Chance's Happy Tail ♥ Just by Chance
 

I was living in Cleveland, Ohio until February 2008 when my boyfriend got back from Iraq and I moved in with him. He was stationed in North Carolina at the time, but was scheduled to move to Florida in June. Our plan was to make the move to Florida, get settled in, and then find a puppy.

Steve grew up with dogs and always wanted to get a dog that was similar to his favorite, Ivy, a Shar Pei mix...Chance happened to us just as her name describes. While we were still in North Carolina, Steve was online and I was watching TV when he came in with a huge grin on his face and asked me if I wanted to check something out. When I looked at the computer screen this funny looking girl, number 36, was looking back. I could tell he really wanted her because he couldn't stop smiling about her so I asked if he wanted me to call the dog warden, but it was after business hours (I think it was Saturday). She had only just been caught running as a stray the day or so before, but from what petfinder said about her she was a great find, so we were worried that we may have missed our chance.

We wanted to find out more information about her personality, so I sent an email and waited. Margie got back to me a day later, she was a perfect fit, just what we were looking for, our "sweet girl." Then came the tricky part. We were in North Carolina, over 500 miles away from Canton, OH. Her hold was up on Tuesday, which was a problem for Steve to get off work for. I wasn't working at the time, since we were moving in a few months, but the air conditioner in my car was broken--a problem that seemed small, but could cause even bigger problems if I drove much more. So we had to get my car fixed and I had to drive out all on Monday to get to her on Tuesday to keep our hold. By some wonderful chance it worked out really well. I ended up driving back to my mom's house in Cleveland, getting in around 1am, and getting a phone call from the dog warden around 8am asking me if I was still interested! Interested? Of course! I was not going to let that dog go home with anyone else.

When I got there she was out back. I was told to come back in when I was ready to sign the papers. That was when I realized, I actually thought about the fact, that I was getting a dog that day. I was leaving there with a dog. I was getting a dog. When I was three I had a dog, but not even for a year. Number 36 was about to be my dog and I hadn't even met her yet! Out back she was happy, but not overly excited to see me. Not that I blame her, she was probably used to seeing a million new faces each day. She probably had no idea she was about to take a trip and go home forever. After the papers were signed and I took her back to my mom's house, that was when I realized how happy she was to have me. I went into the bathroom and she sat just outside of the door as if she would lose me if she couldn't keep track of me. She and Steve bonded right away too. There hasn't been a person since who has won her trust as quickly and easily as the two of us did. She was so skinny when I picked her up and it took her a while to put the weight on, but she went from 30 pounds to a very healthy 45. The vet told us she was around 9 months old, which put her birthday sometime in July, so we decided that she and I would have the same birthday. She's so smart. She learns new tricks quickly and was potty trained almost the minute she came into the house. Steve was always a fan of the movie Homeward Bound, and for the fact that if one small thing out of a million didn't happen the way it did she probably wouldn't be our dog right now, we named her Chance.

Now, 9 months after we picked her up from the dog warden, Chance is at home in Florida. She has dog friends, Popeye and Dixie, that she gets so excited to see she can't even contain herself. She loves to play with her ball in her fenced-in back yard and chew on her ape that makes crazy ape noises. She gets to go to the 4-acre dog park here at least once a week so she can run around with other dogs, dig holes, and romp like every dog should. She has some anxieties about being without us, but she's gotten so much better and we're hoping to add another member to our dog family in the near future that should keep her from being lonely while we're at work. But we make up for it while we're home. She gets belly rubs, her ears scratched, and playtime all the time. Chance is a perfect fit for us in every way and we're so grateful to the Stark County Dog Warden and to Margie and the other volunteers there...without them we would never have known such a sweet and loving creature!

Thank You!!!
Christy, Steve, and Chance