CHASE'S STORY

update February 2007!

Chase is a very lucky boy. He was found and rescued by a Staten Island dog trainer who shows Eskies in the obedience ring. He spent a very short time in the Heart Bandits foster system before being adopted by his rescuer, Diane Lange. Here is their story:

 


"This Eskie adoption story began on September 5th 2000, on my way to work at Chase Manhattan Plaza located in the Wall Street district of lower Manhattan in New York City. I found another Chase employee, Sharon, holding onto an American Eskimo Dog and deep in conversation with the bank’s security staff in front of 2CMP’s doors. Sharon had just found the dog wandering on the street and wanted to bring him into the bank’s corporate offices so he could be safe until it could be determined what to do with him. As a Chase Bank employee, and having loved, trained and shown my own American Eskimos, I explained to security that I had all the pertinent information upstairs. With that we took the dog up to my office in Human Resources. My manager, a Senior Vice President of Chase and a dog lover herself, agreed whole heartedly to let him stay in our department. Well,“the boy” decided that her office was perfect with its big picture window, so he made himself comfortable, spent the day snoozing under her conference table, attending meetings, and was not only very friendly to everyone in the office but took an active interest in all of the goings on. Sharon and I contacted all of the correct parties, so that if anyone was looking for this sweet boy they could contact us directly.

Chase, when Diane first found him.

After putting in a full day at the office, “the boy” and I walked down to the Staten Island Ferry and boarded for my home. On Staten Island, the bus driver was not very cooperative about allowing a dog on the bus even if I was willing to pay his way so we ended taking a cab ride too! Currently, my housemate, Donna, has two female Golden Retrievers--Gemini and Jordie--and I have my standard female Eskie, Breyer. They are quite a rambunctious group. After some evaluating, we felt that “the boy”, a mini neutered male, had been well loved during his life. He knew some tricks, was very stable and adaptable, but had suffered some form of abuse. He was not in terrible shape, actually a tad overweight, and in need of some grooming. He appeared to be blind in one eye and limping on his right foreleg. His other eye and teeth were good. His temperament was very sweet and smart; and if his owners’ did not claim him, he would do well as a rescue placement. Next I contacted Denise Gareau of Heart Bandits, who referred me to Audra Eckes in Long Island. Audra said that “the boy” needed a name, and we came up with Chase since he was practically found on Chase Manhattan Bank’s steps and spent the entire day “working” in the office. Audra worked diligently looking for a permanent home for Chase. Within two days, Kevin, who ran a Staten Island foster home, picked up Chase because Audra had found him a potential permanent family that might adopt him as early as that Sunday night. How lucky for him!

About 10 days later, I was wondering how he was doing, so I called Audra and found that unfortunately that this particularly family had changed their minds. He was still in Staten Island but was due to go to a new foster home the next day. I called Audra three days later and found that Chase had not yet left for his foster home. Donna and I had spoken about him before this last call and agreed that, if the foster home did not work out, we wanted him to offer him a home.

Just a little background on me. I had recently lost one of my best friends, my American Eskimo Delilah, to an auto-immune disease in July 2000. I have trained and shown my Eskies in obedience, agility and conformation. Delilah was my first Eskie and, in addition to being my companion, one of the most performance titled Eskies in the history of the breed. Her registered name was U-UD Hotchiba’s My Delilah UDX NA NAJ NAC NJC CGC HOF VC. (The letters indicated various performance titles earned in various registries). So, at that time, there was a very large hole in my household as well as my heart. My current Eskie partner, Breyer U-CH Pat’s Irish Vanilla Swirl CDX OA NAJ NJC, competes in both obedience and agility trials. So, as they say, “my life had gone to the dogs”, since a good portion of my time is spent in various “dog-related activities”. Additionally, I had already been in contact with a breeder for my next dog, so I was not planning to add another dog to my household until that time. But there was just something about Chase.

So call it fate, kismet, a sign from above or whatever…. Chase joined the household on September 24, 2000. No surprise that Chase caught on quickly, adapting to his new life. He is blind in one eye, but the other eye is fine. The original limping was due to a broken nail that has since healed. His role is to be a companion, a travelling escort for the all girl crew. He has been to a quite few dog shows as a spectator and has even stayed over in a few motels. I think, at first, he just could not believe how many dogs were gathered in one place and wondered what all the excitement was about! He plays enthusiastically with our three dogs and loves to ride in the van or the car. His most favorite activity is to go for walks, so every night Breyer, Chase and I step out for our evening stroll together. Everyone that meets him just falls in love. I am planning to add to his cute pet tricks repertoire, since training is in my blood. And then you never know, with his ”smarts”, he might just be seen inside a performance ring yet….. So as the Chase Bank Ad says…. “Chase - where the right relationship is everything”."

Diane Lange


 

Update, May 2004

Hi Denise,

How are you?? I stopped by Eskies OnLine once in a while to check out what is new and catch up on any chronicles I mights have missed.

Do you remember Chase???

Well his formal name is now U-AGI Hotchiba's Money in the Bank NAJ !!!!

Yes, he is titled in UKC and AKC agility!!! The U-AGI is the UKC's Novice A title that Chase earned in November 2003 and the NAJ is the AKC's Novice Jumpers title. Who says you can not teach a rescue Eskie new tricks????

After Chase and I found each in 2000, I very pretty comfortable he would just be our companion to the the travelling pack. BUT one day while I was training Breyer in agility, I started playing around with Chase. With concern about his damaged eye and his lack of any formal training, I figured that it would be just a outlet without any serious thoughts about competing for real. Well that changed...he really liked it...I mean really....and he had no real issues leaning the obstacles or completing them. As an added bonus, the training has really improved our relationship.

With Breyer, I have expectations since I raised and trained her from a puppy, with Chase everything is a gift.

Anyway, Chase is now working on his AKC Novice Agility Standard title and as well as various Novice NADAC Agility titles. So we will be hopefully be adding a few more letters to his name in the near future.

Everyone, even the judges, that sees him run agility always comments on how happy he is, his tail wagging a mile a minute with a huge smile on his face. One time, the judge had to blow the whistle on us because while on the pause table, Chase thought it would a good time for a hug - silly boy!!

He has come a long way and I am so proud of what he and we have accomplished.

Take care!!!

Diane Lange



 

Hi Denise,

A 2006 Update for the rescue Eskie currenty known as Chase, he is now also:

            U-AG1 Hotchiba's Money in The Bank NA NAJ NAC NJC TN-N

Chase and I had to endure some performance malfunctions.  After earning his first two titles, Chase thought agility trials were meant to run as fast as possible around the obstacles, where he could voice his opinion of the course so in general to act like a big Eskie ham - truly a crowd-pleaser with everyone laughing and cheering on his bad behavior. After a while, I unfortunately did not find it as amusing.

So we stopped showing and re-worked our training relationship.  We re-entered agility trials last spring and since then Chase has earned four more agility titles.  He truly loves Agility, still dances and sings, but now on the way to the agility ring instead of while in it, keeps his most of his focus on the course until we are done and then starts up his "act" while on his way to get his treats for a job well done.

Chase truly lives life large and hopefully we will have some more updates to share in the near future.

Diane

 

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