Our first year with Rocket was a rollercoaster ride, to say the least. We started our journey with a little apprehension and a lot of excitement over welcoming a new pup into our world. We felt good about ourselves for rescuing a pup, looked forward to becoming our “dog’s best friend”, and had enthusiasm in facing the challenges of raising a puppy. Of course, our puppy was half grown, and we had no knowledge of his breed, background, personality traits, demeaner, and certainly not his energy level!
Over time, we managed to settle into a routine and really began to know and understand Rocket. With all the exhausting days of tending to Rocket’s need for attention, we began to see his personality. It was obvious that this pup was highly social. He enjoyed his people, he enjoyed Frank, he enjoyed everything about life! We also saw is loveable side. When he was ready to settle down and rest, he made sure to cuddle against his favorite humans. At night, he wanted to be in bed and loved to crawl under the blankets. It was during these quiet, peaceful times that our bond with Rocket grew to the level that we knew, without question, that he had established himself solidly into our family. Rocket was stuck to us like glue, and we really didn’t mind that at all.
We saw his non-aggressive bullying side. By this, I refer to his constant display of front and center attitude. Rocket uses his rump to push Frank aside; the focus must be on him at all times. We assume this is due to the bulldog gene that he carries within him. It was another of the reasons we had him DNA tested. Understanding these types of behaviors and how to manage them would be essential to keeping a peaceful home. It wasn’t until about three years of age that this behavior would need more attention, more training. I’ll talk more about that in future posts. For now, we were enjoying a fun-loving, active pup, one who loved to play chase. To this day, Rocket jumps at the opportunity to grab a sock, shoe, cloth, or any small item he can reasonably pick up and run with. If you don’t chase him, it takes the fun away and he usually drops what he has and gives up, but what he really loves is when you chase him…around the table, through the house, in the yard. He loves to run fast and get away. When it’s time to quit, he reluctantly allows you to take back what he stole and waits for a pat on the back to show what a good job he did playing that game.
Rocket learned that Santa leaves presents at Christmas, vacations and hiking are fun and that we have a “home away from home” when we go camping. He taught us that he won’t wine, bark, or scratch at the door to go out, but rather jump on our lap and stare at us in the eyes as his signal to go out. We learned that riding in a car was dangerous unless he was strapped in with a seat belt, and that he studied magic from the likes of Houdini evidenced by his surprising ability to escape from every collar and harness we put on him during that first year. We discovered that he loves to run and play with other dogs, that he sometimes is leery of strangers, particularly men, and that he, indeed, earned the name Rocket. We also found that Rocket had a comical side. Sometimes, we would catch him studying a bug or a butterfly, just staring at it trying to figure it out. Other times, he was climbing ladders, walking planks, or getting stuck under the bed. Perhaps our best lesson from Rocket was how to enjoy life. Having a pup that relishes every moment of every day is infectious. Life wasn’t perfect with Rocket yet, but life was good.
After nine months with Rocket, our first year came to a close as we celebrated the end of 2020 and welcomed in the new year. Great memories were made and now we were looking forward to a new year, more vacations, more chasing, more comical moments, and more bonding with Rocket as he continued his training and established his place in our home.