Meet Rocko again

Rocko!


It is …funny how things shape up and move around to affect an outcome in life and how tragedy can turn into a good thing.
Meet Rocko!

"Boy have I got a secret"!

Born in Shawnee Oklahoma and at the young age of 7 weeks made the trip to N.Kalifornia via airline pet shipping.
My old girl Wiggles passed a few years ago after a very long happy life due to cancer.
So when my brother’s dog got pregnant I said I wanted one to replace Wiggles.
I was supposed to be in Oklahoma when the dog was born but life did not align with my plans, so we opted to fly Rocko out.

It was a cold Saturday night when we arrived at the airport at 11 pm waiting for Rocko to arrive; we were pleased to see his flight was on schedule and should be in shortly after midnight.
The wife was anxiously overexcited and had been "nesting" for the past week in preparation for the new "baby".
We waited patiently near the cargo door/customer service station eagerly hoping to see his little kennel.
And then a little ahead of schedule there it was, we went to the counter and produced id and took him outside to relieve himself.
He was probably too traumatized from the flight to make his functions work but he was now in his new home town and safe.
Once in the car he immediately started giving Momma kisses and thanking her for saving him from the 9 hour ordeal.
When home we presented him, butt first to his big brother and sister for approval.
Both were standoffish not knowing what this sorcery was, a tiny dog!

Over the next few weeks Rocko got to know his brother and sister, although only a puppy he had good blood lines on his Father’s side. (Father must have been part Clydesdale)
As he was huge and only being a few weeks old had paws almost as big as his 7 year old brother!

"See the size of them feet"!!!

He and his big sister became good buddies and would regularly play running and growling everywhere his brother would allow him to lie next to him and chew on him, they had both accepted this new baby into our pack.

"Full on member of the pack".


"Chewing on his big brothers nose"…
His big sister although she had never had a litter stepped right up to the plate and became his doggie Momma and when she felt I was playing too rough would let me know so.

"Absolutely precious".
Skip forward 5 weeks…
It was a Saturday morning and the wife and I were set to go to the local farmers market to get some produce, spice and tea.
Being an experienced dog lover I understand you are not supposed to leave a puppy unattended with bigger dogs as accidents or worse can happen.
But I was too bullheaded to see any bad and we decided to leave the puppy out with the big dogs and went to the market.

A couple of hours later we got home but only the big dogs were there to greet us and no yelping puppy.
My wife’s heart sunk and she began shouting out “Rocko”!
She got to the room where from the doorway she found a mess on the floor of excrement and backed away.
She then commanded that I go look as she did not want to see.
My heart sunk and I hoped that he was hiding and all would work out for the best,
I stepped into the room and on my side of the bed on the floor was Rocko, he looked as if he was sleeping so I called his name and after no response I grabbed for his paw hopefully to wake him up.
As I grabbed the paw I felt mentally fatigued as I realized his paw was ice cold. I then picked him up but the rigors had already set in and I was helpless to do anything.
I went and told my wife the bad news and I was not sure what had happened, she came undone and started yelling at the dogs for killing her baby.
I calmed her down and went back to the room to start the cleanup process.
While in there I was angry and was looking for a cause of the incident, but there was no blood and no puncture wounds, no signs of nefarious activity.
After I got the room cleaned we took Rocko to the local vet for an inspection for maybe some answers and cremation.
The vet examined Rocko and could not herself find any signs of holes broken bones, Etc. and assured us it was most likely natural causes, maybe a heart attack.

We got back home and it was late, I and the wife were destroyed by this tragedy.
We both realized that we had not eaten all day and the wife had a major headache from crying all day.
I had some things I had to do gathering puppy toys, Etc., so I sent the wife to the store to get us something and her some Tylenol.
I gathered all of the toys and put them into a box holding back terrible sadness, I am not the kind of guy who cried when anything happens but just this once I was crushed.
The wife got home with take out, her pills, and almost a carbon copy of Rocko!
I was stumped what the hell was going on.
She told me that when she was going into the drug store there was a man and his daughter there with puppies in a box, their apartment contract did not mind them having a dog, but a pack of dogs was out of the question.
The father and daughter did not look to be doing well and the wife suspected that maybe Daddy was not employed.
She looked in the box and saw a puppy with even close to Rocko’s markings.
She then made the executive decision that she was going to help fix the pain she had gone through, she paid the Dad 50 bucks for the puppy and came home where I was stumped to see this almost carbon copy.

Meet Rocko², we call him Rocko but…

“Can we go in yet”??
Our female, his big sister spent the next week hiding in my closet mourning her baby I’m sure, but has grown to accept Rocko and the loss of Rocko 1.
Rocko² is turning out to be a good boy and goes outside like the big dogs on his own to go potty.

"How can you tell if your puppy is happy"??
It is strange how events happen and how every single detail meets perfectly to affect a change.
I caught flak from everyone who knows me about naming the new little guy Rocko but there is method to my madness.
Knowing the wife would come home every day and call for Rocko, this would crush her as she spoke out the wrong name.
There is also another reason…
This picture got to me and made me think; turn this negative into a positive.


Rocko² got everything Rocko 1 left behind, toys people, dogs, love and even down to his name!

"We’s huntin squirrels off of the porch, Rocko² even got Rocko 1’s hunting buddy"

Rocko will not be forgotten even though he was only here a few short weeks.