Meet Chance!

How It Started

Chance was found wandering the side of a highway in the rain on Tuesday 1/17/23. As soon as a good samaritan [Michelle] saw him, she knew she had to help. Michelle called the poor pup to her car and he willingly jumped in.

Michelle quickly realized Chance was in rougher shape than she initially noticed...

He was emaciated.

A puncture wound on his leg was wide open, and it was covered in gentian violet spray.

His eyes were goopy. The right eye was clouded.

Chance needed to see a vet as soon as possible.

Thankfully, Michelle took him straight to the vet where they cleaned, stitched, and bandaged Chance’s open wound.

Tara L. graciously offered to foster this sweet boy from there, and he has been resting comfortably in her home since he was rescued on Tuesday.

Dog Squad picked Chance up this morning to go to his vet visit for further evaluation.

Unsurprisingly, Chance tested positive for heartworm disease, and Dr. Miller described it as a severe case.

He also tested positive for whip worms.

While a few of his stitches popped out since Tuesday, Dr. Miller didn’t want to re-suture the wound and recommended keeping it open to help it dry out. Chance’s eye is also beginning to heal, and the wound is likely from a scratch that will continue to improve with antibiotic oinment.

Chance is a cuddly 52 lbs teddy bear. Despite the cruel treatment he had received in the past, Chance is a LOVER! His rescuer, Michelle, brought him a bag of dog toys which brought a tail wag and puppy smile to his face. Chance has a long road to recovery ahead of him, but he is safe in loving arms of his foster mom, Tara.

We cannot say thank you enough to Michelle and Tara for their generosity by providing this teddy bear with a second chance!

Chance will be resting comfortably while he heals. Once he reaches a healthy weight, he will be able to be neutered and start the process of heartworm treatment.

Chance Needs Your Help!

DID YOU KNOW?

Heartworm treatment is time consuming and costly. On average, the cost of heartworm treatment is 15x more than the cost of 1 year supply of heartworm prevention medication. Chance’s heartworm treatment alone will cost upwards of $1,000.

Your tax deductible donation will help cover the costs of Squad Foster Chance’s medical bills.

Donate to Chance

Update 5/12/23:

Chance is GLOWING!

Chance Update 4/17/23

Chance has now been with Dog Squad for 3 months, and WOW- what a transformation he has made!!!

Chance had his first outing on Saturday 4/15/23 to attend the Yappy Hour event at The Unleashed Dog Bar. He was the most popular dog on site, and made friends with everyone!

He wanted to play with every dog he saw, but we kept him leashed to keep his heartrate down since he hasn’t started heartworm treatment yet.

Chance will receive his first round of heartworm treatment on Wednesday 4/19/23. He will then remain on kennel rest for 30 days, followed by the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the heartworm treatment injections.

Once he has fully recovered from heartworm treatment, Chance will be neutered and have his entropion surgery on his eye.

He has certainly come a long way, but Chance still has a long road to recovery ahead of him!!

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Chance Update 3/19/23

Chance has become our million dollar foster pup…

Chance met with Dr. Flowers on 3/7/23 at Pleasantburg Veterinary Clinic for a full work up.

He was given more antibiotics (Clavamox) for his leg wound as it continues to slowly heal.

He also received ALL vaccinations today.

Chance will begin heartworm treatment once he completes his doxy.

His “happy tail” will continue to stay wrapped and clean while it heals.

The good news about his eye? The blue cloud on his eye is just a pigment from scarring.

The bad news about his eye? Chance has a condition called Entropion.

Entropion is a painful condition in which the eyelid rolls inward, causing the eyelashes to rub against the cornea resulting in pain, corneal ulcers, perforations, or pigment developing on the cornea, all of which can interfere with vision.

Medical treatment with antibiotic ointments can decrease damage to the cornea, but it can not resolve the entropion itself. To fix the eyelid, surgery is needed. The procedure is called a blepharoplasty, which is basically plastic surgery on the dog’s eyelids. Excess skin of the outer lids is removed and it tightens the eyelids. The cost of this surgery ranges from $500-$1,500.

Chance’s bills continue to climb, and we need your help!! His upcoming heartworm treatment will cost ~$1,000. As a private registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, we rely 100% on donations from community members like you. We do not receive assistance from any local or federal governmental agencies. All donations are tax deductible.

