This ‘quiet camping dog’ has shared thousands of miles of RV adventures with his family.
By Crystal Hammes, F508127
November-December 2025
Meet Chance, our German shepherd. His story begins 10 years ago, when his breeder planned to put him to sleep because of a medical condition that made it hard for him to keep food down. When we heard about this puppy from a mutual friend, we decided to take a leap of faith and give him a second “Chance” at life — which is how he got his name.
Chance enjoys go-cart rides around the Hammes’ Iowa farm.
With the proper food and plenty of love, he has lived a doggone good life, traveling from sea to shining sea with our family.
Growing up on our Iowa farm, Chance learned to coexist with cattle, pigs, and chickens during his first few years of life. He loved spending time with his humans. When our kids were small, he wandered around them as they played outside. He “helped” dig holes while I worked in the garden, and he would lie down on the rows of tender tomato plants I had just planted.
As the girls grew, he followed them around as they made mud pies and “baked” them in their playhouse. He sat in the back of our side-by-side as we rode trails or got an ice cream treat at the gas station on a hot summer afternoon. He learned to keep the Jeep in sight so he wouldn’t miss a ride. He has grown to love go-cart rides, golf cart rides, and spending time with his humans.
As the years went by, we started traveling more. Living in Iowa has its perks, as we could make trips to the Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast. Before long, Chance had dipped his paws in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, and Lake Michigan. He hung his head out the back of the Jeep while we drove through many national parks; traveled up to Pikes Peak in Colorado; and visited the Southernmost Point Buoy in Key West, Florida. He felt the cool, white sand between his toes in New Mexico’s White Sands National Park, had sand blowing in his face at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah, and tried walking the great sand mountain in Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes National Park.
Chance has sat atop a boat in the Florida Keys; taken a shrimp boat tour in Biloxi, Mississippi; and traveled U.S. 101 through the entire state of Oregon. In California, he’s eaten snow off the mountains of Lassen Volcanic National Park and jogged through the towering redwood trees.
Chance has joined the family on RV trips to 48 states, including a visit to the World’s Largest Buffalo Monument in North Dakota.
Our pup has also explored the rainforest in Washington’s Olympic National Park; ridden 700 miles along Route 66; and visited the World’s Largest Buffalo Monument in Jamestown, North Dakota. He encountered sea life on Bar Island in Maine as we searched for sea glass, drank water from dog bowls in the Boston Fire Museum, and walked the rim of the Rio Grande in New Mexico.
In October 2024, he officially visited his 48th state.
Chance is a quiet camping dog; often, nobody notices him until they see him lying nearby. In many places we have visited, people have commented on how handsome and well-mannered he is.
As we sat near a golf course in The Villages, Florida, with Chance resting his head on our knees, my mother-in-law made a comment that touched my heart.
“Look at all the love pouring out of him.”
We really couldn’t ask for a better dog. Chance is part of our family and goes wherever we go. We’ve traveled many miles (about 35,000), spending time together in a 35-foot motorhome. His unconditional love shines through as he walks or rides by our sides.