"We 'rescued' one large black chow a year ago, as a birthday present for our 18 year old daughter. She wanted another dog as hers had died 3 years earlier. We already had 2 dogs and felt #3 was long overdue. 

"One look at Grover cowering in his cage convinced us that this dog was too special. The shelter people loved this dog more than most of the ones there. Within days, he was 'our' dog. A most loving companion and big brother to the beagle and beagle/lab X we already had. 

"After a bout with a porcupine at 3 am, which we didn't find out about until 8 when he finally showed up at the front door (one of the few nights we managed to elude us and stay out all night), we took him to the vet. As we were leaving, a woman with a tiny red chow was coming in for a check up. Her 'puppy' turned out not to be a puppy but a full-grown female, 1 1/2 years old. Further conversation lead us to the brother, a creamy little thing cowering in the same cage Grover had been in the year before. After his neutering, he came home with us. Three days later, his total fear started to relax. 

"All these chows were from a puppymill in Connecticut that comes up and dumps chows cheap here in Vermont. Stormy and his sister were caged their entire life for breeding purposes until they escaped and were rather rudely caught. The shelter girls fell in love with him saving his life.

"Now, he has a big chow brother and beagle-type moms. He is one happy fellow. And a most affectionate one.  We never intended to have 4 dogs at once. It just happened. We've fallen in love with chows, even though some of our friends are convinced chows are horrible, fearsome pooches. We disagree!"

Kitty and Peter Werner
Vermont