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Sid Vicious the Chow Chow
as told by Cherie

Editors note: Follow along in the adventures of Sid Lazarus Cash the Chow Chow. He has his own story teller, Cherie. These stories are important to us as many dogs including Chows have an undeserved reputation of bad behavior. We want you to have first hand news of his daily adventures at the park to meet his adoring public. Come back often for updates! Need Chow Chow information? Visit http://www.chowchow.org/index.html

 

Sid and Cherie.. Chow Ambassadors.

Tonight's walk in the park..
We run into the man we have seen before.. I ask him if I can take some pictures of his dogs and Sid interacting because we're turning into the ambassadors of Chow Chows.. He said certainly!

Sid and Cherie.. Chow Ambassadors.

It was so cute tonight. There was this couple with a LITTLE baby, ok, he must be just over a year, he was walking but not talking, the cutest little boy. The couple was sitting on a bench and they were letting the baby play. I kept Sid at a distance because I didn't want to scare the parents. Well, we walked down to an area where there is this big dip so Sid could run up and down. It was just about over 60 feet away from the family. SAFE, I thought, Sid's leash is only 50 feet. WELL, the baby starting wandering closer and closer in our direction! The parents didn't move. So, I know that Sid loves babies but he was just so small that I decided to stand on Sid's leash so he couldn't jump on the baby. The baby got nose to nose with Sid. Sid.............

Gave the baby kisses. LOL.. scared ya, huh? They played for a little while but the baby was starting to squeal and he stepped on the leash and I didn't want him (the baby) to fall or get tripped by Sid so I took hold of the leash closer to Sid's collar and took the baby by the hand and led them both to flatter ground. Then Sid saw the parents and wanted to go see them too. They both petted Sid and asked me what his name was. I told them Sid. HA HA HA HA HA..
The Dad told me that's what the Mom wanted to name their son. I laughed!! I told them I call Sid "Sid Vicious".. They laughed and the Mom said that's what she wanted!!

Well, the baby was getting just a little too excited and wanted to grab a handful of Sid's fur so I said it was time for us to go and we went on our way

SILLY SILLY CHOW!!

I forgot to tell you! Windsor had their fireworks display last night. I live close enough to the park that I can see the show from my house and hear all the booms and explosions. Sid was outside enjoying the cool air and I was going to call him in but it was cooler outside then inside that I just let him stay outside. When the show started I started listening to how Sid reacted. NO REACTION!! He just laid in the yard and watched. He did bark at the people across the street who were sitting on their lawn watching the show. Because he was barking at the people I told him it was time to come in. He was sitting next to me on the couch when the finale started. He looked out the window towards the show and started barking like someone was outside. He didn't act scared or weird nor did he try to hide. Made ME happy! Ok, now get this...

I had to drop Sid off at my parents so I could go check on a friends home that I'm house sitting. My Mom was using one of those dust busters. Sid LEAPED on the couch, scrinched himself behind my back, then crawled on my lap and tucked his head under my arm. SILLY SILLY CHOW!!

Sid and Cherie.. Chow Ambassadors.

Sid is such an amazing Chow. He surprises me more and more every day. Tonight we went to the park like we do every night. We get out of the Jeep and head for the lawn when a lady and 3 doxies start walking toward us. I let Sid get just close enough to touch noses and I step on his leash. One of the doxies, a LARGE wire haired male, starts barking and gnashing his teeth at Sid. Sid runs and hides behind me. .. The lady said it was weird her dog never behaves that aggressively 'ok', I say. Then her little doxies walk up to Sid and they wag and touch noses. Sid really wanted to meet the bigger one but that one wouldn't have anything to do with Sid. Me and the lady even sat on the grass but her bigger doxie wouldn't calm down. Sid just laid in the grass and ignored the kracker doxie. hahaha..
Then... Sid and I leave to go run and play. We walk behind the backstop of the baseball field. I see that there are two guys IN the field but didn't think anything of it and I let Sid go to the full length of his 50 ft leash. I watch as Sid goes towards the backstop, tail wagging so I knew the guys were close enough to the fence that Sid could see them. As I walk up to Sid he has his nose against the mesh of the fence and is letting the guys stick their fingers through it to pet him on the nose. Sid is licking their arms through the fence. Sid loves people and he really getting more and more comfortable around people. The guys (they must have been in their 20's) say things like "wow, I've never seen a black Chow before" and they ask me the normal questions like "Aren't Chows protective".. that sort of thing.. HAHAHA.. I answer all their questions and let them pay attention to Sid Vicious.

Today's story.. "Sid's trip to the Groomer's"
 

Talk to the butt..  Ain't I handsome? Look at my pretty trimmed PRINCELY toenails.

