In Memory…

 

Rocky April 21, 2004 - February 3, 2009

 

Rocky died last night.  He was in a fight with another male dog that we own (not a whippet) and he did not recover from surgery to repair his wounds.  As some of you know, these 2 dogs have tangled in the past so we built separate kennels to keep them apart.  I am not sure how, but Rocky and some of the other whippets dug under the fence, through the chicken wire and went into the other kennel.  We really thought we had done everything we could to prevent this from happening.   I will always blame myself for not doing more.  

What can I say, we are all devasted.  Rocky, like all of our dogs, was really special and he will be missed so much.  Those of you who know me well, know that my dogs are my kids.  I don’t look at them as just animals or household pets, I love them like humans.  I don’t expect everyone to understand that but I know a lot of you will and have been through this yourselves.  Rocky was almost 5 years old- way too young to die and certainly not like this.  Although the vet said that his last moments were peaceful and he was not in any pain, he had not regained consciousness from surgery yet.  Before I left the hospital yesterday I got to see him and kiss him.  I didn;t know it would be the last time but I am so glad they let me do that.  His eyes were open and I know he knew I was there, even though he was out of it.  

The picture of him at the top is him doing what he loved most in life- playing with his tennis ball!  No matter what he was doing,  eating, sleeping, laying on the couch- he always had his ball close by.   We play fetch with the whippets everyday and instead of chasing all the balls, Rocky ran full speed with his ball in his mouth!  Something he passed on to his son Cupid, who does the same thing.  Rocky loved to run, it was in his genes.  Here is a picture of him at one of his races several years ago:

 

 

He was so fast!  He loved to chase that lure.  

Here he is with his mate, Daisy:

Rocky and Daisy

 

They gave us 2 litters and 20 beautiful puppies!  We kept 3 of them- Zoe, Cupid and Romeo aka “RJ- “Rocky Jr.”   There is so much of Rocky in those pups- Cupid with his ball fetish and Romeo with his “emo” personality, he left a quite a legacy behind in his offspring.  It’s a huge comfort for me right now.  Here are some pics of his kids:

Zoe, Tigger, Romeo, Cupid

 

 

Rocky taking a nap with Cupid

 

 

 

Rocky with Zoe

 

Romeo (RJ) and Cupid

 

 

 

 

Valentine's Day Litter 07

 

It was awful not feeling him at the end of the bed last night- he always had a habit of taking 5 minutes to move the covers around and then plop down right on top of our feet!   That was his spot and god forbid you wiggled!  We called him “Emo Dog” b/c he was always whining for attention, even if you were petting him for 20 min, as soon as you stopped he would whine for more.  He loved to have his belly rubbed.  His fur was like velvet.  At night, he would howl, and get the other whippets to howl, for no other reason than to hear themselves howl.  Sometimes he would look at you and “talk”.  I was trying to teach him to howl “I love you” like those dogs you sometimes see on Letterman or YouTube!  He was a great dog.  I know I will see him again someday, in whatever existence comes after this, b/c I am one of those crazy people who believes animals have souls and are forever bonded with their humans.  I hope that is he happy and chasing that ball around, wherever he may be.