1985 ARTICLE- The Smooth Chow Comes out of the Closet - by Zola Coogan

This historic article written by Zola Coogan of Redcloud Chows, first appeared in the May 1985 Kennel Review. The author, along with the breeders named below , were instrumental in reviving interest in the smooth coated chow chow in the United States and ultimately returning the smooth back to it’s rightful place in the 1986 Standard after a 45 year absence. The smooth coat was omitted from the 1941 Standard and the reasons for the omission are still being researched. The earlier 1925 Standard had a provision for the smooth coat.

I came into the chow breed from poodles, right in the middle of this smooth “transition” . I remember quite vividly the details from the article…. these sleek “honest” chows with nothing to hide made quite the impression on your’s truly . So much so we ended up breeding a litter of smooths that produced the first smooth coated chow in history to win the CCCI National Specialty (1998). Had it not been for these early tenacious “pioneer” smooth breeders, The Society for the Preservation of the Smooth Chow Chow in the USA, and dedicated chowists abroad, we may well have lost the smooth coat altogether, and what a loss that would have been!!! Thank you for your kind permission to reprint this important time capsule of an article Zola!!!!