Thrown away dog featured in our local newspaper

In 2002, I wrote the article below for the Clay County Progress, our weekly newspaper in Hayesville, NC. The beautiful dog in the picture was around six months old and had been abandoned. My husband Barry could not stand it. He had to go and rescue this cast-away. I have looked for the original picture of Rocky, the dog that became our sweet loving family member, but I can only find this article I cut from the newspaper. Rocky's story is one that will be in a book of stories about my dogs and the pets of my friend, Estelle Rice. I'll let you know when it is published.

Americans spend 50 million dollars each year on their dogs. I heard that tonight on the Anderson Cooper show. Makes me ashamed of how little I have spent on Rocky. I could have bought him nice clothes, hats, scarves, capes with sparkles, raincoats, tiaras, but he just doesn't seem to enjoy wearing anything but his "birthday suit."

Rocky patiently waits for a treat or just a tiny piece of whatever I am eating.




Rocky needs no fancy clothes. He is plenty handsome enough naked.

  I never spent a thousand dollars on Rocky's birthday party. In fact, poor fellow, in fourteen years, he has never had a birthday party. Watching these weird women holding their poor little dogs gussied up in costumes like actors in a play, I felt such pity for the pets.

While the women say they are obsessed with their dogs, I think the women are obsessed with themselves. The dogs seem to be props for them to get attention.

The star of the TV show was Molly, Anderson's dog. She totally ignored the dressed up canines. She curled up and went to sleep at the feet of her master, evidently assured she would never be humiliated in this way.

Nothing is cuter than a puppy.

I would not think of baby-sitting an eight month old baby, but I am keeping an eight month old puppy. Smokie is the most adorable little girl. Her eyes are bright, intelligent and they watch me constantly.

Smokie belongs to my sister and brother-in-law who are on a trip this week and sadly, for them, Smokie could not go. She is so tiny compared to Rocky, my old friend, and right now she is cuddled in her tiny bed, while Rocky is sprawled out half on the floor and half in his bed.

The floor is littered with tiny bits of paper. Smokie found a bag while I was out today and she spent the afternoon tearing the labels off some garments I was to return to Wal-Mart. Will they accept my excuse when I take back the underwear with no label? "The dog ate it."

I Write About My Loves

There are times when I just have to write about what is happening at this moment. Tiger, my bob-tailed cat, is sitting on the arm of my chair watching every letter that forms on the screen of this laptop. She is fascinated by a computer. As she sits and watches me write, her purring is soothing.

I wonder what is going on in her mind as she watches my hands move and the cursor jump across the screen. Does she have a mind? I don't know, but she certainly has a curiosity about what is going on around her.

Cats are different from dogs. Rocky pays no attention to what I'm doing unless I get up, turn out the lights and head to the bedroom. Of course he is right on my heels when I go into the kitchen. And he becomes quickly alert when a vehicle enters our boundaries. He knows which ones are acceptable and which ones are suspect.

The gas truck is one Rocky warns me about and, if he had his way, that man would not stop and get out. Rocky can't seem to understand that if that man does not get out of his truck and invade Rocky's yard, the black stove with the gas logs will not make the warmth the dog enjoys lying in his bed and sleeping before the fire.

Tiger cares not a fig about the gas man because he doesn't come inside the house and disturb her. She curls up on my bed during the day and sleeps or sits on her kitty condo and looks out at the hungry birds on the suet feeder. Her round head moves with the birds as they flit from one feeder to another. I've never seen her kill anything, but Barry saw her catch a chipmunk and a lizard. I'm glad I didn't see that. Even though she is quite domesticated Tiger still has some of the wild inside her. I see that as she crouches behind the sofa and readies herself to pounce upon an unsuspecting Rocky as he passes by.

Two rescued animals and they could not be more loved or more loving. Click on my little icon on the sidebar (rescue animals) and help feed a homeless animal.





                                                       

A Dog's Tale

Rocky, our rescued dog, is special to me and to all who know and love him. He travels with me as I go down to see my sisters. He stays with Gay and Stu and feels so comfortable there he isn't sure where he is supposed to live at times.
Now Rocky will appear on the Animal Rescue Site with his true story. Click on the link below to read Rocky's story.

www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/ps/3/g2lc4byv1uth4o9c3zjp4

After thirteen years of writing poems, stories, essays and newspaper articles, I finally decided to begin a scrapbook. Over the years I cut out articles I'd written, articles about me, and saved them all in a file folder. I had another file folder for my acceptances and rejections. On my computer I made a file to hold the compliments or kind words of others about my writing or my work for NCWN West.
The problem with my file folders is I never go and look at them or show them to anyone who might appreciate them. Tonight I made a start by inserting some of the many articles I've written over the years. I had also saved some articles written about me and with my photo.
The scrapbook has a 41/2 inch square in front for my picture. If I were a good scrapbooking person, I'd know how to make the pages look pretty. Maybe I'll take a class in scrapbooking with my friend Wanda who did a beautiful scrapbook, but left it on the coffee table and Spencer the lab chewed it and ruined it. I won't have that trouble. Rocky is not into chewing now that he is ten years old.
My favorite things I want to include in my book are the wonderful words of writers, close friends, and family who have supported my efforts as a writer and as the leader of NCWN West this past year.
Those are things I will cherish always.