Puppy or Panda?
When you first look at these two pictures, you may think you’re looking at two pandas. The first one is, in fact, of a real baby panda. The second one, however, is actually a Chow Chow puppy.
In these pictures, the puppy is one year old. Its ears, patches around the eyes, legs, and shoulders have been dyed black to resemble a panda. To make things even more convincing, this type of dog naturally walks at a leisurely pace and has a charm about it that is similar to that of a panda.
However, as the Chinese panda is listed as an endangered species, this little Chow Chow’s new look has been slightly troublesome for its owner. In an interview, the owner told of how one day he was walking his dog in a park when a police officer came over and told him that he would have to charge him with illegally owning an endangered animal. Not until the puppy’s owner took out his dog owner’s permit, did the police officer believe that the dog was not actually a panda.
Despite the trouble that may result, this little guy’s owner is not the only one wanting to change his pet into a “panda.” One stylist at a pet grooming salon commented that the “panda style” is becoming quite popular. She added, however, that not all dogs are ideal for this type of makeover and that Chow Chows, Samoyeds, and other breeds that have a relatively chubby body look the most convincing in the end. The makeover process itself takes over 7 hours to complete and costs more than one thousand RMB. At the time this news was posted, her salon had already successfully made over six dogs of varying types and sizes to look like pandas, one of which, once made over, bared a strong resemblance to the panda in the movie Kung-fu Panda.
