At first meeting, Remington fetched a small, red rubber ball, dropped it at our daughter's feet, took one step back and sat very tall, looking at her expectantly.
His ears flapped slightly as he cocked his head, gazing from the ball to deep within her eyes. A quick smile crossed her face as she simultaneously shot us a glance to be sure it was OK, then snatched the ball from the ground and tossed it. His muscular frame sprung into action.
The toy was quickly caught and returned to our daughter.
The mutual admiration between girl and puppy was the magical ingredient we'd been looking for, almost since his birth. This handsome shepherd mix, with the broad chest of a boxer, slender face of an English setter and curly tail of a Chow Chow had just arrived in Wisconsin for adoption. At 4 months old, he was healthy, energetic and enthusiastic but also well-behaved, smart and friendly. Above all, he was ... soon to be ours!
A study in contrasts, his coat was a match for his breeding and personality. Shades of ice-cream and marshmallow white, drizzled with melting hot fudge and golden nut brown, inspired a quick renaming by our daughter to "Rocky," nicknamed for a rocky road sundae.
Now 1 year old and no longer a puppy, Rocky has graduated his training class, is gentle with our three cats and alerts us to strangers. He warms our feet at night if we watch television. He is a playmate and guardian. He knows our schedule, sits at the door to the garage in anticipation of car rides and rings a bell at the back door when nature calls.
Possibly most endearing of all, he waits faithfully staring at the driveway for the better part of half an hour for Daddy to return home from work each evening. Far from the old notion of bringing Daddy his newspaper and slippers, Rocky brings Daddy the exercise of a brisk walk. When we adopted Rocky, we got so much more than another pet: We received a playmate, guardian, footwarmer and all the healthy endorphins that come from taking walks with him.
The perfect ending to a busy day.
- Cheri Mastel
Brookfield
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