Chance intro + pics

**Malibu's Mom** · 04-02-2011, 12:28 AM

So I have this thread over on the cat forum just for my kitties. I feel so guilty not posting one for Chance! So here's his story - several years ago, I saw a puppy on petfinder. I went over to the local SPCA and they informed me that puppy was just adopted. So I strolled through the kennels anyway, and there he was. There wasn't anything particularly "special" about him - just your average largish sized, shy black dog. But I'd be darned if my heart didn't skip a beat when I saw him. Of course I brought him home! We've gone through so much together. I love him with all of my heart. Here he is

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**Varga** · 04-02-2011, 12:45 AM

He's very handsome. Especially with his awesome magic goggles, haha
Welcome Chance!

**happylabs** · 04-02-2011, 06:38 AM

Oh my I love him! He definitely has Lab in him. That is why he is so special. I'm not biased though. What great pics. I like the one where he is laying down resting his head.

**boomersooner** · 04-02-2011, 09:52 AM

He is very handsome....and bless you for taking a black dog....A friend of mine who does rescue said they are harder to place, for some reason....

**Taz_Zoee** · 04-02-2011, 11:15 AM

I've heard that black dogs and cats are hard to place. It doesn't seem to be an issue at the shelter where I volunteer.

He is so handsome! Such a beautiful shiny coat. I love the last picture of him with a big smile.

**happylabs** · 04-02-2011, 11:21 AM

Originally Posted by Taz_Zoee

I've heard that black dogs and cats are hard to place. It doesn't seem to be an issue at the shelter where I volunteer.

He is so handsome! Such a beautiful shiny coat. I love the last picture of him with a big smile.

Seriously? That seems odd to me. I have never heard this. My grandpuppy Zoey Lynn is black and so is my Tuxedo Tinker. I love black Labs!

**Karen** · 04-02-2011, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by happylabs

Seriously? That seems odd to me. I have never heard this. My grandpuppy Zoey Lynn is black and so is my Tuxedo Tinker. I love black Labs!

Sadly it is true, they even call it the "BBD syndrome" - Big Black Dogs are often the last to be adopted, the same holds true for cats. Being black they are literally harder to see in the kennel, especially if they are toward the back in the shadows. So they literally get overlooked. Their eyes are often harder to pick out, and eyes are what often catch peoples' hearts, after all. And so they stay longer, and then get sadder and sadder, and who wants a sad dog?

My sister-in-law's cat, Sofi - still doing well, by the way, 11 years after she was Cat of the Day, was chosen BECAUSE she was so sad, and curled up in a corner and withdrawn, and when Gail's boyfriend-at-the-time said "Why don't we take her, she seems to need us the most." Gail told me later that that was the moment when she knew this guy was the one, and they are now married with 3 black rescue kitties!

Chance is such a shiny, happy boy! He truly deserves his own thread, thanks, mom!

**Malibu's Mom** · 04-02-2011, 03:36 PM

Thanks for the comments all!

@ Karen - it's funny you mentioned their eyes. I think that was the main thing that attracted me to Chance. He just had the most woeful, yearning look in his eyes. It didn't last long, though.

Funny unrelated story about when I adopted him - when we went to pick him up at the SPCA vet after he got neutered, the lady at the counter mentioned that he had tore up the papers on the front of his cage somehow. She said she "just wanted to let you know what you've gotten yourself into." His first night home he tore up my mom's checkbook (that was certainly symbolic of things to come!) He still tears up napkins, tissues, cardboard boxes, etc whenever he gets the chance. My mom still has that checkbook too - she says it reminds her of him.