A dog found with its mouth taped shut and wandering the backyards of Lehigh Acres, a community near Fort Myers, Fla., is making the most of his second chance.

The Florida Cur was found “panting, drooling and reportedly suffocating,” the Lee County Sheriff’s Office told Fox 13 News.

But not long after, the abused and abandoned pup was adopted, appropriately named Chance and made an official deputy and “Spokes-dog” by the sheriff’s office.

Fox 13 reported on Deputy Chance’s first week on the job. This past weekend, he got “his paws dirty” by accompanying Sheriff Carmine Marceno to a ribbon cutting in Fort Myers and by observing a teen driver challenge sponsored by the sheriff’s office.

See Deputy Chance loving his second chance in the Facebook posts below. Have well wishes to share? You can email him at deputeechance@sheriffleefl.org.