I know I've said this MANY times but just so the new members know, Sid's groomer works at my Vet's office. She, Colleen, actually has a beautician's license but decided to go to professional dog grooming school. During her 'schooling' she had to groom MANY Chows and she told me that not all of them were well mannered but that was part of learning how to be a groomer.. to be comfortable around fearful or aggressive dogs. (background story over)..  We get to the Vet's office and of course everyone showers Sid with attention. He's getting so much better at not jumping on people and being more of a princely gentleman.  Colleen comes out and I ask her to show me these MATS she keeps saying Sid has. (SHE WANTED TO SHAVE HIM).. Ok, so after she ran a comb through different parts of his body she said "Ok, I won't shave him"..  OH OH OH... She started to run the comb behind Sid's ear and Sid started to put his mouth on her arm. Colleen very calmly and sternly said "Sid, don't you put your mouth on ME".. Sid immediately stopped! .. Colleen has a very high chipper type of voice and for her to have so much control and calm demeanor around Sid just makes me happy! HOURS later, Colleen finally calls me to tell me Sid is ready to be picked up. nails cut, anals expressed, ears cleaned, bathed, groomed, conditioned.. NOT ONCE did Sid bark, snap, growl or even ATTEMPT to put his mouth on Colleen during the whole time! Not even during the expression and the last time they did that they had to put a muzzle on him!!! I HAVE to attribute it to Colleen earning Sid's trust. That's the only thing I can think of. Colleen said she didn't have any problems at all even when she was combing out his 'pants'.. While I was paying my bill a lady came out of an examination room with two huge dogs. HUGE dogs. The dogs lunged and barked and snarled at Sid The lady almost couldn't contain her own freakin' dogs!! .. What did Sid do? He looked at them like they were stupid, walked over to me, gave Colleen a kiss on the hand and we calmly walked out the door while those insane CRACKER dogs were misbehaving!! Since this is a story about Sid's visit to the groomers I thought I would post pics of THE Sid Vicious here. hahaha.. Ok everyone, indulge me ok?? Look how shiny my coat is!! Ok, leave-in conditioner helps   ALRIGHT, I'm DONE already, get that camera outta my F A C E!!

Sid and Cherie.. Chow Ambassadors.

Another interesting day at the park. It was really just a TAD too hot to go to the park but Sid has a routine now and it's really hard for me to get him to skip a night.

Tonight we were walking along and this man came walking towards us. He had this HUGE dog, I didn't know what it was but it had a big head, pointy ears and a CURVED tail!! We stop before getting too close and he asks me if my dog was friendly. I say the same thing I always say.. "He likes people but he doesn't know if he likes dogs or not".. He said his dog was friendly but that he was a little touchy because he had a stroke recently. I ask what the dog is. It's an Akita. Unaltered, 4 years old. A STROKE???!!! EFG!!!
Sid of course, liked the man so he HAD to go within the Akita's territory. They both behaved so good. Me, Sid, the man and his Akita walk through the park together and talk and socialize.
Hey, I guess you really CAN meet people that way! hmmmph! We walk and walk until we get to where there's no shade. Well me and Sid must do our running (exercise you know) so we keep going. The man said that he couldn't take the sun and I'm sure the Akita needed the shade!! They didn't do any running and you could actually see the stiffness in his back legs (the Akita)..
The man thanked me for the pleasant experience and I thanked him too because Sid really does need to know that there are other living creatures in the world that walk on FOUR legs and not TWO!! hahahahaha!!!
OH!! and I thought Akita's were about the same size as a Chow! This Akita practically dwarfed Sid! I bet he was at LEAST 4 inches taller and longer and probably weighed 20+ pounds more!! HUGE!!!!! Sweet dog though!!

HEY, if a dog has a stroke do they have the same symptoms and umm handicaps (can't think of a better word) as humans? You know, like some people lose the use of their arm and leg??? Can they be rehabilitated? Will he get the full use of his legs back? Will he always have a risk of having another stroke? I guess that would depend on why he had the stroke in the first place huh?

It's so peaceful when no one is there to bug us!!

Terror in the park. As 6:30 rolls around and Sid is nudging me with his nose and grunting at me NON STOP until I finally say, ok, get your leash... Sid BOUNDS around the house until I grab the leash, hook it to his collar and head towards the Jeep. Ok, it's taken me a LONG time to get that silly Sid to actually JUMP INTO the Jeep. NOW, he's in it almost before I get the tailgate door all the way open!
He now sticks his head out where I leave the window unzipped and watches as we get closer and closer to the park. He DOES wait very patiently while I unhook his short leash and hook up his 50ft leash, but, as soon as he hears the "click" he BOUNDS out of the back of the Jeep to start smelling the grass.

My Chow - the fraidy-Chow!!

Tonight there was a father and son in the baseball field tossing some pitches and hitting some balls. I AM THE ONE who always gets hit by wild hits and pitches so we stay towards the edge of the field until they leave. We're sitting on the grass and this car drives up and parks by the Jeep. A man gets out of the car, no big deal..

THEN!!! I hear the man say OH SH$t and starts calling out two names.. He had the cutest little mini doxies but they were OFF LEASH! geeeeeeeeeeeeeeez! Anyways, the male starts barking at Sid and started running towards him. SID TOOK ONE LOOK, DARTED TO THE RIGHT, DARTED TO THE LEFT .. and RAN as fast as his stilted legs could carry him right back to my LAP! oh e-freakin-gad! My 60 pound Chow got scared by a 10 pound Doxi!

The man apologized over and over, STILL NO LEASH, but took his two doxie's to the other end of the park. That was nice of him.. Sid and I still got in our hour of running and jumping.

My Chow - the fraidy-Chow!! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Sid and I went to the park again tonight so I took the camera. 

The tree in the pic is called a Living Oak. This one is almost 300 years old!!

<i SWEETPEA DESIGNS - I my Sid Vicious!!