Rocky

Chin Ambassador Rocky
by Carole Allan
Rocky has his own webpage at http://frogdog.freehomepage.com/

The week of his second birthday Rocky found himself in a Shelter in Arkansas. From the way he acted seriously doubt that Rocky had ever been in this sort of situation, or maybe he had with disastrous consequences because I have never seen a dog so terrified.

I had gone to the shelter on a tip from another rescue person that there was an afghan hound there. My husband and I ran a sighthound rescue for years and are still occasionally called on by some of the breed rescue groups. I didn’t find an afghan, but while asking at the desk did see this tiny black and white dog behind the desk.

He was huddled in the very back of a crate surrounded by toys and treats. I asked the worker about him and she shook her head. "It’s a Japanese Chin, his owner just brought him in along with all of those toys, his crate, brushes, food and treats. She just doesn’t have time for him any more. It’s his birthday and I guess he’ll be spending it with us."

I was used to owners not really caring but this little guy was so scared I couldn’t help but wonder how someone could have done this to him. He must have been so confused to be brought and left with all his things in a strange place.

I did an Internet search the next day for a Japanese Chin rescue and came up with a link to the JCCARE site. From there an email put me in contact with one of the best rescues we had ever had the privilege of working with. Response was immediate and unstinting. Rocky could go into rescue, he would be taken care of physically and mentally until his forever home was found. I agreed to go back and pick him up until someone from rescue could come for him.

When I returned to the shelter Rocky was still behind the desk, still huddled in his carrier but now there was a big sticker on his crate with a "Warning – Biter" message written across it. One has to wonder how he would ever have found a home with this label attached?

Home he came, and no bites. He fit right into our house full of tall skinny hounds, cats and birds. It didn’t take too long for me to start inquiring into adoption and there was no happier lady than me when Rocky officially became a member of our home. We are learning agility, and go to the park to ‘fetch Frisbee’ at least once a week. Rocky is working hard at being a Japanese Chin ambassador in our area. His breed is somewhat unusual here and even more so that he takes part in agility shows and can be seen running with the ‘big dogs’ after Frisbees in the dog park. We never fail to take time to answer questions and let people pet Rocky always stressing that without JCCARE he wouldn’t be with us at all. We also take the time to point out that since Rocky has an ‘unfashionably long nose’ he was probably a pet store or a puppy mill puppy. We talk about the kind of life his parents probably lead and how sad it is that they could be doing all the things that Rocky enjoys instead of breeding one litter after another. Person by person Rocky is helping get the message across that there are wonderful dogs in rescue and that there are wonderful dogs in tiny cages being used only for monetary gain. One day at a time, one soul at a time, he’s reaChing out to educate. What a truly special little ambassador Rocky is! He no longer has a "dangerous biter" tag on his crate, but his tag does read "dangerous charmer."