@izzy_the_chow

🤍 Your bestie’s age and breed?

Izzy, otherwise known as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Fluff, is an 11- year-old chow chow.

🤍 How did you meet? 

We didn't meet Izzy until she was 6 years old.  We found her at a local animal shelter, and she was covered in burrs and matted hair. It's hard to find homes for senior dogs, and even though Izzy had been in the shelter for months, no one had applied to adopt her yet. But we were looking for a chow since I had one when I was growing up, and my husband found Izzy’s picture on a shelter's website, and we fell in love! 

🤍 How did you come up with your dog's name? 

That was her name when we adopted her.

🤍 Does your dog love being on the water? 

She gets a bit nervous at first but gets into it as we get going! We love kayaking!

🤍 Does your dog love to be dressed up? 

She is the QUEEN of sunglasses 😎

🤍 Where does your dog sleep? 

She’s a typical chow. She doesn’t snuggle but wants us to be in her sight at all times. She sleeps in the corner of the guest bedroom at the end of the hall and can see everything from there. 

🤍 Does your dog like to play with other people or with other dogs? 

Izzy has always had some dog aggression issues due to her life as a rescue.  She’s good with dogs as long as they’re not an alpha. She’s also a huge fan of playing "treat hockey", a game we made up that involves passing a treat back and forth for her to steal. Spoiler alert: she ALWAYS win the treat 🍖

🤍 Has your dog always been the pawfect model?

Izzy stepped right into her role as the queen of fluff. She models sunglasses the best, but she can model anything.  She’s a very patient dog. Here’s a video of her at a Barkbox photoshoot for a charity event we hosted with our nonprofit We the Dogs DC.

🤍 How does your dog greet you when you arrive home? 

It’s my favorite thing in the world: My usually stoic dog shows me how obsessed she is by crying and jumping all over me! 

🤍 Any fun tricks your dog loves to show? 

She’s a senior pup but she can still do a few tricks!  Sitting pretty and rolling over are her favorites.

🤍 Any favorite activity your dog looks forward to?

We LOVE to travel with Izzy!  We take her to all sorts of dog friendly places.  Here’s a photo of her in a yurt we rented in the mountains.

🤍 What is your dog's favorite game?

Every night Steve plays “magic” with Izzy and hides some treats for her.  She loves it so much and won’t go to bed without it!

🤍 What's the naughtiest thing she has done? 

Izzy isn’t very naughty, but she loves to ignore me when I call her.  She’s not the greatest at obeying.

🤍 What's the strangest thing he has eaten?   

She’s so picky.  Meat only for this dog!

🤍 What does she do that always makes you smile?  

The way she greets me when I get home! And her crooked smile and snaggletooth.

🤍 What's your dog's telltale sign that you're going on an adventure? 

When we’re going for a ride, she knows we’re about to go on an adventure!

 🤍 Can you share an amazing experience you have had with your dog?  

After rescuing Izzy, she inspired me to create a nonprofit organization called We the Dogs DC. It’s been an incredible experience, and we’ve hosted fundraising events in DC and NYC, and have raised more than $40,000 to benefit rescue organizations. In addition to our fundraising efforts, one of the unique things about our organization is that we created community Instagram accounts to build and strengthen a network of local pet owners and to highlight dog-friendly locations and activities in our community.  Currently, we have accounts in two areas: Washington DC (@wethedogsdc) and New York City (@wethedogsnyc). Every day, a new person and their dog are assigned to “hold the handle” and take control of the Instagram account so they can share photos/videos featuring their pup's favorites places and activities. This information is a great resource for Two Paws Up, which is a searchable map that we built to highlight dog-friendly locations. More importantly, the connections we build with the community allow us to have a far greater impact when working to benefit animal rescue organizations.

🤍 Can you share some tips when choosing a pet?   

It’s important to choose the dog that’s right for your temperament.  We’re very relaxed, so a chill chow chow was perfect for us.

🤍 Have you been away from each other for some time? Tell us about it! 

The only time we’ve been away for a long time was a trip to Europe.  We had fun, but it’s always better when we travel with Izzy!

🤍 What is your favorite activity during weekends?   

We love to go biking with Izzy! 🚴‍♀️ 

🤍 Where is your favorite place to go together? 

Mackinaw Island!  I grew up in Michigan and Mackinaw is incredible. No cars are allowed on the island, and we have so much fun exploring the small shops there.

🤍 Complete the sentence: The best thing about having Izzy is...

Absolutely everything. She is 100% the center of my world! 🌎