Wookie was probably stuck by a car and was lying outside the main gate to an orphanage in the town of Parramos, Guatemala. She was there for two days, and a volunteer for United for Animals called and asked us to come and try to catch her. We arrived to find a very hungry, dirty, female chow with a pronounced limp on her left front leg by the gate. She really couldn’t walk on her foreleg. She was also in heat and surrounded by male dogs. Wookie was approximately two to three years old. Weight on intake-28 lbs (13 kg). Extremely dirty, fleas, scabby ears from fly bites. Wookie had a fractured foreleg-distal left elbow, left side with significant pain associated.
he is an extremely sweet, people oriented dog. She is getting much better with other dogs and now plays with her favorite friends. She has learned to take food gently from your hand and wait her turn when the dogs are getting treats. She can still be food aggressive with the other dogs, and will try to steal their food if she can, so we recommend that she be fed on her own, or on a leash and supervised if with other dogs. She can be toy and chew aggressive with other dogs.
Wookie LOVES people, and loves to be petted and brushed. She is a body presser, and will almost climb into your lap for petting. She likes to mouth arms and hands when being petted. She is very gentle and this seems to be her way of cuddling with you.
She has an extremely high prey drive, and is VERY distractible. She focuses on her person only inside in a quiet room. She loses attention completely in any situation outside. A falling leaf, a slight breeze, an invisible smell-all will de-focus her completely. She is cat obsessed so should absolutely NOT be placed in a home with cats.
Wookie caught a low flying pigeon in mid-air last week. She was rather impressive to watch in action, although the poor bird had to be pried from her jaws (dead as a doornail, of course).
Wookie has discovered the joys of chasing the water from a hose-she jumps and bites it and generally has a great time. She also loves puddles-the muddier the better. She loves to play pull games with rope toys and towels, and will chase tossed balls and toys (but won’t necessarily return them).
We would describe Wookie as a heavy chewer, in that she quickly destroys puppy Kongs and lighter duty toys. She is good with adult (red) Kongs, heavy chewer (black) Kongs, and rawhide chews. She doesn’t destroy furnishings or rugs, with the exception of fluffy, plush dog beds, which se seems to think are large plush dog toys, meant to be ripped to pieces.
Wookie was placed in a wonderful home in Michigan through our vet Dr. Jim Bader’s connection with a Chow Rescue there. She is spoiled, loved and very happy!
