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| Name: |
Rocky
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Age: |
Seven years old
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| Gender: |
Male |
Breed: |
Labrador Retriever mix
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| Home: |
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA |
What
makes Rocky special? Well, where to begin? To me, he's my first dog. We
had one when I was really young when I still lived on Long Island, but I
don't remember him much. I grew up with Rocky since I was ten years old and
I'm seventeen now. He has such a sweet demeanor and is the most docile dog I've ever
met. He's friendly to all dogs (mostly because he just ignores them if they
start barking at him and keeps walking on his merry way) and he is naturally
full of heart. I've never met a dog in my life that has a personality like
Rocky does. Between all my friend's dogs or family's, he's just different, to
say the least. He almost acts more human than he does a canine. He is a
Labrador Retriever (possible with some German Shepherd) in him.
I feel like when he looks at you, he's really trying to say something, like
he's looking at you and trying to speak words, but he's just a dog. I feel
like he can see right to your soul (sounds weird I know) but my dad says he
was put in our life for a reason. We have a very boisterous family to say the
least, and I feel Rocky was put in our life to calm us all down, so when he
gives you that look, you know he's reaching out to you to calm you. My dad
says God put him in our lives to calm our hearts and have us take things
easy, so maybe that's His way of reaching out to us.
He's protective over everyone in the house. If a new person comes over he'll
hover by them and check them out before he decides that they're okay in his
book. He very rarely growls at new people, only if he really doesn't like
them, and he only barks if someone pulls up in the driveway or they're at the
front door. It's the strangest thing, but he only gives kisses to my mom and
dad; not my brother, sister, or I. He will very rarely give us any kisses,
and if so they're usually like a "here, human, now get away" kind of kiss.
That doesn't mean he doesn't love us, I guess he just sees my parents as more
of the "alpha" type than us. If you're really upset though, and he knows when
you really are, not just faking to see how he reacts if you're upset, he'll
come up to you and just sit there, and when you look at him, he'll scoot
closer and give you kisses. Sometimes he'll lay down right there and put his
head in your lap to get you to feel better. Either that or he just wants his
head scratched (I haven't figured out which one yet). I guess it's just dogs,
but Rocky has this intuition if you're truly sad.
If my dad is sitting in the recliner chair, and it's usually only my dad,
he'll come and sit right by him and just rest his head on the arm of the
chair until my dad pets him. Then he'll go grab a bone or ball and bring it
to him. I guess he sees him as the boss. If he really wants something, he
will get you to follow him and do it. For instance, if I'm up in my room,
he'll come upstairs and and look at me from my doorway until I notice him.
When I do acknowledge him, he'll start wagging his tail. Of course I'm going
to go over to him to pet him, but nope, he'll start moving away from you. I
follow him of course because I can't resist his cuteness, and he'll peek over
his shoulder to make sure that you're following him. When we get to the
stairs, he'll gallop down the first part, get to the landing, and as he's
rounding the corner (if you're still at the top of the stairs) he'll peek his
head right around the corner of the wall, all just to make sure. Then he'll
lead you to where/whatever he wants. If he wants a bone, he'll lead you to
the pantry; if he needs to go out, he'll lead you to the back door, if he
wants some cheese, he'll wait by the fridge, and most of all, if he wants to
go for a walk, he'll wait right by the front door and he'll nudge his leash
that sits on the table there.
If I'm cooking or my mom is (or sometimes just in general if no ones in the
kitchen) he'll lay down on the floor by the table, while we're bustling
about. He reminds me of those blood hounds that lay on the front porch of
their house while their master is sitting in a rocking chair next to them haha.
