Rocky turned 13 today. Here is what he looked like a couple weeks after we got him and he was groomed. He was a handsome lad back then.
And now, he's a distinguished gentleman.
About 8 months after he was born, we got Rocky from the daughter of Mom's Nursing College roommate. The daughter had found Rocky in a cage at a breeders location. The breeder had lost the ability to pay her help and could not keep up with the dogs by herself. This resulted in Rocky spending the first 6 months of his life in a cage. When the daughter was going through the dogs at the breeder's location Rocky was the only one that still had some personality and gumption, so she convinced her husband to let her take Rocky home.
The daughter and her husband breed Labs, and Rocky spent a couple months getting socialized and living outside with the big dogs. To this day Rocky thinks he is a big dog. When one of the daughter's Lab puppies was offered back to them the husband said that if the puppy comes back, Rocky had to go to someone else. Dad had been saying for a while that he wanted a smaller dog that could be a lap dog for him. Rocky was 18lb then and the perfect size as far as Dad was concerned. My parents networked through Mom's old roommate and met the daughter halfway to pick Rocky up. It was love at first sight for Dad and Rocky was his baby until Dad passed away in 2013.
Rocky is a lot older, grayer and slower than he was back then. Even managed to break his leg jumping off the bed about a year ago. We had no problem deciding to spend a arm and a leg getting him put back together and he shows no signs of lingering issues from it. We just wanted him to have the best and longest fulfilling life possible given that he has been so unstinting with his love. We hope to get another couple years at least. We have been spoiling him even more rotten today.
In conclusion, I hope everyone will hug their old and young furry babies tonight and maybe give them a extra treat in honor of Rocky's birthday.

And now, he's a distinguished gentleman.

About 8 months after he was born, we got Rocky from the daughter of Mom's Nursing College roommate. The daughter had found Rocky in a cage at a breeders location. The breeder had lost the ability to pay her help and could not keep up with the dogs by herself. This resulted in Rocky spending the first 6 months of his life in a cage. When the daughter was going through the dogs at the breeder's location Rocky was the only one that still had some personality and gumption, so she convinced her husband to let her take Rocky home.
The daughter and her husband breed Labs, and Rocky spent a couple months getting socialized and living outside with the big dogs. To this day Rocky thinks he is a big dog. When one of the daughter's Lab puppies was offered back to them the husband said that if the puppy comes back, Rocky had to go to someone else. Dad had been saying for a while that he wanted a smaller dog that could be a lap dog for him. Rocky was 18lb then and the perfect size as far as Dad was concerned. My parents networked through Mom's old roommate and met the daughter halfway to pick Rocky up. It was love at first sight for Dad and Rocky was his baby until Dad passed away in 2013.
Rocky is a lot older, grayer and slower than he was back then. Even managed to break his leg jumping off the bed about a year ago. We had no problem deciding to spend a arm and a leg getting him put back together and he shows no signs of lingering issues from it. We just wanted him to have the best and longest fulfilling life possible given that he has been so unstinting with his love. We hope to get another couple years at least. We have been spoiling him even more rotten today.
In conclusion, I hope everyone will hug their old and young furry babies tonight and maybe give them a extra treat in honor of Rocky's birthday.
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