#4 – Chow Chow
This Chinese breed is one of the oldest dog breeds in existence today, as confirmed by DNA tests studying these dogs and other breeds and their ancestors.
Originally developed as a multi-purpose working dog, Chows have excelled at herding, hunting, guarding, and pulling. Due to the age of the breed, many changes have been made, some better than others.
The breed is prone to certain health issues, such as multiple eye problems, cancer, diabetes, canine pemphigus, and autoimmune diseases. Not only do their health problems cause concern, their thick coats cannot go ignored.
Not only are Chows more prone to having flea infestations (they will likely be infested before you realize they have fleas, because they are so hard to find in their coats), they need regular and frequent grooming to ensure they don’t get matted hair and infected skin.
With Chows, your overall cost will be the purchase price, the cost of grooming over the lifetime of the dog, and any health issues that may have popped up.
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