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Here's the happy ending story of Take A Chance:
Dear TLC,
In 1993, I went to TLC with my mom and sister. Two years earlier, we had had to put down my mom's German shepherd, her first baby, before she married and had us kids. Mom still wasn't over the loss, but we were ready to take a chance on a new dog. If we found one, it was going to be MY dog!
A new litter of shepherd/lab pups had just arrived. We sat on the floor while they all swarmed around us. My mom and sister liked the biggest boy puppy, but I picked the quietest little girl, that had the good sense to pee on the newspaper. My wish prevailed, and we brought home a sweet, beautiful, little, black shepherd, who we named Take a Chance, and called Chance for short.
Chance was always quiet and protective. There was a special bond between the two of us, but she looked after the whole family. We live in a rural area where houses are on acres of land, and people let their dogs out without leashes. One day I hear my brother yelling from down the road 'Cha-a-a-nce!'. Chance takes off and so do I. I reached the end of the driveway just in time to look down the road and see my brother running as fast as he can with the neighbor's dog in hot pursuit. That dog never knew what hit him! Chance ran right into him running full speed, and he went rolling! That same dog came at me one day while I was walking on our property. I didn't even have a chance to yell for Chance to help, but somehow she knew she was needed. I no sooner saw the dog coming at me, when Chance broke through the weeds and ran hard right into him, sending him rolling once again. Chance chased him home and was back by my side when her work was done. No one messed with her family!
I used to spend a lot of time at barns, taking care of horses to earn lessons. Chance would come along, always the perfect lady. I liked to take a crippled race horse out to pasture on a lead rope to let her enjoy some air and fresh grass. One minute I am standing there, and the next minute the horse freaks and kicks out, landing a hoof in my thigh, ripping my muscle. Chance appeared by my side, calming the horse. I leaned all my weight on her, and we slowly made our way toward the barn. A worker finally heard my cries for help, and took the horse from me. I hobbled into my car, drove to a neighbor's house, and laid on the horn till they came out and drove me to the hospital. Chance had been my four legged crutch, bearing my weight, calming the horse, and all but carrying me to my car.
Chance was my dog. I loved her and she loved me. After nine wonderful years, she became very sick with cancer, and we had her put to sleep. My quiet protector is buried on our property, next to my mom's shepherd.
Since then we have gotten another shepherd through German Shepherd Rescue. I now understand what my mom meant when she said her Ben was a once in a lifetime dog, even though Timber, our new shepherd, is pretty cool too. He's two and a half now and really starting to get the 'shepherd awareness' about him. He'll never replace Chance, but every day, I fall a little deeper for him.
Thank you TLC, for my chance at having my best dog, Chance. From when I was 11, till I was 20, she was there for me, reading my moods, helping me grow, keeping me safe, and being the best friend anyone could ever ask for.
Kera Szwed
