The chief happiness deputy was out on his afternoon stroll. The front desk started radioing for him, asking who he’s with and when they're coming back. Just as they were about to send another text, Chance walked in, panting from the heat.
Sheriff Darin Balaam stooped down to greet the chief deputy and began snapping his fingers at him.
“Come here. Come here. Hey,” Balaam said.
It might seem unprofessional to snap at an employee, but Chance didn’t mind. With his tongue hanging out, the French bulldog simply looked at Balaam.
Balaam recruited Chance to be the department’s first Chief Happiness Deputy early last year. Chance was in the Res-que dog shelter at the time, where Balaam has friends.
But the sheriff didn’t have room for Chance at home — he already has three French bulldogs. So he came up with another idea.
“I reached out to my crime lab director, Steve and his family, and said, ‘there's this wonderful dog, extremely friendly. Would you consider possibly adopting him and then bring him to the sheriff's office’”, he said.
Steve Johnson went home and talked it over with his wife. They already have a dog, two cats, and two lizards.
“We decided to take a chance on the little guy,” he said.
Which is how he got his name. On his first day, Johnson introduced Chance as if he were another person joining the team.
Britney Ceccarelli works in the lab with Johnson. She felt tense when she heard there would be a new higher up.
“We didn't know what to expect,” she said. “And then out of nowhere, this little chunky dog comes in, and it was the cutest thing, and it was so happy, and it was probably one of the better pranks we've ever had pulled on us.”
He made friends very quickly after that. Now, with his shiny badge and tactical vest, he runs up and down the halls.
“When people, all of a sudden, hear that Chance is around, the place gets all of a sudden, a little louder, but people start coming out of their office. Work stops for a second, which is okay, and especially if people have had that day,” Balaam said.
Typically, someone would expect to see a German Shepard roaming the sheriff’s office. Balaam said his people think of them as work dogs and are hesitant to say hello.
“Although those are great dogs, because of the perception of canines and shepherds, sometimes they can be a little intimidating,” he said. “Chance may need to go on a little bit of a diet so he is not intimidating at all.”
Chance starts bright and early at 7 a.m. For the first half of the day, he’s upstairs in the front office. He works extra hard, playing fetch and tug-of-war. For the second half, he heads to the lab with his dad for a long nap.
“There's been times where I've been running around all day and I'll just pause for like 10 seconds and just listen to him snore, and it's funny, and it'll bring a smile to my face, and it allows me to stop before I start moving again,” Johnson said.
The staff at the Sheriff’s office is more than welcome to swoop Chance away for a while.
“People are pretty good about communicating where he is and or if they need to see him,” Johnson said.
Balaam said other county employees visit just to see the Deputy.
Chance’s mission even goes as far as the Boys and Girls club of Truckee Meadows. He greeted kids starting the school year during the annual Christmas in July event.
“He still is a sheriff's office dog. And, you know, like any other employee at the sheriff's office, he's also here for the community as well,” Johnson said.
Ceccarelli had been working in the office for 12 years before Chance came along. She said it's a great place to work but very stressful.
“I think it's really hard to have him around and not smile and laugh and have fun as a group. He was very much needed for our mental health down here,” she said.
Balaam said all offices should consider having their own chief of happiness. Especially those with high stress jobs similar to his. He said the SPCA can screen animals to ensure your office has the purr-fect fit.
“You have that mental health, mental wellness, and you're enhancing it, looking for a canine or others have cats, or whatever. That is an opportunity I would tell you to always look into,” he said.
