"In August of 1993,while stationed at Ft. Hood, Texas, my first sergeant announced in formation that he had a dog that needed a home. In the military it is hard to own a pet because of the moving, a lot of renters do not allow animals. I went that night to his house to check out the dog. I had been raised with dogs my whole life and had not had a pet for quite a few years. 

"I followed my sergeant to his back yard to find a flea infested matted black chow-chow puppy. "Sheeba' was just six months old. As I knelt down to greet her, she jumped up to greet me and her tooth somehow hit and chipped one of my teeth and it was love at first sight!  I went home and begged my husband (at the time) for her, luckily when he saw her he too could not resist. After a half a dozen flea baths and cutting out mats I finally took her to professional groomer and for sixty dollars she was finally flea free. Sheeba was very easy to train and she took my two daughters as her own and vice-versa.

"In 1994 we had gotten assigned to Hawaii. I was thrilled until I learned of the mandatory four months of quarantine for dogs. I was devastated my husband insisted on getting rid of my Sheeba. I said no, she is going with us, I did not care how much it would cost. We all visited Sheeba in quarantine as often as we could and finally the four months were over and she got to come home. We lived in Hawaii for over three years until a divorce sent me to Indiana; I got the girls, the furniture, and Sheeba.

 "Sheeba turned out to be a Godsend because she helped me to find a new husband, another animal lover. To make my story short, I now have a new husband, six cats, six dogs, two horses, and one hedgehog! Sheeba is now known as 'Big Mama Sheeba' and is the Alpha in our house. Our sixth dog is a chow-mix named Scarlotte. I rescued her from our local ACC, and she has a red, smooth coat and is all full of love.

"Sheeba just turned eleven years old and is blind in one eye and can not see well out of her other eye and I believe that she is deaf in one ear and I know she has very selective hearing with the other ear. She has brought so much love to me and my daughters, and new husband too. And despite her physical short comings, she is still very active and she keeps the other dogs in line and still gets her ice cream. As much joy and love she has given to me and my family I know there is not enough that I can do for her. She deserves all the respect and admiration from all our animals.

"Scarlotte also shows the same strong chow traits that she has, she is about two years old. And apparently was kept in a backyard with little human contact. She is making up for that living with us, she is as affectionate as Sheeba, and quick to learn, too. Our other dogs are an 8 year old Shepard mix, a 6 year old Collie, a year old Husky, and a year old black lab mix.

"This is Sheeba's and Scarlotte's happy ending stories They are my first chows but will not be my last!"

Christine Frauendorfer