I'm new to this site and wanted to introduce myself and my "designer mix", Rocky!
My name is Nina, I'm a 22 year old military wife and I currently live in Alaska at the Elmendorf AFB. I adopted Rocky from the local animal control shelter in April of last year. He's 7 years old, and is my very best friend. When I first took Rocky out to look at him at the shelter, the volunteer there told me that he had been though four abusive homes before coming to the shelter, leaving him with missing teeth, and broken nose, and severe anxiety problems. And you could tell, he just did not want to be around any of us. He hid in the corner no matter how much I tried to get near him. We put him back, and as much as I felt bad for him, I didn't want to take home a dog out of shear pity. But we couldn't find any other dogs I really liked. So after taking one last look around the shelter, I looked into his big empty cage and he looked up, saw me, and had a huge smile on his face. I was sold. The best part came when we were waiting for him to get the last check up at the shelter, and they asked us if we wanted to change his name from his name then, which was Max. He didn't look like a Max, but we couldn't figure out what to name him. Brandon was fooling around with things that were big, opposite of him, so he kept saying "Rocket...Rocko..." and all of a sudden we looked at each other and shouted "Rocky!" and just at that minute, he came out and I looked at him and went "There's my Rocky!" and it was like he was made for the name. He's never responded to Max and Rocky seemed to fit, since he's more of a fighter than I ever thought a dog could be. And I am SO glad I took a chance on him, because all he needed was a loving home. He's bonded so well with me and my husband, Brandon. He's no longer anxious or antisocial, he's the most lovable dog I have ever met. He follows me around like he's my shadow, including waiting for me on the floor while I take a shower. I love him more than I ever thought I could love a dog.
I also suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and having Rocky around calms me down. Whenever I'm crying, he's there liking my tears away, and whenever I'm excited, he's there running around with me! You could say I saved him, but honestly, it's really like he saved me. I feel more like myself again now that I have him, and no matter how bad my day is, I know the minute I get home, Rocky's gonna be there running to the door waiting for me with his crazy tail wagging.
He gets spoiled like nobody's business, I figured he's earned it since he's an old man who's been through a lot. (But don't get me wrong, he acts like a puppy!) And you can tell he's MY dog, he eats and drinks just about anything I will, meaning candy, pop, chocolate milk, artichokes, anything a dog shouldn't like...Rocky sees me eating it, and the next thing I know he's sneaking it off my plate, out of my cup, or stealing it from my hands.
Thanks for listening to me rant about my baby, and I'm sure there's more to come! I'll try and write about new things about his breed, which surprisingly have some interesting, but not always true, facts about them around the internet. And I'll usually try and write about funny things Rocky does, which are never in short supply. :)
