Koko, whose name used to be Jody, is a beautiful black Chow who had been given up by his owner's mother along with his cream Chow son, Josh. Their story is a sad one. Koko and his mate were owned by a woman who bred them and kept Josh out of their litter. Josh's mother was also a cream Chow.

One day their owner moved and left the 3 Chows with her mother who was afraid of dogs, much less big dogs. The 3 Chows were kept chained up in the backyard and the woman would throw food at them, being to afraid to get too close to them. After a while, the three Chows became very scared. Finally, the three Chows were turned over to the Lenoir County SPCA shelter in North Carolina.

When we were first contacted, we did not have space available for them, so they were kept at the shelter until we could pick them up. While the three Chows were there, the ladies at the shelter tried working with them to help get them calmed down. Unfortunately, it became increasingly evident that the female had become so fearful that she was a fear biter and could not be turned around. Consequently, she was euthanized. We were finally able to bring Jody and Josh up to Virginia.

When we met at the rest stop at the VA/NC border, the two Chows were very afraid. They stayed against the back of the cab of the pickup and wouldn't come to the tailgate to meet us. I finally climbed over the tailgate, sat up against it, and finally coaxed Jody over near enough to get a lead on him. Then it was just a little reach for Josh to allow me to put a lead on him as well. Finally, we were able to lead Jody down from the back of the tailgate, soon to be followed by his son Josh. We got them into our vehicle and drove them home.

Once we got them home, we spent over two hours brushing, combing, and dematting the two boys in preparation for the adoption day the following morning. Josh had mats that were so very bad that one of them was almost half the size of his head. Both of them had mats almost as large as that all over them.

Over the next few days we observed that Jody was very dominant over Josh. When Josh would attempt to play with the other Chows, Jody would immediately discipline him. Josh would roll over onto his back and cry as his dad would bite at him, growling. Jody never hurt Josh, just let him know he did not approve. Fortunately we had a home waiting for Jody, so we were able to place him right away, giving Josh an opportunity to settle into a more normal routine of playing.

Jody's new owner had contacted us prior to our picking the two boys up from NC. He'd told us what he was looking for in a Chow, and Jody fit the bill to the T! We immeidately called his new dad and told him Jody would be at the store the next day after we got back from NC. So, the gentleman came in, saw Jody, and fell in love. He spent quite a bit of time at the PetsMart in Falls Church with Jody before returning to his home in eastern MD. That next week we took Jody to his new home where his new family decided to name him Koko.

Koko is a very well loved boy and couldn't have asked for a better home!

Donations

Chow Rescue is a non-profit organization. If you would like to make a donation by credit card to Chow Rescue, you can register for online payments at PayPal; the email address you'll need to use is Chowrescue@cox.net and the name is McBee. You can also make a donation by check payable to Michael McBee at P.O. Box 2083, Falls Church, VA 22042-2083.

Page created by: Chow Rescue
7 June 1999