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| Name: |
Rocky
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Age: |
Deceased, three and a half years old
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| Gender: |
Male |
Breed: |
Shih Tzu
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| Home: |
Norfolk, Virginia, USA |
Hi, my name is Rocky and I am a three-and-a-half-year-old Shih Tzu. My Mom and Dad think I am the best little dog ever. I hear them say this all the time. They got me when I was 8 months old from a rescue group in Tennessee. I was a very insecure little guy when they got me. My first owners didn't like me very much. They didn't know how to housetrain me so I messed a lot in their house. So they yelled at me and swatted me on my head all the time. I just didn't know what they wanted me to do. It was really bad there so I was real glad when gave me to the rescue lady.
Once I got to my new home in Virginia, things got lots better. My new family was real nice and they started teaching me the right places to potty. This took a while but I finally understood. I stopped being whiny and barky and I stopped chewing on things in the house. I started getting some self-confidence and then I started playing with toys and having some fun.
Mom took me on walks every day and after a while she decided I should go to doggie- daycare to learn how to get along with other dogs. I learned to be very polite to other dogs even when they were rude, even the big dogs. Eventually Mom could take me to dog parks. I was always the smallest dog there but I could hold my own if an obnoxious dog came my way. Mom was very proud of me for that.
Dad had a two pet rabbits that lived in the sunroom. They could run loose and sometimes they would roam the rest of the house. I really wanted to chase them but Dad trained me to be nice to them and so we all learned to get along just fine. Dad did get mad at me when I stole some of their dinner. I really liked how crunchy those greens were. He didn't like it much when I ate their poops either, but, that was fun too and I did it lots of times when he wasn't looking.
At first, I didn't mind if Mom put costumes on me. She entered me in a Halloween costume contest and I won 3rd place in a clown costume. Everyone said I was just so cute in that clown costume. But after that, I decided I wouldn't wear those silly outfits anymore. If she put one on me, I would sit down and refuse to move, until she took the dumb thing off. Mom was very disappointed, but she got over it.
I loved to go on car rides, they were the best, better than going on a walk. My family took me on lots of rides. Dad would take me whenever he went to Lowe's, which was often. Sometimes he took me to Total Wine, and when they had wine tastings, that was real fun. Dad liked taking me with him cause he said I was a "chick magnet."
Mom took me to the beach. I loved that. Sometimes in the winter, when the beach was deserted, she would let me loose so I could chase seagulls. She stopped doing that (letting me loose), cause I would get really crazy and run miles down the beach and never come back. Sometimes she took me shopping to Bed Bath & Beyond. I liked going there because all the ladies there would say I was so cute and fuss over me.
As I grew older, I developed into the most "delightful, playful, friendly" personality (words I heard my Mom say all the time anyway). All my Mom and Dad's friends loved coming over to the house to see me. Sometimes when Mom and Dad were invited out to a friend's house, I would be invited too. That's because I was so "well behaved and charming," they said. Sometimes I even got to sit at the dinner table with everyone else. I thought that was pretty nice, but, I still only got kibble. Everyone in our neighborhood knew me too, and I was buddies with all the little kids in the neighborhood.
But, I could be a little wild and crazy sometimes. One day about a month ago, I did a real dumb thing. I got away from Mom and decided to go chase cars on a very busy highway. It was nighttime and they were all moving real fast. I didn't understand it was so dangerous. Now I live in doggie heaven.
My Mom and Dad miss me so very much, I feel very bad for them. Mom still talks to me sometimes, hoping I can hear her from up here in doggie heaven. She tells me how special I was. She says I came to her and Dad at a sad time in their lives. She tells me I helped them to feel so much better. She says I brought real joy to their lives. She tells me she was so proud of me, and what a wonderful dog I had grown up to be. She tells me how sorry she is that I couldn't have lived a longer life.
It is real nice here in doggie heaven. There are plenty of treats, there is always a nice person to take me for a car ride, and I never have to be on a leash, but I sure miss them too.
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