The popular Hampden pet supply shop Chow, Baby! will no longer be called Chow, Baby! because that word -- CHOW -- belongs to Purina, or so the dog food company asserts.

They asserted it in a lawyerly enough manner to persuade the shop's owner, Robin McDonald, to change it. So what was formerly Chow, Baby! -- once the new signage goes up -- will now be Howl.

"It has recently come to our attention that your company is using "CHOW, BABY!" as a company name and service mark," a Purina lawyer wrote McDonald. "Such uses of `CHOW, BABY!' in connection with the sale and distribution of pet food, pet treats, and other pet-related products is likely to cause confusion with Purina's CHOW trademarks, and dilutes the distinctive quality of those marks."

That was more than three years ago. McDonald had been open less than a year and had just started a website using the name Chow, Baby! when she got the letter. Her lawyers advised her it would cost thousands to fight for the name and told her she might lose anyway.

"Apparently Purina has a whole department of people and that’s what they do -- look for trademark infringement. I guess they figure if they let one person get away with, they would be opening the door."

In Purina's view, any use of the word "chow" by a company involved in a pet-related pursuit is treading on their turf.

McDonald, as a result, took the website down and, for the next three years, kept her company -- still called Chow, Baby! -- off the Internet and out of Purina's radar.

Recently she's decided an Internet presence is probably more important to her business than retaining the disputed name. Earlier this year, she decided to hold a contest to pick a new name.

"I needed to get a website up," she said, "and we were moving to a bigger space and expanding, so I can't pretend anymore I don't exist."

McDonald opted against choosing "McDonald's" (wise choice), and didn't go with Harper's, either, which, while it's her dog's name, also belongs to a manufacturer of pet products. Instead she chose as the wining entry "Howl, Baby!," but then decided to shorten it to Howl.

A new logo is in the works, and a new awning for the new store at 3531 Chestnut, which is the former Hampden Post Office -- the building McDonald started her business in.

The new store is already open -- complete with a dog charm school on premises, B-more Charming School for Dogs.

McDonald, who sells a variety of organic pet foods and products (Purina not among them) plans to hold an official grand opening soon.