As many of you might have surmised by now, writing, along with dogs, hockey and beer, is one of my all-time favourite pursuits. So imagine my delight when the editor of Modern Dog asked me to write an article chronicling the story of how Chance and I came to find each other for the Winter 2010/11 issue (now on newsstands!) I was ecstatic, albeit baffled as to why this great honour was bestowed upon me, but rather than ask questions I began the daunting task of reflecting upon the six-month journey that brought us to where we are today.

I thought back to that first week after we brought Chance home; oh how smug we were. Changing diapers? Ha! Not a problem. Three baths a week? A joy! Personality disorder? Please, this dog is as sweet as he is snuggly. Our rose coloured-glasses would soon be torn from our faces by a messy, whiny and occasionally nasty dog who appeared to revel in our desperate attempts to tame his wild heart. A nagging and still undiagnosed skin malady continues to plague him and frustrate us. His temperament certainly hasn’t improved; he’s bitten both Jeremy and I on several occasions, even drawing blood during one particularly vicious attack. Roxy and Cash grudgingly tolerate his presence and have become accustomed to his random, unprovoked nocturnal assaults, but have not yet developed the close bond that I hoped would eventually blossom. Looking back at my very first blog posting aptly titled "Biting off more than I can chew" I wonder; if today’s Sara could go back in time and advise the Sara back then what she was getting herself into, would I have changed my mind?

The answer is simple – absolutely, positively, unequivocally NO. My love for my dogs is not based on their behaviour, performance, or level of convenience – I love them because I love them, it’s not something I can help or control. The moment we decided to bring Chance into our home was the moment we made a promise to him and to ourselves that he would be a permanent fixture in our lives. It has not been easy, and will probably only become harder as he gets older and his health declines, but he’s our dog, for better or for worse, until he chooses to go elsewhere.

Funny, I’ve never been able to make this kind of commitment to a man, but pledging my life to a dog isn’t frightening at all…