Let me start by telling you a little bit about Rocky. Rocky is our 9 1/2 year old American Bulldog with personality plus. When he was a puppy he had an unbelievable amount of energy and would run, leap, and bound wherever he would go…let’s be honest, he’s still like that, he just needs more frequent naps. When someone first crosses paths with Rocky they respond in one of two ways: 1. run in the other direction because of his alligator like jaws, or 2. immediately fall in love with him. Everyone who meets him thinks he will start talking at any moment…seriously I’m waiting for him to say something right now.
I have so many memories of this dog that when I think of them I literally laugh out loud. He has run into walls sending everything hanging crashing to the floor. He has swum out into the lake desperately trying to bring a buoy in as a prize. He has jumped off a second story balcony to play with a neighborhood kid. He does it all with gusto and cracks everyone around him up as well.
He also has a sensitive side and is unbelievably loving and intuitive. He has hugged me when I was crying, literally come up next to me and put his front legs around either side of me. And he loves to touch! If Mark and I are both there he positions himself so he is touching both of us simultaneously.
Rocky just does a lot of things that brightens our lives. He makes us laugh, he is always happy to see us, he provides comfort, coziness and love. He gives the kind of love that I strive to give and cherish to receive.
On Tuesday our rambunctious guy had TPLO surgery to address a torn ACL (doggie version) and knee damage. The idea of him having surgery and 8 WEEKS of recovery really freaked me out, but it was the best thing for him…so we did it and surgery went really well.
I was not at all prepared for the post surgery experience. That first night he was so disoriented and he just seemed so sad! He would not eat or take his pain meds and he just cried and cried. When he had the cone on he would get what the vet explained as cone paralysis and he just froze because his peripheral vision was gone with the cone. He is doing better now but still he seems to be in a lot of pain.
I feel very grateful that I am able to give Rocky my best version of the love he has given to me over the years. I have loved him up as much as possible. In day to day life Rocky is part of a list of priorities, with the surgery he IS the priority and everything else just has to wait. I am fortunate enough to have some flexibility in my schedule and mother nature helped out with a pretty intense snow storm on Wednesday. Mark has also been amazing and I value that this experience is such a great reminder of what an amazing team we make.
I have learned a lot from this experience and Rocky has definitely taught me some love lessons for which I am very grateful.
Love Lessons from Rocky:
- Always be happy to see your humans (and all your other loves too)
- Laugh, play, and love as much as possible
- Do all things with gusto
- Let others care for you
- Be strong…but also strong enough to be vulnerable
- Trust those in your life to take care of you
- Clearly establish boundaries
- Work together…together is better
- Express gratitude
- Show unconditional love