Chance's second chance for life came while lying on a table at a shelter where he was already prepped for euthanasia. Reaching back over his shoulder, Chance licked the hand of the technician who was attending to him.

"She couldn't do it," says Judith Tarpey, a member of San Francisco Bay Area German Shepherd Rescue. "So she called us and now [the organization] has him."

Tarpey started volunteering with the German shepherd rescue group when she adopted the first of her two German Shepherds. The organization is now looking for a similar "forever home" for Chance.

The rescue organization, run solely by volunteers like Almaden's Tarpey, operates completely on donations and money from fundraisers such as the upcoming "Hair of the Dog Wine Tasting," which will be held at the San Jose Police Officers Association on April 23.

Stacey Seibold, a volunteer and member of the organization who works for J. Lohr Winery, is coordinating a list of eight to 10 wineries, including J. Lohr, Little Valley Winery, Bella Sera, Haywood, Venvage, Covey Run and Barefoot Cellars, all of which will be offering samples at the event.

Relatively new to the organization, Seibold adopted 21Ž2-year-old Logan in December, but she is no stranger to dogs or the German Shepherd breed. Before moving to the South Bay, Seibold used to perform search and rescue attempts with the trained dog she had when she lived in Oakland. She now helps to identify potential search and rescue dogs at shelters.

All the German shepherds that come through the organization are put through a structured evaluation process, which includes analyzing their temperament, behavior, and their interaction with humans and other pets.

The organization doesn't move dogs through the process quickly, preferring to use the time dogs are housed in foster homes as further evaluation periods. Some dogs, like Tara, may be with their foster families for months at a time. But the dogs are never there less than four weeks so that the foster home evaluator can get to know the dog, all the time keeping a detailed log of the dog's activities and behavior.

Tara was in her foster home for six months when she was showcased at a local Barnes & Noble last December. That's when Almaden resident Joanne Michlin stopped by for a visit.

Michlin says she had planned on adopting a dog from a guide dog organization but when she met the folks from San Francisco Bay Area German Shepherd Rescue and learned about what they do, she signed up as a volunteer that day. She also asked to adopt 8-year-old Tara, a stray from the Sacramento area.

"My walking is not too strong, so I knew an older dog would be perfect for me," Michlin says.

Tara was one of the lucky dogs to be adopted and even luckier to have made it to the program. Michlin, Tarpey and Seibold are some of the lucky human applicants to the program, too.

Not everyone who wants to adopt a German shepherd walks off with one, and not every German shepherd is a good candidate for the rescue group.

"I'm addicted to this breed. They are not the easiest dog in the world," says Linda Vartanian. "My two are my company, my children, my friends, my protectors."

Vartanian is a rescue coordinator for the agency and one of her jobs is to go to shelters, the rescue organization only takes dogs from shelters and never directly from surrendering owners, and evaluate a dog to see if it has the qualities they look for in an adoptable dog.

Potential owners must pass the test, too, and one of the overriding characteristics of the organization that volunteers say they like best is the care that is taken in matching dogs to owners.

"We have a lifetime guarantee on the dog. We will take them back if it doesn't work out, but we don't want them back because we want the placement to be good," says Bonnie Reed, the public relations manager for the rescue group.

Reed, who works full time for United Way Silicon Valley, says rescuing and adopting isn't about quantity: it's about quality.

"We are very, very careful in our placement of the dogs," she says.

Evaluating, placing and caring for the dogs before they reach their "forever home" comes with a price. It takes cash to pay for the transportation of the dog from the shelter to the veterinarian to the foster home. Sometimes there is medication needed, and of course there is the cost of food.

Operating costs like these are what the proceeds from the Hair of the Dog Wine Tasting will help to cover.

The fully catered event will provide hors d'oeuvres, raffles and prizes, and a silent auction. Auction items include dog-related items, including overnight accommodations at dog-friendly bed and breakfast inns in areas like Carmel or Monterey. Also up for auction, Seibold says, will be magnums of wine from wineries such as Cinnabar and Savannah-Chanelle, food and wine gift baskets, and jewelry.

This inaugural event is being sponsored in part by the San Jose Police Officers Charity Foundation. Members of the police department's K-9 unit will attend but may leave their canine partners at home to enjoy their day off, organizers say.

Advance tickets for Hair of the Dog Wine Tasting can be purchased for $30 by visiting the group's website at www.sfgsrescue.org, where more information about available dogs and the organization can be found. Tickets can also be purchased at the door for $35. The event is being held at the San Jose Police Officers Association building at 1151 N. Fourth Street, San Jose, 95112.