And the rest they say is history....

One lazy Sunday morning, I dragged my hubby out for breakfast and then suggested we go to the countryside to check out the nurseries and pet farms. And so we did.... we even drove all the way across the island to check out the doggies in the pet farms in the east. At the last pet shop, my hubby pointed out an extremely cute Chow Chow to me. I've never seen a Chow Chow in the flesh, and boy was I smitten!

The red Chow Chow was a 3-month old puppy in a glass cage. It has the most adorable closed face, looking so much like a bear that you just wanna hug and pet and kiss it! It was huge for a pup (but of course, it's a Chow!) and it let out a low bark, rather inaudible actually. Now, this cutie pie comes with a hefty price tag of $2400. My hubby doesn't mind forking out the money "so long that we love him...cos we will have him for the next 10 to 15 years." But I'm not so sure. We could do a lot of things with $2400 and with me not drawing a single income for the past months, I think we need to be more level-headed with splashing out money just like that. We lingered a bit around the shop and then left. I just couldn't stop thinking of the Chow Chow and kept going "Chow Chow!" whenever I missed the dog. My hubby was amused and annoyed at the same time. But I'm also sure he likes the Chow Chow a lot.

In fact one of his fonder childhood memories consisted of petting and hugging a couple of huge Chows that belonged to an elderly man in his neighbourhood. He remembered that the dogs were friendly and good with children and let the kids play with them and follow them home.

Now, if you think we got the Chow Chow in the pet shop in the end...well, you are wrong.

Two days later, I was looking for suitable dogs to adopt online and I came across an adoption post for a 5-month old Chow Chow. I checked with the hubby immediately and he was cool with it. So I text the number in the adoption post and immediately I got a call! The lady was pretty eager and wanted me to see the dog in the afternoon, once her boyfriend (the dog owner) finished his class. Hubby and I could only make it in the evening and so we arranged to meet the very night.

This is all very exciting cos we tried to contact two dog owners previously on adopting their dogs and we got no response from the Corgi owner, and the Japanese Spitz owner was pretty relunctant to give up her dog. So now, finally we are on our way to meet the dog, a Chow Chow pup (!), and his owner and the Chow could very well be our new family member!

Everything went well and fast. We saw the dog...a tad too big for me...but I think I can get used to it..LOL! His fur is so soft and fluffy to the touch. He looked healthy and active and pretty happy too. The owner's reason to give the dog up was that his new dance studio is starting really soon and he is going to be super busy and will not have time for the Chow Chow (which he named Coffee). The poor dog was kept in his crate the whole day and was only let out for walks in the evening when the owner is home. The owner was glad to know to that I will be at home all day so that the dog will not be too lonely. And so, we exchanged the dog and it's documents for $500. A token sum for all its expenses incurred so far. The owner showed us his receipt - he got the dog for $2800 at Pet Safari at VivoCity.

It was a challenge for us in the first couple of weeks with Chow Chow (we decided to name him simply Chow Chow!) as he was eliminating in the house and I was going nuts cleaning after him. Walking him was extremely trying as well. But we are glad to say that after some time, Chow Chow has learnt to eliminate outdoors. We are also getting to know him and his body language a bit better. Walking him can be a breeze most of the time now too.

He is usually calm and well-behaved at home so we are very thankful for that. However he does go into his hyper mode which leaves us exasperated and we have a few quarrels over him. We have been reading up on dog training and dog nutrition so hopefully things will get better and we can really bond and be happy living and playing together.

Chow Chow is now 6-months old. I hope to record our days with him in our lives. Life will never be the same anymore now that we have Chow Chow in our family.

Here's some pictures of him as a 3-month old pup. Pictures taken from his previous owner's adoptation post in Pets Channel. Oh, I also found out that the owner has been wanting to give him up for adoption since August! Gosh! That means only one month was spent with the dog. Oh well, I really hope that Chow Chow is better off or at least happier now that he has us.