That was very interesting - and very impressive looking Chows. I imagine people with just one pet dog - like my parents - would have just fed it scraps and any bones or odd bits of meat they could get, but having several dogs must have been quite a problem.
I remember Mother, who was born in 1909, saying that they had a Chow when she was quite young, so presumably that was during WWI. I was born during WWII and there were lots of dogs around then, but I was too young to know whether they were pure-bred dogs or just mutts.
When I was a youngster in the 50’s mum had Gsd’s, she used to show and bred the odd litter, they were fed on stale brown bread, veg and any meat scraps that could be found all were fit and healthy, then we moved to a farm cottage and got all the stillborn calves and lambs, i used to gut them (don't think i could do it now !!)
Stunning face on that Chow. I love looking at the old photos of dogs, they seemed to look so much healthier back then
Enjoyed this article, and what a lovely photo of Lydia and her handsome Chow Chow. I, too, love looking at old photos of dog breeds. It's actually quite shocking to see how much some breeds have altered, in what is a relatively short time.
Great article and fab pictures. I also love looking at old photos of dog breeds and how different breeds have changed in size, looks ect.
Not to mention the changes in presentation. If you see old photos of people going into a dog show, it was just the dog on a lead, (possibly a terrier would be in a wooden box). No grooming kit bag, or fancy trollies and tables.
