Howdy Friends
Rocky on the sign at Tilton AutoServe
It's me, the Rock. I know it's been a while since I've been online, sorry. We've had quite a month, these last four weeks. I'll start with the good news -- I won first place in the Dog Category of the Tilton-Northfield Rotary Pet Photo Contest, and yes, that's me up there in lights -- high atop the sign at the Tilton AutoServe! Can you believe it?? A local car dealership put the winners' pictures on their sign -- how cool is that??? I got 484 votes. I had a lot of people helping me and we raised $255 for the Rotary Scholarship Fund. Mom says that will help kids go to college. I think that's great because I went to Carolyn's Canine College and it was lots of fun! Everyone should get a chance to go to college!!
Mom and Sadie -- happier times.
Now for the sad news. My GSD sister, Sadie Sue, died on March 16th from cancer, the day before mom's birthday. She was 10 1/2 years old. We had only found out about the cancer on March 7th, so it was quite a shock. I could tell she was slowing down but Mom thought it was her thyroid and arthritis. She stayed active up until a few days before she died. Even though she was weak she still kept chasing the cats in the house. She loved cats more than anything in the world! I miss Sadie. She was always nice to me and we used to hang out in the sunroom together after Gina left in the afternoon. Mom was very sad so I was her personal therapy dog through it all helping her to feel better. She is still sad and we all miss Sadie very much. Above is one of Mom's favorite photos of Sadie. It was taken on her 9th birthday -- July 5, 2007. Mom says we all need to wear the birthday hat on our birthdays and Sadie didn't like to wear it.
Bud wearing the birthday hat on his birthday, April 1st.Now for more sad news. My GSD brother, Bud, was diagnosed with lymphoma on March 28th. He just turned 11 years old. He is taking prednizone to help shrink his lymph nodes. He seems to feel okay and we've been getting along really good. Here's a picture of Bud on his birthday just last week. Mom is sad and says we need to treat Bud like a king, so I try not to push through the door ahead of him and I let him get the treats first. Mom says we don't know how long he will be feeling okay, so we are making sure we love him lots each and every day. Come to think of it, that's how we should treat everyone we love. Whether they are sick or not, we should love them lots each and every day because we never know what tomorrow might bring. I hope Bud keeps feeling good -- we have fun seeing who can scratch the dirt the furthest after we go pee. Today, Bud won. Well, that's enough news for now. Keep watching my blog as I visited a school today and I'll be posting about that soon with photos. Until then, give an extra hug to everyone you love and especially, if you can, "HugAK9" 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
