Zackary has a large laundry basket full of toys. We watch as he takes his favorite toys to the old cats that share his home, trying to get them to play with him. He laid his toy down, hoping they'd play. He'd do everything but stand on his head.."please! play with me."! They ignored him or chased him away-Zack running for his life as a grumpy old 13 year old cat chases him thru the house.
They defintely didn't want to play!
We took Zack for long rides, if he'd see another dog, he'd start making a low moan..crying..
Finally, we started looking for Zack a puppy. One day we found Zoey, a beautiful yellow lab, perfect friend for Zack...we thought!  Zack didn't think so.
He growled at Zoey to keep her away-and promptly turned his back to us and was clearly very upset!  No more kisses from Zack..He sat with his back to us and ignored us..sadly, we returned Zoey to her home. Chows just aren't like other dogs, and we had no hope that he would accept Zoey.
We gave up on the idea of Zack getting a puppy..but still he cried when he saw other dogs, he cried when he saw Llama's at a near by farm, they were same color of him. 
Finally, we decided we'd try one more time. This time we'd try another Chow Chow. 
On a wintery, cold night we went to see THE puppy. We had checked with the Chow owners to see if they were gentle and good natured, healthy, and to see if the parents were on the premises. Then off we went. Taking Zack with us-we told him we were going to see "puppies."! We drove thru the country to the home of the people that had the Chow puppies.
Zack is a huge red Chow..he looked like a lion sitting in the car as we drove thru the cold, snowy night. (with me muttering, "this is nutz-it's 19 degrees out!")
When we arrived at the home, we left Zack in the car and went inside. There sat 3 beautiful black Chows..little black balls of fluff. That was how we met Ben. He walked right up and picked us out. Next Zack needed to meet the puppy to. We all walked to the car carrying the black puppy. Zack watched us as we walked up. His  huge head came out the window. Carefully holding the puppy to him, my husband leaned forward and quietly said, "Look Zack-a puppy just like you." We waited to see what Zack would do..growl? reject the puppy and us again!?
With soft breathy sounds Zacky nuzzled the puppy, smelling him.. Then gently gave him a soft kiss. The puppy wiggled to get closer to him. Yes! a match!!
On the way home with Zackary and his puppy, I held the gentle little black Ben. Ben and Zack touched noses over the seat..Zackary checking him often to see if he was ok. Finally-Zacky had a friend.
That night, Zack shared his very favorite toys with Ben. He watched ben as he pulled his toys from the toy basket. Ben and Zack were best buddies from the start.
Zack is so big that Ben had to get used to playing with him. He walked right under Zack and would stay there-taking a step each time Zack did..We laughed til our sides hurt as they played.
It wasn't long before Zack taught Ben all his tricks..the good ones and the bad ones. Bens teaching Zack a few too!
Who would think that a dog would get lonely and need a companion of his own kind?. Zackary clearly did.
He is still close to us, a wonderful companion that we treasure..but he needed Ben's companionship...I guess "puppies need puppies." sometimes. Ben goes with Zack now to visit the other neighbor puppies, both carrying their favorite sticks to them.. 
They play with the toys and play chow games as only Chow Chows can play. They leap and play chase and often run thru the house and yard for the pure joy of it..tails out, smiling toothy smiles-happy dogs!
That's Ben and Zack in the picture above-best buddies..true Chow friends.

The End
Ben is totally black except for the gray spot on his rear. Zack is the golden red one.

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