The Chow Chow Husky Mix dog, also known as the Chusky dog or the Chowski dog, is a medium to large sized mixed-breed that results from cross breeding one Chow Chow parent with one Siberian Husky parent.
Even though the Chusky has been a mixed breed dog for a relatively long time now, they have only recently been officially recognized as a mixed-breed, or designer dog breed as some people like to call them.
The organizations that have recently recognized the Chusky as an official designer breed dog are:
- Dog Registry of America (DRA)
- American Canine Hybrid Club (ACHC)
- International Designer Canine Registry (IDCR)
Chusky Appearance
Size, Height & Weight
On average, a fully grown adult Chusky dog will weigh anywhere from 40 to 65 pounds and will stand anywhere from 18 to 23 inches tall.
Coat
The Chusky doesn’t particularly have a higher chance of taking its coat from one of the two parents, as some Chuskies take their coats from their Chow Chow parents, while other Chuskies take their coats from their Siberian Husky parents.
It’s all really a matter of chance with this cross breed.
However, and speaking from personal experience about the Chusky dogs we’ve personally come across, the majority of them have a straight and dense double coat.
One of the most popular coat colors this dog comes in is the light red color, much like the coat color of their Chow Chow parents.
Other very common colors are black, brown, white and cream, available in both solid colors and a mixture of two.
Chow Chow Husky Mix Temperament
Training
When it comes to training, the Chusky dog is far from being the easiest dog to train out there, and is best suited for people who already have at least some experience with training other dogs.
If this is your first time bringing a dog home and adding it to the family, then this dog may very well prove to be difficult for you to handle on your first go.
We would suggest you kick off your experience as a first time dog owner with a dog that’s a little less maintenance and a little easier to handle.
If you insist on getting a Chusky home despite the fact that this is your first experience with a dog, then it’s an absolute MUST that you train your young Chusky puppy from day one.
This way, you’ll have much higher chances of succeeding since the puppy’s mind is at its highest stages of grasping information and learning new habits that they will keep with them till the rest of their lives.
One of the most important training practices you have to undergo with this dog is crate training them from a very young age, because this is a very affectionate dog is much more sensitive to being away from their owners for long periods of time than other dogs.
If you crate train the Chusky from a young age, they’ll learn to accept being away from you for certain periods of time without going all destructive and becoming problematic, and without being miserable themselves.
The key to all of this is crate training them ever since they’re still young puppies in order to avoid such problems when they’re grown up adults and it’s too late to get them used to something new.
Watchdog
If you’re searching for a dog to be your home’s watchdog, then this is one of the better choices you can go with because the Chusky has proven over time to be an excellent watchdog that will immediately bark to let its owners know when an intruder is around.
Not only is this dog an excellent watchdog, but it’s also a very good guard dog as well, thanks to the fact that it immediately develops a great bond with and affection for its owners and their family members, which both prompt it to be very protective of them.
This is also one of the things that has to be specifically addressed when you’re training your Chusky, because if not trained and taught to take it easy on the protectiveness of the people it loves, the Chusky can very well grow to become overly-attached and overly-protective of these people.
And this is definitely not something you want to deal with when it’s too late, as excess protectiveness that’s uncalled for can become very problematic down the line.
Exercise
If you want your Chusky to live a happy life and not be depressed, you have to give it all the exercise it needs in a day’s time.
With that being said, the Chusky luckily doesn’t need as much exercise and physical activity during the day as some other dogs might need, they only need a moderate amount so they can get by.
So while some other dogs may need something like 90 minutes of exercise a day, this dog will be very happy with getting 60 minutes of decent physical activity a day.
When they get the amount of exercise they need for the day, they’ll spend the rest of it chilling around and laying back a bit to relax, not constantly moving around and wanting to play for the rest of the day like some other dog breeds.
Husky Chow Mix Living Conditions
The best household that the Chusky dog will immediately fit in right away is a household with a lot of energetic individuals that like to move around and be active throughout the day just like this dog is.
However, and just like we said in the section about training above, this dog needs someone with experience to look after it and supervise it when it’s playing around with young kids.
If you plan on having this dog spend the majority of its days chilling out in the backyard and playing around, it’s best if your backyard is a safely fenced one in order to prevent the Chusky from making their way out and wandering off, which is the last thing you want to happen.
And, speaking about being in a household with family members that are energetic, active and up-beat, this dog needs to spend enough time with its owner and family member every day, or else that will greatly make them upset as well.
The Chusky loves being in the company of its owner and other family members for enough time every day, and if not given that privilege it will turn into a bitter, destructive version of its self.
And who would ever want to do that to this little bundle of joy?
As for what weather climate the Chusky prefers to live in, that would be a relatively colder climate than a relatively warmer one.
This is because most Chuskies will often have fairly long coats that can protect them from a little cold weather, but will only add to the feeling of high temperature when it’s already hot out there.
Chowski Health
Chusky dogs can grow up to face some of the most common health problems that either or both of their parents, the Chow Chow and the Siberian Husky dogs, usually suffer from.
So here’s a list of the most common physical and health problems that have been observed among a great number of different Chusky dogs over the years.
– Dental problems: A very common problem among different Chusky dogs is that sometimes they are born with some missing teeth, especially ones that were supposed to be in the middle.
This can prove to be a headache for you as you’ll have to consult with your veterinarian in order to design a specific diet for your dog that revolves around this problem.
– Eye problems
A healthy Chusky will go on to live for an average of 10 to 13 years, which is a little bit less than the average life expectancy dogs of this size often have.
Chusky Care
One of the first things you have to take note of when educating yourself about how to properly take care of your Chusky is the fact that this dog needs to be getting fairly high levels of Omega-3 essential fatty acids from their diet in order to preserve their long and beautiful coat.
As you already know, this dog’s two parents both have fairly long coats, which will surely pass on to their offspring when they are crossed together.
So when shopping for dry dog food to feed your Chusky, look at one of the many brands that offer formulas that have something like Salmon as the dominant ingredient on the ingredients list, as salmon is known to be a very high source of Omega-3 essential fatty acids for dogs.
You should also take a general look at the ingredients list to make sure that there are other ingredients that are rich in Omega-3 essential fatty acids as well.
This way, you’ll be doing your part to keep the excess shedding away that dogs with such long furs are notorious for.
In addition to that, you’ll also need to regularly brush this dog’s coat in order to further minimize possible shedding, especially during shedding season where all of this intensifies.
Also, you should know before getting a Chusky home that this dog tends to negatively react to grooming procedures if they haven’t been subject to them from a young age.
It’s preferable that you start to get this dog used to grooming practices from a very young age, ideally having them exposed to these practices being done to them by professional groomers.
This way and as they grow up, they won’t react nearly as negatively to having their ears checked and cleaned, having their teeth brushed, having their fur brushed (and trimmed if needed) and having their nails clipped, all of which practices would have resulted in very negative reactions from your Chusky had they not been exposed to them before.
