the sofa most of the day will often need less than the bag suggests.

The coat makes visual checks unreliable. Run flat hands along the ribcage under the fur: the ribs should be easy to feel with light pressure, with a thin covering and no pad of fat. Weigh the dog once a month on the same scale, since a gain of a kilogram is hard to see on this breed and easy to measure.

Picky eating tempts owners to leave food down all day. Free feeding makes it impossible to know what the dog ate. Offer a measured meal twice a day, pick the bowl up after about 20 minutes, and count treats and chews in the daily total.

Elbows and hips

On X-ray screening, elbow dysplasia is the joint problem most strongly tied to this breed, though not every dog with a screening grade goes lame. Among 46 breeds screened by the Swedish Kennel Club between 2007 and 2016, the Chow Chow had the highest prevalence of elbow dysplasia at screening, 65.2%, well ahead of the next breed at 40%. The same study found that dogs with worse hip grades tended to have worse elbow grades. Screening figures come from dogs whose owners chose to X-ray them, so they are not a perfect picture of every Chow Chow, but the gap between this breed and others is large.

Food cannot change the genetics of a dysplastic joint. It can change the load on it. Keep a growing puppy lean rather than round, feed a complete food made for growth, and do not add calcium or other minerals to it. In adults, a lean body weight takes strain off elbows and hips for the rest of the dog's life. The breed's straight hind legs and short, stilted stride can hide early lameness, so stiffness after rest, reluctance on stairs or a shortened walk are worth raising with a vet, who can decide whether X-rays are needed. Ask the vet about joint supplements and pain relief too; product doses vary widely and the evidence behind them is mixed.

Eyelids that roll inward

Entropion, where the eyelid rolls in and the lashes or hair rub the eye, is common in Chow Chows. In UK primary-care records for 2019, the annual prevalence of entropion was 9.28% in Chow Chows, second only to the Shar-Pei and far above the 0.33% seen across all dogs.

This is a problem of eyelid shape, and it is corrected surgically. No diet or supplement changes it. Signs to look for:

• Squinting or holding one eye partly closed
• Tears running down the face, or a wet patch below the eye
• Redness, discharge or pawing and rubbing at the eye
• A cloudy or bluish area on the surface of the eye

Any of these needs a vet visit soon, because constant rubbing can ulcerate the cornea.

Thyroid function

Hypothyroidism, an underactive thyroid, slows metabolism. Typical signs are weight gain without a change in food, lethargy, a dull or thinning coat and poor tolerance of cold. In a quiet breed these changes are easy to write off as temperament.

Chow Chows are often described as highly prone to the condition. A large UK study of hypothyroidism in first-opinion practice identified 24 predisposed breeds, led by the Doberman, Tibetan Terrier and Boxer, but it had too few Chow Chows to test the breed on its own, so it neither confirms nor rules out a raised risk. Being purebred, older, neutered or heavier than the average for the breed and sex were all linked with higher odds. The practical point is the same for any Chow Chow: a dog gaining weight on a measured diet should have a thyroid blood test before its food is cut again. If the vet diagnoses hypothyroidism and starts treatment, recheck weight over the following months, since calorie needs can shift as hormone levels return to normal.

Diets built around iodine, kelp or selenium supplements are not a treatment. A complete commercial food already contains both at controlled levels. Home-cooked diets need a formulation checked by a veterinary nutritionist.

Heat and appetite

The dense coat makes this breed poorly suited to hot weather. In UK veterinary records for 2016, the Chow Chow was among the breeds at highest risk of heat-related illness, alongside the Bulldog and French Bulldog. Dogs heavier than the average for their breed and sex were also at higher risk, which gives weight control a second purpose.

A Chow Chow may eat less on hot days. That is not a reason to switch to a richer food. Walk it early and late, give shade and several water bowls, and feed the main meal in the cooler part of the day. Heavy panting, drooling, weakness, vomiting or collapse in the heat is an emergency: move the dog somewhere cool, start cooling it with water and get it to a vet.

Meal routine and bloat

Gastric dilatation-volvulus (bloat), in which the stomach fills with gas and can twist, is mostly a problem of large, deep-chested dogs. Chow Chows are deep-chested, so the usual precautions make sense: two measured meals rather than one large one, a slow-feeder bowl for a dog that gulps, and a quiet hour after eating rather than hard play. A swollen belly with repeated attempts to vomit that bring nothing up, restlessness or pale gums needs an emergency vet at once.

Coat and skin checks

Grooming is where skin problems get noticed. While brushing through the undercoat, check for sore, damp or smelly areas, especially under the neck ruff and in the folds around the face. Clean and dry the facial folds, and see a vet about skin that stays red, greasy or bald, since a change of food is rarely the first answer.

Sources

1. Chow Chow dog breed information. American Kennel Club.
2. Nutritional requirements of small animals. Merck Veterinary Manual.
3. Prevalence of hip and elbow dysplasia in young adult dogs in Sweden. The Veterinary Record, 2026.
4. Conformational eyelid disorders in dogs under primary veterinary care in the UK: epidemiology and clinical management. PLOS ONE, 2025.
5. Frequency, breed predispositions and other demographic risk factors for diagnosis of hypothyroidism in dogs under primary veterinary care in the UK. Canine Medicine and Genetics, 2022.
6. Incidence and risk factors for heat-related illness (heatstroke) in UK dogs under primary veterinary care in 2016. Scientific Reports, 2020.