Wow Karen…no more groveling around on your hands and knees to bathe your dogs and soak Cyrus’ feet multiple times daily!!!  You are now the proud owner of this incredible BOOSTER BATH donated to you by the company that manufactures them.!!!!!

The phone calls went like this………Jacquie Green after talking to you (Karen) about how badly you need a tub, called her friend Carol Sue Yaeger, who in turn called me and mentioned getting together donations for a tub.

After some brainstorming on the phone I decided to call

and see if they would be willing to give us a better price on a tub setup for Karen.  Without a moments hesitation, Erica Kersey from Paws for Thought said I could purchase a tub  for basically the cost of shipping.

So off went a check from Worldchow , and your tub will be on it’s way on Monday, Karen!!!!!  I’m so excited for you to get this tub and please have your mom Jean take some photos of you enjoying your new toy for the Booster Bath folks and Worldchow members to see!!!  Enjoy my dear friend!!  I had no idea you had to tend to all these wounds at ground level……….and all without complaining a PEEP!!   You have so many friends that are watching your back………literally darlin…NO MORE ACHING BACK!!!

Thank you to all who were involved in this whirlwind , 2 day TUBATHON….including the CCCI for their support in this endeavor!!!

There are more surprises on the way Karen , as there are others involved in this wonderful scheme.  Updates will be later!!!

Karen sent me some photos of the dogs she is nursing back to health who desperatly need this tub to soak their feet in to help them heal. It looks like they have made great progress since the last photos I saw Karen!!!

I’m so thrilled, Karens’ vet who did all the specialty burn treatments for these dogs will be writing an upcoming article for Worldchow.  We can all learn a lot about the immense investment in responsibility, emotions and time it takes to deal with these  animal burn victims.  I am looking forward to posting the article and so pleased she agreed to do it

Below is Iris…here is a story you may not have heard , but one that really touched me so deeply.  This mixed breed girl…If I remember correctly she is 15 years old, was one of the critically injured fire victims.  Iris was sent to a different clinic than Karens dogs (too many dogs for one clinic to handle) and was treated with conventional methods.

Iris burns were not nearly as bad as Cyrus’ injuries, but when Karen saw her weeks into the healing process, she noticed that Cyrus had healed twice as fast with the laser /specialty treatments he had been receiving at Karen’s normal clinic.  Karen make the decision to take Iris home and bring her in for regular laser treatments and she is healing at a very fast pace now

The part that blows me away is this is a boarder’s dog….an elderly woman who has been in a nursing home for 10 years(? am I right on the time Karen) and our Mz. Karen had been boarding Iris for all that time for basically what it costs to feed her.  This dog is as much a part of Karens life as any of her chows and she went the extra mile to make sure Iris would heal well and live out her golden years in dignity!

The bonus to the laser treatments is that Iris is arthritic and while she goes in for burn laser therapy, she is also getting stimulating laser on her rear and is making incredible progress in that department too.  Kudos to you Karen for giving Iris a quality life .  I know she means a lot to you!!!!

Woooooo Hooooooooooooooo Booster bath time for Iris, Cyrus and Dawson…and I bet Journey too!!!!!!!!!!!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE BAMBOO TEAHOUSE AND ENTER THE CONTEST

SOME EXAMPLES BELOW OF PHOTOS THAT SHOW A SENSE OF “PLACE”

NOTE YOU MAY INCORPORATE PEOPLE IN YOUR PHOTOS TOO

PORTLAND OREGON IS KNOWN FOR IT’S RHODODENDRONS…LILLIAN LOVES FLOWERS!

THIS IS MZ. LIZA AS A PUPPY JUST BEFORE WE SENT HER TO SOUTH AFRICA.  THE ZEBRA PRINT GIVES A HINT OF HER SPECIAL “PLACE” IN THE CHOW WORLD

MY SON BRYAN LOVES LILLIAN AND TOOK HER TO THE BEACH IN OREGON.  SHE WATCHED HIM IN AWE AS HE WAS FLYING KITES AND SKIPPING ROCKS.  BRYAN IS LILLIANS IDOL !

HERES A BLAST FROM THE PAST.  ME , VINCENT AND HANNA IN VISALIA CALIFORNIA. I’M GUESSING ABOUT 15 YEARS AGO.  WE WERE IN THE BEAUTIFUL CALIFORNIA HILLS TAKING A “POTTY BREAK”

OMG….Does Meg look more and more like Hanna the older she gets! Meg below as a comparison but not a good example of a sense of “place”..lol! I’m getting off track!!!

If you have any questions about the contest please feel free to leave a comment below or email me directly

[email protected]

Wow…I received these photos this weekend from Karen Tracy of her beautiful Miracle litter, born to the mama chow who survived the recent kennel fire.  Karen gave me permission to post these.  I get letters daily from people asking me how Karen is doing.  I had hoped to talk to her today for more puppy details but truly………the photos speak volumes!!!!

All of our best wishes go out to you Karen  and we hope you are able to enjoy those beautiful babies a bit more now.  I also hope you finally got some sleep with mom chow playing primadonna at night and keeping you awake to feed the puppies!