No amount is too small to help!

Donations can be made by

Venmo: @dogsquad88
PayPal: @dogsquad88

Or you can send a check via USPS:

Make check out to Dog Squad and send to

Dog Squad, 3620 Pelham Rd, PMB #404, Greenville, SC, 29615

Donate to Chance

Update 2/3/23: Chance Cannot Catch A Break!

Chance had yet another vet visit on Wednesday…

He deserves a loyalty punch card at this point.

Chance has a corneal ulcer. When we first rescued Chance, there was a small blue cloudy spot on his right eye. We had been treating it with Terramycin for 1.5 weeks, but his condition only worsened. Chance started alternating between squinting that eye and holding it completely shut. When Dr. Hendricks saw him on Wednesday, he knew immediately that Chance was dealing with an ulcer.

Learn about corneal ulcers Learn more

Last week, the vet recommended leaving Chance’s leg wound open rather than resuturing it. Despite breaking it open again this week, Dr. Hendricks said he was pleased with how it was healing and actually expressed being more concerned about Chance’s eye than his leg wound! He went ahead and removed the remaining stitches and prescribed Chance a topical ointment that we put on the wound 2x per day.

Oh, have we mentioned that Chance is still the hosting spot for a family of fleas?!

It’s just one thing after another for this guy. But what we know for sure: he is receiving more love and medical care than he’s probably ever received before, and we are not giving up on him.

He will be wearing the E-collar (AKA cone of shame) 24/7 until these things heal. And yes, even during his nightly snuggle time with us.

Chance Update 1/29/23

Squad Foster Chance had a big day on Saturday…

He had some one-on-one play time in the backyard and learned how to fetch! We rolled the ball a couple times at a short distance, keeping his activity level very light until he goes through heartworm treatment.

Chance also mastered the command, “stay,” yesterday!

Last night, we decided to bring Chance inside with the other Squad pups (last clip of video). He did great and remained calm with absolutely no signs of reactivity!

*NOTE: Chance has been with Dog Squad for 7 days, and this was the first time we brought him around other dogs. Fostering and adopting dogs requires a period of decompression for the animal. It can take weeks, months, and even years before a dog will feel at home in their new environment. We will allow him to come in for brief periods again in the days and weeks to come. The key to this period: move gradually and be patient!

*LEG UPDATE: The vet decided that the wound on Chance’s leg would heal better by allowing it to close naturally rather than trying to stitch it again. We are cleaning it multiple times per day. Chance went to bed last night after a good wound cleaning followed by some Manuka Honey Ointment, and protected with a red bandage wrap.❤️

The wound still doesn’t bother him, and it’s not sensitive to touch. Even though he doesn’t mess with it, we’ve kept the cone on him as a precaution when he is in his doggy condo.

Chance still need your help with covering the costs of his medical needs!

💳Donations can be made by

Venmo: @dogsquad88
PayPal: @dogsquad88

📬Or you can send a check via USPS:

Dog Squad, 3620 Pelham Rd, PMB #404, Greenville, SC, 29615

Chance Needs Your Help!!

Update 1/24/23

Squad Foster Chance’s stitches busted open, entirely exposing the wound on his leg this weekend. His foster mom Tara has been an excellent communicator and notified us immediately (THANK YOU TARA!).

Chance had yet another visit with the veterinarian, this time with the vet at Pleasantburg Veterinary Clinic. They cleaned the wound, and decided to go ahead and re-suture it. Chance has such an amazing temperament- the vet was able to stitch him up without any sedation or numbing medications. He patiently stood there while they patched him up!

Squad Foster Chance will be wearing the cone of shame while he heals and rests at the Dog Squad house, and hopefully the sutures will hold this time around.

Unfortunately, he isn’t out of the woods yet. His right eye is healing with the antibiotic ointment, and he continues to take his daily medications to treat whipworms. Chance still needs his vaccinations, neuter, and heartworm treatment.

His vet bills are already adding up quickly, and Chance needs your help to cover the costs of his medical appointments! As a private registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, we rely 100% on donations from community members like you. We do not receive assistance from any local or federal governmental agencies. All donations are tax deductible. No amount is too small to help!

Donations can be made by