The first Chow Chow in Estonia is considered to be a dog called Simba. He is mentioned in the journal Animal Friend in 1938. Simba’s owner Erna Nuth was an Estonian lady who moved to Tallinn from Canada. As the Tallinn people often asked to see Simba’s pigmented mouth, Erna Nuth trained him to respond to the command “Show your tongue!” At that time Simba was probably the only representative of the breed in Estonia, there were very few Chow Chows in the neighbouring country of Finland either.
Simba
with Erna Nuth
At the time when the restoration of independence in Estonia started, there were only a couple of Chows in the country. The number however increased gradually. Imports came from Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland and Portugal.
Shonsu (Zurbagan Gud Nait x Fant Aivori Arktik San; b: V.Anissimova, o: I. Dostojevskaja) and Shirley (o: I. Morozova), were the first Chow Chow´s in Estonia to be awarded the title of Estonian champion. Shonsu was born in Russia in 1995.
Since the number of Chow Chows was still small and more genetic diversity was needed, Ch Rantatuulen Quido (Shaka-San Chow Tshin-Ghis x Rantatuulen Flim-Flam), b: K. Luotokari, was imported from Finland and Kja Van Li Okino (Vals x Mirakle) b: Natalia Sokolova in 1998 by M. Konsa (kennel name: Wanted Soul). These three dogs did a great job for the PR of the breed. The last fifteen years has seen the popularity of Chow Chows increase rapidly.
Visitors to dog shows were charmed by the calm and pleasant temperament and, of course, also by the beauty of the Chow. Because of the many chances in their society Estonian people experience a lot of tensions nowadays. But several of them have discovered that in their private daily life harmony and relaxation can be achieved by owning a Chow.
At the moment there are about seven hundred Chows in Estonia, about foury of them are smooth chows.