LOOK FOR THE WORLDCHOW PHOTO CONTEST COMING SOON!!

Our Featured Worldchow member for this week is my good friend Catherine Crooks . Cathy and her hubby Ryan and their adorable daughter Ave live in  Iowa in the  USA

How many years have you been owned by Chows? How many chows do you have today and their names?
1o years Roses- 7 Kozmo- 5 Rowdy- 2

How many years have you been owned by Chows? How many chows do you have today and their names?
1o years Roses- 7 Kozmo- 5 Rowdy- 2

Cathy, when did you acquire your FIRST chow…tell me a little bit about him/her?
In 1999 my husband and I starting looking for a Chow puppy. We were newlyweds, had just purchased a house and wanted to add a dog to our life. I had always loved the look of the Chow and did lots of research on the breed before deciding I had to have one. We knew nothing about “breeders” and had no idea where to start.

My Mother just happened to meet a former Chow breeder/handler at a natural foods co-op. She just happened to have a litter of puppies on the way- the last litter she was ever going to breed. It was all by chance that Teddy came into our lives, and what an impact she would have. She wasn’t a show dog, that’s not what we were looking for at the time. She was beautiful, loving, and funny and we fell in love with her immediately.

At 6 months of age Teddy had a siezure, we hoped it was an isolated occurance. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. She turned out to be a severe epileptic. We researched and tried many different types of things to treat her. At one time I was driving an hour, one way, 3 times a week for accupuncture. Her seizures were never able to be completely controlled. She spent 4 short years with us, before her body could take no more. I am so greatful to have had her in our life, she taught us so much. She gave us the best gift of all- our deep love of the Chow.

What are your favorite qualities that only a Chow Chow can possess?
I love their intelligence, graceful movement, and outstanding beauty. I love that if you have a room full of Chows each one is unique. They may have similar features, but I don’t think 2 Chows are ever identical in appearance. I feel that way about their personalities also. All my Chows have different personalities, each one unique.

Favorite activities that you and your family share with your chow(s)
Our Chows are family members first, show dogs second. They do almost eveything we do. I’m lucky to work from home so I’m with my dogs all day. Rowdy and my 3 year old daughter have a strong bond. He participates in “tea parties” and playing “Doctor” on a regular basis.

What would you like to see WORLDCHOW MAGAZINE offer to the Chow fancy?
I think World Chow is a great place for people to come together and share this love we all have in common.

Our dogs have wonderful way of bringing humanimals together. List up to 3 close friends you have met via your chows and dog interests. Tell me a little bit about the connections
Chows brought me to Diana Hillygus and Sandra Miller, two of my best friends. I met Diana at a dog show I attended and she invited me to come to her home and meet all her other dogs. I was so impressed by the beauty and temperament her dogs. I started traveling to dog shows with her learning so much along the way.

Diana introduced me to Sandra and the three of us all have so much in common. They have been great mentors to me, and we’ve developed a life-long freindship. I also met my wonderful Vet because of my epileptic Chow. My former Vet turned me away because he really didn’t know how to treat her when the medication wasn’t working. It turned out to be a blessing in disquise because I found my current Vet, Dr. Phyllis Frost, who is amazing. I can’t say enough good things about her. It is such a good feeling to have a Vet that you can trust and rely on 100%

What do you feel the true essence of our breed is …in 2009?
I think people are more aware of genetic issues and utilizing the tools such as OFA and CERF for healthier future generations. We are lucky to have these tools available and I hope people continue to use them. I have a concern about so many long bodied and short legged dogs in the show ring. Balance is sometimes lost. We need to respect the standard with square dogs and stilted gaits.

What are your 3 biggest concerns regarding the state of the Chow breed right now

* Health Issues

* Loss of overall breed type and balance

* Lack of public education regarding “dangerous breeds”

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Cathy …THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking the time to do this interview!!! I realized just as I was getting ready to publish it , that I don’t have a photo of YOUR beautiful face in here!!!!  We would love to see a photo of you , with our without the chows.  Also there is one you sent that said is a MUST HAVE ……but the file didn’t come thru.  Just send that one along too and I’ll add them to the interview!!

One of the biggest disappointments for me this year, not being able to attend the National was our dear Chow guru Mr. Joel Marston was the guest of honor this year.  Love Banghart put together the most beautiful tribut to Joel , digging deep in to her boxes of pix  to find all sorts of great shots .  I got a peek at the Powerpoint Presentation a few months ago and was so tickled to read about Joels dogs again…Just like it were yesterday

On the drive home from the National, Love called and we were chatting.  I asked her if she would like to share all that work on Worldchow as a permanent place for the tribute to reside.  Love agreed wholeheartedly and I converted it to video format today.  I aplogize for the weird glitch at the end where 2 slides got mixed up.  I’ll redo it again this week but wanted to share this with you all asap!!!!

CLICK THE ARROW ON THE VIDEO BELOW TO START THE SHOW.  THERE IS AUDIO AS WELL.

TRIBUTE TO JOEL MARSTON AT THE 2009 CCCI NATIONAL SPECIALTY from Sandra Miller on Vimeo.