Bopcha Blog

It's unbelievable still, but our dearest loving little hound Bonne Chance chose today to leave us for new adventures across the rainbow bridge. Tom found him in the back paddock at feeding time yesterday. He had collapsed there, unable to walk. Tom with Melissa's help got him to the emergency clinic where the vets worked hard to save his life. At this moment, we still don't know why or what or how--only that by the wee hours this morning, it was clear that there was nothing left to do but let him go. He died peacefully, gently in Tom's arms and is no doubt, at this very moment, looking for rabbits to chase. Maybe Grandma Irka stopped by to stroke his ears as she passed by on her way to heaven to be with Grandpa Janek. I hope so. He loved loving more that anything and was always searching for a lap to lay across. We miss him dreadfully already. He was waiting for a chance to become a daddy again this spring. Instead, his legacy will be carried by the pups he had with Nubia Hegerova in Germany, and his grandchildren sired by his son, Kazan.



Bonne Chance earned wonderful titles during his early years in Germany. He wouldn't run on a track with other hounds, but did set a solo track record at Darmstadt in Germany. Unfortunately, after winning 5 international coursing competitions within a single year, we left Germany before he could achieve at least one win one year and one day after the first win, thus never achieved the title of FCI International Coursing Champion. Always one of the fastest hounds of the pack, Bonne Chance was also one of the most clever with respect to catching the lure and catch it he would. Even the most clever lure operator could not keep him from grabbing the plastic mid-field. Bonne Chance would listen for the whir of the line over a pulley, race to that point, and crouch with his jaws poised to snap as the plastic crossed over the pulley. Consequently, we finally stopped coursing him--lots of points but he never earned the last placement he needed for ASFA field champion.



I didn't mean to write so much about the boy, but it's been a comfort to share our grief with you. Here's a picture of Bonne Chance--the light of the next life surrounds him already. Love, Tom and KC