CH. Claymont's Titan

Litters were few and far between at Thunderhill, the next one not arriving untill 1991 when Palm's Kitten On The Keys was born. During the interim, I acquired and showed several Chows from other breeders such as CH Palm's Boogie Woogie Boy, CH. Earl's Pride of Palm and CH Sonlit Haiku, along with a group-winning white Bull Terrier, CH. Crescent Christopher Ruffin, and a Japanese Chin, CH. Ukiyo Chimes Song of Willow.   Between 1985-2005, Thunderhill was also the main foster kennel for Wisconsin Chow Chow Rescue.   Between 15-20 abandoned Chows each year found shelter at Thunderhill as they awaited permanent adoptive homes.

Phil, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, grew up with his grandmother's Chow mix, "Blackie", who used to watch over him as a youngster. When Phil grew up, he wanted a Chow of his own but not knowing how to find a responsible breeder, he bought "Charlie" from a puppymill and learned the hard way as Charlie sickened and died at a tragically young age.

A computer enthusiast, Phil had been a member of the online community for several years and met me on the internet in 1992 during his search for a new Chow puppy. I helped him find "Sasha" from a Louisiana member of the The Chow Chow Club, Inc.  Sasha became Phil's best friend and he and I continued to correspond by email for the next two years. In 1994, Phil decided Sasha needed a "little brother" and drove to Wisconsin to pick out the male puppy that became Thunderhill's Red Boudin and meet me in person. It wasn't long before we realized that the friendship we'd built through email was much more than that - we were married in 1996 and Phil moved to Wisconsin with his Chows.

CH. Crescent Christopher Ruffin

Phil at work Litters are still few and far between at Thunderhill and for many years, dog showing and breeding took a back seat to Chow rescue work. Several Chow Chows and two elderly Japanese Chins live with us on a two acre property just east of Janesville, Wisconsin. We're still active in the online community, maintaining this web site as well as a few others for non-profit Chow organizations.  We're both active in our local and national Chow clubs.  Phil's been president of the Wisconsin Chow Chow Club for several years and I'm the club's show chairman.  Phil wrote and maintains the health certification database for the national Chow Chow Club and I've been the chair of the club's welfare committee since 1990.   To support our dogs, we both work for the General Motors assembly plant in Janesville, Phil as an industrial electrician and myself as a paint repairperson, building Chevrolet & GMC Suburban, Denali, and Tahoe sport-utility trucks.            Home       Our dogs         E-mail