I have so much to be thankful for!
First, is my Foster Dad, Bob Armstrong in Mooresville, NC. Look at how scared I looked that day I had to leave. I didn't want to leave him and I know he hated to see me go. Little did I know that I had nothing to be afraid of because Foster Bob had found me a wonderful home! And if I hadn't left, he might not have found Baron, my foster brother. That's him above, isn't he handsome? (I could use some of that long hair up here in NH!) I've never met him but I feel like I know him already. We've got lots in common -- we were both lost, we both had heartworm and we both had Foster Bob to nurse us back to health! Baron is over his heartworm treatments and is now starting search and rescue training. How cool is that? Heck, if I ever get lost again, Foster Bob could bring Baron up to help find me! Now, don't worry, I'm not planning on getting lost again!
Look at me know -- happy and healthy! That reminds me of another thing I'm thankful for. My x-rays came back fine -- Dr. North says she doesn't think I have an ACL injury and my hips are in fine shape, too! She thinks it was a muscle injury. She's sending the x-rays off for a second look by a specialist just to make sure. She's so nice! I got kind of upset when Dad left me behind there last Friday for my appointment, but all the nice people there made me feel right at home and took great care of me! Thanks so much to Dr. North and her staff at Meadow Pond Animal Hospital, they are the greatest!
I could go on and on, I have so many things to be thankful for this year, but ever since last week, all I've been able to think about is turkey! Why last week? Well, take a look. Mom counted 29 turkeys right in our back yard. I watched them from the window with my cat brother Eddie. There were so many Mom couldn't fit them all in the pictures that she took from the window. There were turkeys everywhere!
Hopefully, I'll get a little taste of turkey this week, until then I'll just dream about them and be thankful that I'm no longer in the woods trying to catch one to survive! Hope ya'll have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember to count your blessings! Rocky
Howdy Friends! Okay, okay, it's not Alaska, but it sure feels like it could be! My mom might be used to this cold, white stuff, but ya gotta remember, I'm a Southern Boy. Heck, I don't even know what a winter coat is, yet alone grow one! Here we are at Cannon Mt. Ski Area in NH's White Mountains -- and they are getting white! It was 30 degrees and spitting snow! I'm still not doing much walking, so we took off for a ride on Veteran's Day. I love riding!
Check out those slopes! Dad got new skiis this year -- I sure hope he knows what he's doing and doesn't hurt his ACL or we'll both be laid up!
Get a load of those snow tires! I didn't even dare pee on them for fear they'd attack me! They must have some mean driving conditions up here on Mt. Washington -- never saw anything like that in NC.
Now this is the kind of bridge I like -- covered and cozy! The wind can blow and the snow can fall, but I'm nice and dry walking along this highly photographed covered bridge in Jackson, NH. Sure hope you liked my little Veteran's Day travel log as much as I enjoyed it...well, except that cold white stuff! Hope ya'll have a great week -- I'm headed off tomorrow for a second opinion on my leg and probably x-rays on Thursday or Friday. Mom is checking into a leg brace that might help stabilize my knee so it will heal faster and avoid surgery. Wish me luck and I'll keep ya'll posted. Rocky
Now don't get worried I'm not sick, I'm just taking it easy and resting my leg. You see, last week, there was a little scuffle between me and Bud. Nothing serious, just Bud exerting his status as the pack leader. Since he's kinda old, I go easy on him but I don't necessarily back down when he starts something and this time I guess I twisted my bad leg. Mom was worried I might need to have surgery, so Dad took me to see Dr. MacDonald who said I must have re-injured my old ACL injury. He said if it was torn it all the way, I wouldn't be using my leg but I'm using it fine. It only hurt when I tried to jump up on something or run up the stairs, and it made me cry a couple of times. Doc M. gave me a pain killer, but I only needed it one time. Doc said I just needed to go easy for a few days and take my pain killer if I needed it, so that's what I've been doing. It's been kind of fun because Dad's been lifting me up into the car or truck so I can still go places. But we haven't been walking much and I miss that a lot. I've also had time to be thinking a lot about my old life in North Carolina. I sure hope my friends are all doing okay. Well, another few days of R & R and I should be good as new. In the meantime, as I lay around watching TV all day, I'm getting tired of all these political ads. So I just hope everyone goes out and votes so we can get this here election stuff behind us! Hope ya'll have a great week --
Rocky
Things I Love
- Ice cubes! Bud & Sadie taught me to crunch ices cubes. Sure wish I'd had those on hot days back in NC!
