Rocky

It just kills me that people give up on dogs like Rocky. All Rocky needed was a clear set of rules, and the boy just blossomed. Even though we only had Rocky for about a month, he and I bonded deeply. It was hard to let him go.

Rocky was adopted by a family at my son’s school. I saw him at the park, after he’d been living in his new home for about a month. He was Happy! and Jumpy! and Happy! They really loved him.

And then I didn’t see Rocky for a long time. Like most animal communicators, I have strict ethics about talking with pets without their parents’  permission. I didn’t want to bother this family, just because I felt attached to their dog. So, I let Rocky go with hopes and prayers that he’d do great.

Then, yesterday, I saw Rocky at my son’s school! He looked great. We were so excited to see him. Rocky recognized me, and then he shrunk a little. He sat down and looked at me and his eyes got big and sad.

“I don’t want to go with you,” he said. He showed me his new family and how they love him and how happy he is now.

“Oh sweetie,” I said. “I’m not here to take you anywhere. This is your family. I am just so very happy for you.”

His mom gushed about how great Rocky is, how he hugs her every night when she comes home from work. After I told him two more times that I really wasn’t there to take him away from his family, he gave me a very sweet little lick on my hand and then he started jumping up and down all excited.

This morning, I checked in with him. He was feeling a little troubled. I reminded him of the past before he came to his new home. He said that he had been very happy in my home, but that my home was part of the past before his new family.

He carried a lot of shame around, still, from when he had been called a bad dog and hit by his previous owners.

Now he worried that he would go back to how things were before. I assured him that his family (who he has now lived with for nearly half his life) dearly loved him, and would never re-home him.

“Even in this bad economy?” he asked.

I swear, if I hear one more dog tell me how they are worried about this economy, I am going to pull my hair out.

“Even in this bad economy.” I said. “You are loved, and you are a good dog.”

Rocky felt a little better. I didn’t want to dredge up old painful memories for Rocky. I wished him well and let him go.