Hi guys! It’s Rocky here! You met my friends Charlie and Oscar, right? Well, if not, then
I recommend checking out Charlie’s story because, boy, has he been through it!
We all have, really. That’s just the case when you’re a dog living out on the streets.
Anyway, the three of us are besties – me, Charlie, and Oscar. Actually, Charlie no longer
lives with us since he got lucky and found his new human. But like I said, we’re pals,
so Oscar and I can only feel happy for our friend. And we hope his new human treats him
better than that Jenny person he told us about.
Speaking of the “Jennies” of the world, I happen to know a few of them all-too well.
When I first met Charlie in that alley, I’d told him about my first owners. They were
a young couple, and they’d bought me from a pet store when I was just a pup. Everything
was good the first year or so – lots of playtime, treats, and toys galore! But then
things got bad real quick. My Sarah and Dan stopped giving me so much attention. They
were always on their phones, and they seemed upset and stressed out most of the time. I
don’t remember much since I was still pretty young, but I’ll never forget the day they
got into that big truck with all those boxes and drove away.
I don’t know how long I sat on that porch and waited for them to come back. Just as
the sun was starting to fall behind the buildings, a little old lady happened to walk by our
house. She noticed me and said, “Hey, little fella, what are you doing sitting there all
alone? Did your owners lock you out?”
I ran up to meet her and get some head scratches. Plus, I was hoping she could open the door
to our house and let me in. I figured I’d wait for Sarah and Dan inside. I was starting
to think that’s exactly what she was gonna do when she approached the house and knocked
on the door. But after peaking into the windows, she looked down at me and said, “Oh, you
poor thing. They left you, didn’t they?”
I looked up at her, confused. That’s when she put her hand under my chin and said, “That’s
ok, you can come live with Ol’ Ilene. How’s that sound?” She glanced down at my nametag.
“Rocky! What a fine name! Come on now, I’ll fix you up something good to eat!” I was
hesitant to leave at first – I didn’t want Sarah and Dan to worry about me once
they got back. But I was hungry too, so I went with the nice lady.
And, boy, am I glad I did! Ol’ Ilene was the sweetest human a dog could ever ask for!
I made myself at home with her, and we did everything together! Every morning I’d wake
her up, and we’d have breakfast in her cozy little kitchen while she listened to the humans
on the TV talk about the sun, wind, and rain. Then, she’d put my leash on me, and we’d
go for a walk around the block. We’d go past my old house each time, and I never did
see Sarah and Dan. Another family moved in not long after mine had left. I’d understood
by then that they were never coming back, but I was perfectly fine with Ol’ Ilene.
On really nice days, she’d take me to the dog park and let me run around without my
leash! Man, I could spend hours there playing with the other dogs from the block, sniffing
trees, and flirting a bit with Daisy. (She smells so nice!) In the evenings, we’d sit
on the couch and watch TV together. Nothing beats being cuddled up with your favorite
human while they rub your back and belly…
Then, one day, when the leaves were orange and the sky was grey, I woke up and started
nuzzling Ol’ Ilene like I did every morning. “Come on, it’s time for breakfast! Time
for the people on the TV to talk about the rain and clouds!” Only, this time, she didn’t
wake up… I waited and waited and then started barking so that she’d open her eyes and
we’d go to the kitchen like we’d done so many times. Our neighbor Chris must’ve
heard me because he walked in not long after that. Ilene had given him a spare key just
in case of emergencies. Well, today was that emergency. The people in the big white truck
took my sweet Ilene away. I knew what had happened – I could just sense it…
Chris came to feed me and take me for a walk the next day. Then Ilene’s daughter Karen
and her husband Sam came over a few days later. They never liked me very much – they’d
always call me hurtful names like “flea bag” and “mutt” so I liked to keep my
distance from them. They kept coming over, and sometimes they’d be with strangers.
They’d all walk around each room in the house.
Then one day when the two came over, Karen was actually nice to me! She said, “Come
on, boy, wanna go to the dog park?” I was still missing Ilene, but I also wanted to
get out of the house and maybe see my friends at the park. Once we got there, Karen let
me off my leash and I went to go sniff around. But after a while, my heart just wasn’t
in it, so I went to find her. Only, she was gone! I’d always known Karen wasn’t fond
of me, but did she really abandon me? Well, fine. With no Ilene to go back to, I headed
out on my own…
It wasn’t long after that when I met Oscar. We hit it off immediately! We’d go looking
for food behind restaurants and in different alleys, and it was in one of our regular spots
that we ran into Charlie. He’d JUST been thrown out, so Oscar and I showed him the
ropes. We became a team, the 3 of us!
Well, just like Charlie told you, we’d scavenge for food, hide away from mean people, and
keep each other warm during the cold nights. Then, when Charlie found Alison, it was just
me and Oscar again. We have some nice human friends that work at cafes, and they put a
bowl out for us. Sometimes there’s even meat inside! And we love young couples sitting
in parks. You just tilt your head, they “Aww” at you, and buy you a snack or share theirs.
Some people are pretty mean, though, or maybe they’re just scared of stray dogs because
they think we’re dangerous or sick. They yell something and don’t let their human
babies touch us. And that’s fine, I understand. Not all humans can be Ilenes and Alisons,
I guess. Most of them you have to run or hide from…
And that’s exactly what me and Oscar did when we heard some humans coming into our
alley about 2 weeks ago. We couldn’t run, so we tried to hide under a cardboard box.
I was so scared when they found us, and I was downright terrified when they loaded us
up into their van. I looked at Oscar through the cage they’d put me in and said, “This
is it, man. We’re done for!”
But it turned out they were really good people! They find guys like us in the streets who’ve
been abandoned by their families. They took us to a shelter, where they gave us food and
taught us really cool tricks! I soon learned that we were training to become therapy dogs.
You see, there are humans who have special needs. Whether they’re recovering from some
tragedy or trauma or they just get sad, lonely, or have nervous feelings, they need a good
dog to help them cope.
Not everyone can be trained to serve humans like that, you gotta have the right personality.
But I think the shelter people noticed Oscar and I had families before and are friendly
and calm, so they picked us. Training isn’t easy, and you have to learn a lot before you
can become a therapy dog. I think our first task will be to help older people because
we had this one visitor a couple days ago. It was a sweet grandma, just like Ol’ Ilene,
and she spent some time with us. She even brought us treats! I know I probably won’t
see her again, but I’m happy that I’ll be able to help people like her.
Sure, humans can be cruel – I know that all-too well. But they can also be sweet and
kind. No matter what happened to me, I still believe that!
Would you adopt a stray dog? Let me know down in the comments! If you learned something
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