My dog died unexpectedly, what in your opinion might have caused this? Are chow chow mix dogs prone to dying young or this type of an episode?

Hello,

I am writing to you because I found your question and answer forum while doing a Google internet search.

Attached please find 3 pictures of our beautiful chow chow mix named Ginger. We adopted her from a rescue/adoption placement agency called Angel's Dogs in Connecticut. They told us that Ginger had come from a "high kill shelter" in GA. We have only had Ginger since last October, 2008. Ginger just passed away yesterday, Sunday, June 7, 2009. She was playing with our other dog, Chloe, a fox hound mix in our back yard. They were running and chasing each other, when all of the sudden Ginger collapsed and stopped breathing. My husband was home at the time and went to try to revive her. Unfortunately, she never regained consciousness and he took her to the near by animal hospital where they pronounced her dead.

My question to you is, what in your opinion might have caused this? Are chow chow mix dogs prone to dying young or this type of an episode? Ginger was just about a year old and we planned on spending many more years with her. I can't tell you how sad this has made us.

Thank you for reading my email, please feel free to put the pictures of Ginger on your website if you would like to. If you have any opinions about our dog that you might like to share with me, please feel free to email me back. Thank you so much and god bless.

Janet