I got my dog. I got my little angel from a shelter in the month of February in 2017. His original name was Little Dude. There he was a small white and black little dog. He was looking all scared and meek and mild. I thought to myself, he will be a calm mannered dog, oh boy was I wrong. Wrong for all the right reasons though, because what he has inside of him, helped me come back to life. I have a dear friend who told me once that dog is spelled God backwards. That has always stuck with me, and I believe that God put me and my dog together for a reason. I named him Rocky! Rocky, because I love the Rocky movie series and have always found them inspirational! An underdog from the streets of Philly shocks the world with his grit and determination. Although I found Rocky in Denver, Colorado, and not in Philly, his heart is a fighting one. I say that he saved my life. He brought me back from a place where I was in deep despair and gave me new hope. I had never had any being love me as unconditionally as this little dog does. Rocky, because I love how Sylvester Stallone yells out “Adrian!!” at the end of his Rocky movies, and because I am an Adrienne as well! Since, I didn’t have a real life flesh and blood male human of a Rocky in my life, I thought that having a dog bark at me like he is yelling “Adrienne, yo, Adrienne, I did it!!” would be the next best thing! To this day, he has never let me down! Oh, yes, we have had our adventures, both good and bad. Scary ones too! Like when he kept eating things he shouldn’t have and we have spent hours in emergency rooms together. Also like when he got so jealous of other dogs, who I gave my attention to during my pet sitting days, and got his ear bit and I had to take him to the emergency room to get his ear stitched up! He got his ear bit because he snapped ferociously one too many times at a sweet boy dog named Jack, who after he millionth time of rocky being a little brat had had enough! I can’t say I blamed Jack! Boy was that scary for both of us! Now he has an ear with a tear in it and I think it gives him a bit of character! He is still the cutest pup in the whole world to me!
My dog Rocky, who helped take my pain away one day at a time, one dog walk at a time, and one ornery mischievous Jack Russell terrier action at a time. Part Rat terrier and Jack Russell, this amazing little dog has taught me so much about life that me as a mere human was taking for granted. First he taught me to not judge a word that wasn’t so pretty on paper, as a way to pick a dog! If someone had put a list of dogs in front of me to choose from, and Rat Terrier was on the list, I would have skipped over it because of the word Rat, and I wouldn’t even have given a dog like my dog a chance, just because of the word Rat. Wow, that’s superficial of me! Rocky taught me to research dog breeds and to find out that his breed, the Rat Terrier, was the beloved dog breed of the President Theodore Roosevelt! Apparently, the breed got its name because this type of dog chased and hunted all the rats away from the barns at the White House during President Roosevelt’s time as President! I immediately thought this was very cool and gave Rocky even more cool points with me. Then when I realized that Rocky also had some Jack Russell in him, I discovered a new love for another dog breed. A breed that explained the ornery mischievous side of Mr. Rockstar! Oh, Rockstar is just one of many nicknames I have given Rocky along his journey with me. His other nicknames include Rockus, Tocky, Tockus, Huggie Hoo, Dork Pork, Tocky McTockerson, and more that I am sure I will come up with in the future! He has learned them all, and has learned to put up with me being annoying in that way!
Let’s see, what else has Rocky taught me. He has taught me to enjoy the real small things in life that I took for granted before him, like smelling the air outside, or being happy to run around in a big backyard! He has taught me to be curious about everything around me. He has also taught me about how one little dog has such a big heart, that he has compassion for all creatures big and small. He truly is an underdog who cares about other underdogs! He has jumped into fights before at dog parks when other dogs were being picked on, much to my fright, while I screamed “Rocky!!!!”. He has also taught me that while he thinks he is such a tough dog, that he actually needs a lot of care and love, for he is one sensitive little kiddo. He is also my service dog, being a US Army veteran. He does a perfect job to calm down my anxiety, just by hugging him. He picks up on my feelings and sometimes allows me to see what I am going through by how he is reacting to me. He has taught me how to make doggie birthday cakes, because he is so spoiled and he gets one on his birthday every single year! I cleverly made his birthday on Valentine’s Day, so from the time I got him, I would never have to spend another Valentine’s Day alone, being sad that I didn’t have some handsome boyfriend to celebrate the Holiday of Love with. My plan worked! I haven’t been that sad on Valentine’s Day anymore, because my focus has been on making him the best doggie birthday cake ever each and every year!
Most importantly, he has taught me that my life would be completely different without him. I am scared to think what my life would be like today without that little dork pork! Saying he is super special to me, is an understatement of how much I truly love that little dog. He has blessed my life and my family’s life more than I think his little dog brain will ever know. However, I am sure that in his little dog heart he feels all the love we are giving him back. He continues to be very spoiled, and will always be as long as he is mine. He has got his Grandma wrapped around his little paw and even found a way to sneak into the heart of my brother, who has always sworn that he is not a “pet person”. I tell Rocky all the time that he is Big Time, but he just looks at me like, “If I am so Big Time, then where is my endless bowl of treats, huh?”
Rocky will be six years old in dog years this upcoming Valentine’s Day! It will also mark a five year period that he has been my little sidekick, for I got him when he was about eleven months old. Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky to be blessed with the best dog in the world and then I realize that all dogs are the best dogs in the world, they are all just waiting for the right human or right set of humans to give their love to. When they say, “Dog is a man’s best friend”, they hit the nail on the head with that saying. For the time I have him in my life, I will be the luckiest human. I have to enjoy all the time I can with him because one day he will be gone, and it makes me sad to even think of that day. It reminds me of the Country song, “Feed Jake”, whenever I think of it, for Rocky has been “my best friend, right through it all.”
Rocky is constantly reminded every year, of why and how he got his name. I sit him down and make him watch Rocky movies with me and he has even had the pleasure of running up hills with me while I hum loudly the Rocky theme song. Rocky will get so excited and run like he wants to scream “Let’s show them all!”. It’s like he knows, in his dog heart, that he was born to take on the world with me! Rocky! Rocky, my dog!
Comments
There are no comments for this story
Be the first to respond and start the conversation.