I think it was in either 1990 or 1991 – my mom can correct me later – that Dusty Rose came to us. Through some friends in town, who had chows of their own, we got into contact with a professional chow breeder in Colorado, who also trained her dogs for show. Dusty, for short –
AKC registration requires at least two names –, was bred and trained for showing, but because of the coloration of her tongue, she would have been disqualified. A trait of the (pure) breed is a completely blue/purple tongue and mouth. Dusty had little bits of pink on her upper gums and on the side of her tongue, so the breeder Louise was looking to place Dusty with a family with the stipulation that she be whelped once, and L would get first pick of the litter.
The first time we visited L's farm outside of Denver (we would return at least a dozen times in subsequent years), we were immediately struck by the noise. Aside from the main house, where L kept a handful of other breeds (as pets), ones needing medical care, and the puppies, there's a large garage like structure (bigger than the house even) housing some 26 chows, all barking and yelping and excited to see who's coming up the drive. L gave us a tour of the facilities, introducing us to all her "babies" as she called them. Nearly every dog had its own kennel with a flip door access to an indoor and outdoor space. Several were paired together in a kennel for mating. I remember one dog in particular named Rocket. Standing on his hind legs he was nearly as tall as me! And when we finally met Dusty, she was like this ball of fire. I'd never seen such an energetic little two-year-old, and such a lovely coat. As a trained show dog, she also knew when to get down to business: when L gave the command, she had the perfect inspection stance, looking straight ahead and hardly moving. It was quite impressive.
As per the agreement, when Dusty went into heat that first year, she went back to L's to be paired with a male. Possibly because of her small size, Dusty's litter consisted of only two puppies, both male, the first of which died in the birthing canal. I remember the day she went into labor, we had several people experienced in birthing puppies on hand, which saved Dusty's second puppy whom we kept and named Chief. (L wanted a female from the litter.) Thinking back on the experience, I realize now that a dog's pregnancy and labor and delivery is not all that dissimilar from a human's. There's the swelling and apparent discomfort; the vocal pain during the labor and delivery; the extreme exhaustion in postpartum; the loss of hair/fur in the later postpartum months; the trouble of weaning the little one.
This is picture of Dusty at 15-1/2 years (c. 2005?), taken when she went to go stay with L for a couple of weeks while my mom was out of town. L didn't believe it at first, couldn't believe Dusty could be so old (me neither!), but she pulled up the certificate and verified it, making Dusty the longest living chow L's ever had. (Chows typically live to be about 10-12 years old.) Sadly, L knew that this would probably be the last time that Dusty would come to visit. My mom didn't really realize it at first, but after Dusty returned home, her health problems and ailments started to manifest themselves faster – until one day, my mom had Dusty put down.
The first time we visited L's farm outside of Denver (we would return at least a dozen times in subsequent years), we were immediately struck by the noise. Aside from the main house, where L kept a handful of other breeds (as pets), ones needing medical care, and the puppies, there's a large garage like structure (bigger than the house even) housing some 26 chows, all barking and yelping and excited to see who's coming up the drive. L gave us a tour of the facilities, introducing us to all her "babies" as she called them. Nearly every dog had its own kennel with a flip door access to an indoor and outdoor space. Several were paired together in a kennel for mating. I remember one dog in particular named Rocket. Standing on his hind legs he was nearly as tall as me! And when we finally met Dusty, she was like this ball of fire. I'd never seen such an energetic little two-year-old, and such a lovely coat. As a trained show dog, she also knew when to get down to business: when L gave the command, she had the perfect inspection stance, looking straight ahead and hardly moving. It was quite impressive.
As per the agreement, when Dusty went into heat that first year, she went back to L's to be paired with a male. Possibly because of her small size, Dusty's litter consisted of only two puppies, both male, the first of which died in the birthing canal. I remember the day she went into labor, we had several people experienced in birthing puppies on hand, which saved Dusty's second puppy whom we kept and named Chief. (L wanted a female from the litter.) Thinking back on the experience, I realize now that a dog's pregnancy and labor and delivery is not all that dissimilar from a human's. There's the swelling and apparent discomfort; the vocal pain during the labor and delivery; the extreme exhaustion in postpartum; the loss of hair/fur in the later postpartum months; the trouble of weaning the little one.
This is picture of Dusty at 15-1/2 years (c. 2005?), taken when she went to go stay with L for a couple of weeks while my mom was out of town. L didn't believe it at first, couldn't believe Dusty could be so old (me neither!), but she pulled up the certificate and verified it, making Dusty the longest living chow L's ever had. (Chows typically live to be about 10-12 years old.) Sadly, L knew that this would probably be the last time that Dusty would come to visit. My mom didn't really realize it at first, but after Dusty returned home, her health problems and ailments started to manifest themselves faster – until one day, my mom had Dusty put down.
