Today R is for Rookie's story. I'm going to take a short break from my dog training theme to celebrate our youngest 'furkid'. A year ago this week we officially adopted him but I think we knew from the moment he came through our front door that he wasn't going anywhere :). I mean hello, he's a freaking twin with Monday, how could I resist that!!
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| They are so cute together :). |
A rocky start
Rookie's original name was Rocky :), when
Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus pulled him from the shelter in November 2011 they changed it to Hockey and when I brought him home to
adopt foster I started calling him Rookie. It only took me a year and a half to make him an official family member :). He was turned into
Chicago Animal Care and Control by his owner and thank god he was! Poor Rookie didn't have a great start to life - he had
Demodex Mange and holes in his wrists that reached all the way to the bone. He was only 8 months old and had only known pain and discomfort :(. Our
friend Amy did a great story that gives an overview on his history back in 2012 as part of her disregarded dogs series. He is such a heartbreaker.
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| One of the holes in his wrist. Poor dude :(. |
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| Wasn't he just cute and pathetic?!? :) |
It's taken three years to get him healthy and hopefully we are in the homestretch for this little man. We've had lots of ups and downs but through it all he has been such a trooper. I couldn't ask for a better personality outta him. He gets along with everyone he is introduced to (dog and human) and loves to learn! He just finished his first group class (we had to postpone some learning due to his health) and was a rockstar. I was so proud!
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He has become such a handsome man!
Photo: Amy Turner |
Technically his birthday is sometime in March but since it's so close to his Gotcha Day (and that I have an exact date on) we are rolling them together for celebration :). Since it was Easter weekend I didn't have time to bake him anything but I did take Mr. Rookie to a local park for some one-on-one fun time - he enjoyed the playground. And then we stopped out at
Brekke's to pick up some pig ears and elk jerky, yummy. Rookie is such a nice guy, he wanted to make sure there were some for everyone :).
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| Rookie checking out his score :). |
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Notice the thief in the background LOL.
He didn't want to wait for his birthday treats. |
Happy Gotcha Day and 3rd Birthday Rookie!!
Yeh, Rookie! And yeh for people like you, Erin, who foster and adopt and nurture these poor guys. :)
ReplyDeleteMadeline @ The Shellshank Redemption
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Thanks! It's been quite a journey but he is definitely worth it :).
DeleteOH MY! He's beautiful! I gasped when I saw his "before" photo. What is wrong with people?
ReplyDeleteWe added our third dog a year ago and it has been a huge adjustment for everyone concerned. I'm really proud of my husband for hanging in with this addition. He's retired so is at home all day with our high-maintenance bitches. We've had some pack behavior that has been challenging but we decided to not give up on any of them. It's like Sophie's Choice. Who would you choose to send away? So, we try to make the best of everyday and enjoy them while we can. Your Rookie is just gorgeous!! susan
Sadly, people are immune to suffering sometimes. Or they think of dogs as objects :(.
DeleteAdding dogs is always an adjustment :). We go through it a lot here with all the fostering but since they generally don't stay too long we make it through ok!
He's gorgeous. It's so sad that he had such a tough start to life, but I'm exceedingly happy to know he's found a wonderful family to be a part of :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! He is the 'baby' of the family LOL and gets spoiled accordingly :).
DeleteHappy birthday, Rookie. You're very lucky to have found such great parents!
ReplyDeleteHe had a great birthday celebration (although I'm sure he didn't know it was because it was his birthday LOL). We are definitely the lucky ones to have him in our family :).
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