Meet Rocky

This post is going to be unlike any I’ve ever written. I’m very passionate about spreading the love of Christ to everyone, whether through personal interactions or with my writing. That’s usually the main focus of all my blog posts. Today, I want to do something completely different.

I want you to meet Rocky.

Three weeks ago, my wife and I walked into the Rabun Paws 4 Life no-kill animal shelter in search of a new family dog. (You can donate to this shelter HERE) It always breaks my heart to walk into these shelters and not leave with every single animal in tow. I’ve never been a huge animal lover, but I don’t like to see anyone suffering or without hope. Human or animal.

They led us into the room with smaller dogs, and instantly, they all started competing for our attention. All except for one sad looking Beagle. In the middle of all the chaos, he just sat there. We then noticed he was coughing every few seconds, and we asked the staff member why.

They told us Rocky, and seven or eight other small dogs, had been rescued from a kill shelter. They had all contracted kennel cough, but poor little Rocky had it the worst. He was on the list to be put down, but thanks to the staff at Paws 4 Life, they took him into their shelter.

Because of his “cute little face”, my wife was immediately drawn to him. After a brief discussion, we knew he was the one we were to leave with.

The first two weeks were rough. There were times it appeared Rocky was dying, and we felt helpless. After a few days, we could tell the cough wasn’t getting any better, and we took him to our local vet wondering if maybe the kennel cough had turned into pneumonia. Thankfully, it hadn’t, but Rocky just needed some stronger antibiotics. Finally, after a couple days of the stronger meds, Rocky wanted to eat something.

To put it quite simply, we pretty much freaked out. It was such an overwhelming sense of relief to see him turn the corner, and start the road to recovery. Three weeks later, he is like any other normal puppy. Running, playing, eating just fine, and chewing on everything in sight.

I’m starting to understand why so many people are adamant about the quality of life for animals. I used to write blog posts entitled Everyone Has a Story. Well, every dog has a story too. If you’re looking for a pet, please visit your local animal shelter and adopt. If you don’t want to adopt, then please consider donating money. It takes a lot for these places to operate, and most are just non-profit with no big time funding. They rely on donations to care for the animals they take in.

You can always help save a life, even if it isn’t a human one.

Here is a small picture gallery of Rocky.