Chris and Chase

Chase, a tri-color Smooth Coated Collie, met Chris in 1998.  It was love at first sight.  Chris, a busy mom and community volunteer, active in the independent living movement, needed a very special service dog, one who was not rambunctious, for she had a painful brittle bone disease.  She had broken over 300 bones in her lifetime.  Chase seemed to understand, for his gentleness with her was touching to behold.  She also needed a highly trained service dog capable of going everywhere with her.  As Chase had mastered over forty tasks, including wheelchair pulling teamwork, during the year of schooling we gave him in the homes of our trainers and out in public, it turned out to be an excellent match.  

With Chase to depend on, Chris was no longer afraid to go places alone.  Her memories of being stranded in a parking lot after a bad spill receded when she learned Chase could fetch her wheelchair by tugging on a strap if it ever rolled away again.

Over the next few years, Chase delighted in assisting Chris and her husband, Ray who has cerebral palsy, with the joys and challenges of raising their adopted daughter, Sarah who is a quadriplegic from cerebral palsy.  Chase was especially valuable during Sarah's sometimes life threatening seizures, able to "Go find Dad" in the house on command or bring the portable phone to Chris so she could call 911 if Ray wasn't home.

Being a service dog and a family dog were not mutually exclusive.  Sarah enjoyed a cuddle with Chase each night before going to sleep, something he loved as much as she did.  Ray sometimes invited Chase to join him on a relaxing stroll through the neighborhood after dinner.  Chase even had his own Red Wings T-shirt to wear on hockey nights when they watched the televised games together as a family.

Tragically, as Chase neared his seventh birthday, they lost him to an inoperable tumor.  It was heartbreaking for all of us who knew and admired this splendid Collie.

We've since trained two more dogs for Chris, for the first match we tried was not compatible.  Of course, we took the dog back.  We subsequently provided her with another service dog nearing the end of his training, a laid back Lab mix we adopted from the K-9 Stray Rescue League.  Since Chris lives in the Detroit Metro Area, we agreed to complete Nelson's education in her home so he could assist Chris by performing the indoor tasks he already had down pat while we put on the finishing touches.

Although Chase's impact on Chris's life will never be eclipsed by another service dog, Nelson has rapidly endeared himself to Chris, Ray and Sarah.  Like other successor dogs, he is carving out his own place in his partner's heart with every task he performs.  He thinks he's found a piece of heaven with all the attention his new family gives him. 

Chris tells us that, as far as she and her family are concerned, he's "a keeper".

Nelson is our first successor dog placement.  We call them a successor, rather than a replacement, as it is simply impossible to replace a dog like Chase.  What we can do is give a graduate an opportunity to have another service dog to love and rely on.