Chopper the boxer chops through window

As big baseball fans, Nationwide pet insurance member Scott Brown and his wife were thrilled to have tickets to the 2019 Major League Baseball World Series in Washington D.C., just a few hours away from their home in Virginia.

But while at the game, they received a shocking call from their neighbor: Their dog, Chopper, had excitedly broken through a glass window and needed to be taken to the hospital. The Browns’ unusual tale has earned Chopper a nomination for the 2020 Hambone Award.

chopperA collage of four pictures of a black and white dog with purple bandages on its two front legs, sitting with two women and a man wearing Washington Nationals jerseys, standing in a hallway with two purple bandages on its front paws, and lying on a dog bed next to a woman with purple bandages on its front arms.

It turns out that local kids were fundraising while Chopper was home alone. As a dog who loves people and attention, she could hardly contain her excitement at hearing the knock on the door.

“Chopper was really excited to see one of the girls at the door—so excited that she actually broke through the glass window trying to go out and play with her,” says Scott. The Browns’ neighbor took the black boxer to Regional Veterinary Referral Center in Springfield, Va., where it was determined that she’d need emergency surgery on her lacerations.

“The doctor was great, and so supportive,” says Scott. “Even though we were excited to be at the game, we were really concerned about Chopper and didn’t know if we should leave or not, but the vet said she would take care of it all—and she did. We ended up staying at the game and then picking up Chopper around 2 a.m. afterward.”

Thankfully, Chopper was up and running again within a month—and Scott and his family are thankful they had Nationwide pet insurance.

2A collage of three pictures of a black and white dog sitting on a stand up paddle board, lying its head down while wearing a protective cone, and wearing a baseball hat and a protective cone.

“Chopper’s vet bills exceeded $3,000, plus we had to repair the house. Needless to say, it was very nice to get most of those veterinary expenses back,” he says. “We’ve had pets before and insurance before and never used it. But it’s times like these when it really comes in handy. We switched to Nationwide because our vet recommended it and we are so happy we did.”