Howie was a Chow Chow X.  He came to us from Operation Kindness because he was so unpredictable, was dog aggressive and couldn’t be adopted.  He wasn’t very old but anyone who knows Chow dogs, know their reputation and unfortunately, Howie earned his reputation, at least where other animals were concerned.  He was spring loaded and would, for no reason at all, jump on some poor unsuspecting dog.  He would just kind of “hit” them and run off.  He never did any damage and it didn’t happen often at first.  He was also fond of running at us and jumping up and “bouncing” off the chest or stomach and taking off.  To say he was a “brick shy of a load” would be an understatement. 

Howie did win the hearts of several of the staff and volunteers at Operation Kindness.  One lady would send money every month and whenever any of them would come to visit us, they always had to go say hello to Howie. 

The longer Howie was here and the more comfortable he felt, the more aggressive he became toward the other animal, inflicting injury on several that required a trip to the vet.  It also became impossible to catch him to medicate him or to try to brush his undercoat out.  When we were able to catch him, he became aggressive with us.  It’s seldom we have to make the decision to allow an animal to cross over unless they are sick or old.  When it becomes clear that the quality of life for the animals that have to live with an animal like Howie, is threatened, we have to opt for the majority so we allowed Howie to cross over.  No decision like this is ever made lightly.  The people who loved his ol’ Chow dog know he had as good a life as he could.  He’ll always be remembered and missed.