- Meeting new people -- the Southern gentleman in me really shines here!
- Carolyn's Canine College -- Carolyn is so nice to me and gives me treats!
- My dog sister, Sadie (notice I didn't say, my dog brother, Bud)
- Fish Oil Capsules -- My bedtime snack, yummy!
- Riding in the Car -- sometimes I get to stick my head out the window!
- Going for walks with my mom on my country road
- Sleeping (Especially on my mom & dad's bed!)
- Food (Mom only lets me eat dog food, no table scraps)
Rocky's Story
My story begins in North Carolina back in December of 2007. I was rescued from the woods by a kind young lady who overheard some hunters say they were going to "shoot the shepherd" because they thought I was keeping deer away. I had already been shot at once -- and hit! I had a BB lodged in my forehead that my owner never bothered to have removed. There were a lot of things my owner never bothered do to, so that's why I ran away to begin with and got lost in the woods. Another thing my owner never bothered to do was give me heartworm medicine and, yup, you guessed it, I not only had that BB in my head, I also had heartworm.
I wish I knew who that young girl was that gave me a ride that day. She saved my life and I'd like to say thank you to her someday. After she saved me from those hunters, she took me to a vet to see if I had any identification -- I didn't, of course. So the vet contacted Bob, a volunteer with Forever Home K9 Rescue. Bob came over and brought me back to his home. It wasn't a forever home but it sure was nice to be out of the woods. My owner actually did track me down and when he found out Bob would help find a good home for me, he decided that was the best thing for me. That was just what Bob was hoping for, now he could get on with helping me and that began with getting that BB out of my head and neutering. Then came the heartworm test...positive; then the heartworm treatments, ugh! They were tough but Bob, Denese and the wonderful vets and technicians at Animal Hospital of Statesville took real good care of me and I made it through! Thanks, you guys!
Bob then started taking me to PetCo for the adopt-a-dog days. A lot of people would stop and pet me, but Bob told me he was waiting for the right people to give me a good home. My lucky day was February 16, 2008, when a man and woman came by and began talking with Bob and petting me. I thought they were very nice, but I knew they weren't from around NC because they had a different accent. But Bob seemed to like them and I trusted Bob. About three weeks later, back at PetCo I met the same people again and they seemed very happy to see me. That's when I began to realize that these people were going to be my forever home.
On March 10, 2008, in the early morning hours, Bob got my things and we headed out while it was still dark. We went to a hotel parking lot and there were those same two people again. That's when Bob told me I would be going home with them. I was sad and alittle scared to leave Bob, but I knew that's what I had to do. Leaving the parking lot, I whimpered a little as I sat in the corner of the back seat of the pick-up truck. I was trying to be brave. These people seemed nice, but I was really missing Bob and I had no idea where I was being taken.
I rode quietly for quite a while, with a scared look on my face. I looked out the window to try to see where we were going but I couldn't tell. Finally, I started to relax a little and took a nap. When I woke up, I felt better. I continued riding for miles and miles, hours and hours -- about 17 hours to be exact and pretty close to 1000 miles. We stopped off and on along the way for potty breaks and snacks. I was getting to like these new people!
Finally we arrived at a house in the country. I got out and stepped into this icy cold white stuff that was slippery to walk on! Oh no, snow! I'd seen a little of this stuff in NC but not like it was here. Then they told me, I was in New Hampshire!
This was my new forever home! It was really late, so we went right to bed. The next morning I met my new family: my German shepherd sister, Sadie, and my German shepherd brother, Buddy; and my feline brothers & sisters: Sam, Jack, Eddie, Annie and Chloe; and my grammy, who is 87-years old and blind.
My life has changed so much since I joined my forever home. I go for walks. I have a huge yard to run free in with my brother and sister. I have my own bed. I go to dog school. And I'm preparing to be a therapy dog so I can go to nursing homes and children's reading programs. Life doesn't get much better than this! Thank you Forever Home K9 Rescue for helping me find my forever home...even if it was 1000 miles away! Rocky
I have so much to be thankful for!
Look at me know -- happy and healthy! That reminds me of another thing I'm thankful for. My x-rays came back fine -- Dr. North says she doesn't think I have an ACL injury and my hips are in fine shape, too! She thinks it was a muscle injury. She's sending the x-rays off for a second look by a specialist just to make sure. She's so nice! I got kind of upset when Dad left me behind there last Friday for my appointment, but all the nice people there made me feel right at home and took great care of me! Thanks so much to Dr. North and her staff at Meadow Pond Animal Hospital, they are the greatest!
