It’s truly amazing what wild plot twists life has in store when you’re looking the other way. Just when you think it’s over, and you’re left questioning, “Is this really all there is?,” or feel like there’s nothing else and you’re ready to let go and say, “Goodbye cruel world,” you’re presented with a second chance. it’s a new lease on life that you never saw coming, a new chapter you couldn’t imagine in your wildest dreams!
That’s what happened to this pup, a Labrador who was a rescue dog and was counting down his final days until euthanization. In his darkest hour, just when he thought this was it, something else fell into place and completely changed his life.
Benny was only a puppy when he was adopted by Cheryl Del Sangro, a former skating coach who fell in love with him. “He had spent six months in a kill shelter in Utah and eventually was put on the euthanasia list,” she said. “A local Las Vegas rescue had pulled him on his last day and transported him to Las Vegas, but nobody had put in to adopt him. But, as soon as I saw his eyes in the photo, I knew he was meant for me. I filled out the forms, finally got to meet him and it was instant love.”
It was when Cheryl took Benny onto the ice that she noticed he wasn’t scared. In fact, he actually really took a keen interest to the ice. He didn’t mind slipping around a little and losing his footing here and there. Once he went out a few times, he grew accustomed to the way ice works! Cheryl decided to take it one step further. After agility training, she outfitted the pup with little dog-sized skates for his two front paws. “I just started teaching him the same as teaching a small toddler and incredibly he took right to it. He was able to stand and skate on his own the first day we tried it,” the proud owner told PEOPLE. “He continues to improve all the time.”
This video is equal parts adorable and impressive because Benny is skating–for real. The pup glides across the ice with a hockey stick in his mouth and tail wagging! He looks as happy as can be.
Click on the video below to watch the world’s first ice-skating dog! What an incredible twist of fate for the pup.