He has an obsession with Kraft American Cheese slices. He will go crazy and
salivate for them. All I have to do is hold the cheese out and he'll start
doing his tricks. He can give you both paws, turn around, lay down, roll
over, stand up and walk towards you, he'll stay or stop if you tell him too,
and he knows how to retrieve (I guess that parts in the name lol). He also
loves milk bones. If you open the pantry, he'll sniff the box of bones and
wait for you to get him one. Sometimes we'll open it up and he'll reach in
and grab one for himself. When he eats his food he starts out by taking a
little and carrying it in his mouth to the family room, and he does this for
a while until he eventually will just eat over his bowl. We just leave his
bowl of food and water out and he usually eats after everyone else has or at
night time, and when he does he'll only eat a section out of his bowl. He's
perfectly healthy and weighs the right amount for a dog of his breed and size.
Sadly, he's deathly afraid of thunder, fireworks, and gunshots (I say the
last one because the woods by my house are partially hunting grounds). He
gets so scared and shakes like a leaf, but we do everything to calm him down.
He loves, loves, loves to go for walks and rides. Those are the two words you
cannot say, or he will go ballistic. He knows a lot of words actually. We'll
usually ask him if he wants something like, "Do you want to go out?"
signaling if he needs to go to the bathroom, or we'll ask "Do you want a
bone/cheese?" And he'll immediately perk up at those two. The forbidden ones,
unless we are really going to do these with him, are "Do you want to go for a
ride/walk?" I've never seen a dog go as crazy as he does at a single word.
This is also a bit strange but hilarious. My dad will tap the toilet paper
roll and Rocky will take his nose and move it so that it unrolls. He'll only
start to do it if my dad taps it and tells him "do". I know it's weird, but
it's extremely funny when you see him unrolling a toilet paper roll with his nose.
Something cute that he does is he'll "talk" to you. That's what we call it
anyway, even though he's not really talking like huskies do. He'll yawn and
make loud noises, or he'll simply make funny whine noises when we're playing
with him. Rocky gets extremely jealous when two people show affection. For
instance, if anyone hugs each other (mostly when they're hugging my dad) he
starts making whine noises and he'll yawn and make a "rawr" type sound. Then
he'll be wagging his tail and he'll run in circles around you until you show
him some affection. I don't now why, but he'll play bite my dad when he's
hugging someone else.
He mostly lounges about during the day and sleeps a lot. You know he's really
comfortable (which is all the time) when he lays out all spread-eagle when
he's sleeping. If he's playing with his toys or eating his bone, he'll
sometimes lay on his back and stretch his legs out, while he's holding
whatever it is, and he'll eat/chew on it like that so that it's dangling in
front of his face. He also knows how to open doors. Not like he knows how to
turn the handle or anything, but if the door is ajar, he'll push it with his
nose to open it. So sometimes we'll let him out and just continue doing
whatever in the house (leaving the door cracked open), and as soon as he's
done doing his business, he'll walk right back in.
He likes to take his bones outside and just leave them out there. If he
doesn't eat them while he's outside, and wants a bone from the pantry (when
we know he already has one somewhere) we'll ask him "Where's your bone?" and
amazingly enough, he'll lead us to where it is. If it's outside, he'll wait
by the door until we open it, and then he'll bolt to where he left it and
waltz right back in. If it's in my parents room on their floor, he'll go get
it and "pretend" to bring it to you. Usually he'll just get close enough for
you to grab it, and then he starts shaking his head around and he'll gallop
away. I swear, he can be such a tease. When he wants to play, he'll bring you
his ball and do the same thing. Not letting you grab it and then he'll shake
away. Then he proceeds to put his butt up in the air and wag his tail, and if
you take slow steps towards him, with each step he'll stomp out his front
paws and you know he's ready to bolt.
At the end of the day though when everyone is setting off to sleep, my dad
will lay a sheet out on his bed and Rocky will jump right on up to sleep
there with them, and mind you he is a big dog. My parents sometimes say he's
like another child, which in a way, he is. Sometimes if I'm up during the
night just lying in bed, I'll see him come upstairs and he peeks in ever ones
doors to check on us. Then he just goes back down stairs, and I guess, back
to my parents room. It's the oddest thing. I told you; human. No matter how I
put it, he's just a well behaved dog. He's intelligent, kind, loving,
protective, and to us, he's just another member of the family. Like he's
truly human.
See more images of Rocky!
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