By now you’ve read Rocko’s Story so you know how we met.
A picture of the side of the road where Rocko was found
When he laid his head against my leg I reached down and patted him, tears in my eyes. He followed me to the car and jumped in when I opened the door. We took him back to the house, fed him and made him comfortable with blankets on the porch.
Rocko was content but a storm was moving in. It took some coaxing to get him to come in the house, he was terrified of everything. There were five people and four other dogs so it’s easy to see how it overwhelmed him. One of the dogs was a visitor and outnumbered by the three permanent residents. Rocko’s protective side surfaced for the first time when she was being chased by the pack – he stepped between them and kept them separated.
As he settled down we discussed his new name. I suggested Red Dog, but as you know we already had Big Kitty and Baby Kitty. After much chiding from the family, we decided on Rocko.
The next day Rocko had his first bath. He was covered with ticks and that is something I don’t ever want to deal with again – yuck. We were feeding him slowly, he was so painfully thin it seemed like you could just put your fingers around his spine but he didn’t seem to have any stomach issues. It worked to his advantage that he did not go hunting in the woods for small game and their associated parasites. Laying on the side of the road by his brother’s body, sad as it was, probably went a long way toward his survival.
Then it was time to make the twelve hour drive home – that’s where we’ll pick up the next installment of In the Beginning. Sign up for our email list or watch our facebook page for the next post.