Rocky, on the hunt in heaven

Rocky was diagnosed today as having inoperable cancer of the kidney, lungs and other organs. Given that she already was unable to walk when we brought her in late this morning, the doctor put her chances as having any quality of life as zero, and by two o’clock she was in heaven, hopefully chasing her first airborne rabbit.

Rocky was a dog’s dog. She was occasionally infuriating, always intelligent, regularly playful, habitually charming, rarely disgusting, aggressive once or twice, loving daily, and in general just about the most enthusiastic traveling companion any couple could hope for. These are general attributes, of course, and I do have to share that Rocky could do a few things better than most, to wit:

-  Chase. Rocky could and did chase anything that moved. Not generally with an intent to cause harm, as proven by the fact that she liked to carry caught voles, lizards and occasional shrews around in her mouth, alive, and was perfectly willing to spit them out, traumatized but physically unharmed, once you acknowledged her prowess at catching them in the first place. This occasionally caused her some regret, as in the time she and her accomplice, Spyro, chased and caught the porcupine in Truckee, CA.

- Groom. Rocky was given to grooming herself from tip of her paws to the bottom of her tail each morning if she had the time, and if she was bored she repeated the entire process again in the evening. No question about it; she was the most fastidious dog I’ve ever met.

- Escape. Rocky was a magician when it came to escaping places she didn’t want to be. She could go through invisible fences, open doorknobs and handles with her mouth, leap over pasture fences, hurl herself out still-moving car windows and return the same way. The first day she stayed with us we had ostracized her outside to sleep with the other dogs (who were kenneled). She got lonely, opened the french doors to the patio, walked in and up the stairs and went to sleep next to Irene’s bed. When Irene opened her eyes the next morning they opened on a dog who had come home to stay.

- Speed Eat. We’ve had many dogs who ate fast but none of them ate like Rocky. We have no idea what gave her the idea she needed to finish all her food in underten seconds. Still, she felt she did, and did. We eventually had to teach her tricks…for instance, to sit back from the dog bowl half way through so that she could at least swallow her food before she raced to the finish. She was a winner in most ways but in this way she was pretty much unbeatable.

There are more things, but this gives you an idea. She was…is….my best girl. I miss her and will for a long, long time. I hope she gets that rabbit.