FINDING ROCCO
Rocco's Life at a Rescue
2009-2010
My second Service Dog Project was Rocco, a Yellow Lab. Rocco was a stray found running close to an animal rescue near my home town. The rescue was Noah's Ark Bayou Sanctuary, and I happened to be on their board of directors.
NABS had taken him in, even though they were basically filled to capacity. He had been given the routine veterinary treatments including all his shots, heartworm test, heartworm preventative, flea pills, microchipped, and altered. When he recovered from surgery his picture was taken and he was listed in Petfinder with all the other dogs the rescue had saved. For a year he was passed over by potential adopters time and again. It was as if he was invisible, just another face in the endless sea of adoptable, available dogs.
Rocco had become almost a fixture at The Sanctuary. He wasn't really a bad dog, but he was starting to pick up a bad habit. He was showing signs of dog aggression. Maybe that was why he was alone in the kennel which just happened to be along the walkway I used the day I first noticed him.
I went to do some computer work at NABS, or as we call it 'The Sanctuary'. I had to walk past his kennel as I went to and fro. As I hurried past the young Lab's pen he barked at me like the other dogs. I sternly told him to hush. The second trip by his pen, when I told him to hush, he hushed!
NABS had taken him in, even though they were basically filled to capacity. He had been given the routine veterinary treatments including all his shots, heartworm test, heartworm preventative, flea pills, microchipped, and altered. When he recovered from surgery his picture was taken and he was listed in Petfinder with all the other dogs the rescue had saved. For a year he was passed over by potential adopters time and again. It was as if he was invisible, just another face in the endless sea of adoptable, available dogs.
Rocco had become almost a fixture at The Sanctuary. He wasn't really a bad dog, but he was starting to pick up a bad habit. He was showing signs of dog aggression. Maybe that was why he was alone in the kennel which just happened to be along the walkway I used the day I first noticed him.
I went to do some computer work at NABS, or as we call it 'The Sanctuary'. I had to walk past his kennel as I went to and fro. As I hurried past the young Lab's pen he barked at me like the other dogs. I sternly told him to hush. The second trip by his pen, when I told him to hush, he hushed!
These were Rocco's actual Petfinder adoption photos. He was passed over for a year by potential adopters. "Look at him now!"
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Rocco's quick response when I asked him to hush turned my head. I had been thinking about training a Service Dog. I'd actually begun actively searching for a dog to train. Could it be possible there was a good candidate right under my nose at the very place I volunteered? How could I have missed him? I thought I had looked at, and asked about, all the dogs there.
When I got inside, I immediately spoke to my lifelong friend, the founder of NABS, about the young Lab. She told me his name and said he had been there about a year. Really? He had been at The Sanctuary almost a year and he was still willing to yield authority to a stranger? That was impressive, I thought. For the first time, I really looked at the almost white Lab. His whole body was talking to me saying he would bend over backwards to please. His eyes were begging for a chance to get to work.
"Okay," I thought. "We'll just see if you are honest!"
When I got inside, I immediately spoke to my lifelong friend, the founder of NABS, about the young Lab. She told me his name and said he had been there about a year. Really? He had been at The Sanctuary almost a year and he was still willing to yield authority to a stranger? That was impressive, I thought. For the first time, I really looked at the almost white Lab. His whole body was talking to me saying he would bend over backwards to please. His eyes were begging for a chance to get to work.
"Okay," I thought. "We'll just see if you are honest!"
The rest of the day, every time I walked past him, we had a little test. He passed each one. I began to mentally check things off my list of requirements for a Service Dog. My friend said her husband had commented a couple of times that he thought Rocco was especially smart.
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Those things plus many others interested me in taking him home for a couple of weeks to see if he had what it took to become a Service Dog. I had to discuss my intentions with the founder of the rescue.
At first she wasn't very receptive because, as she put it, "I don't want him to have to work all the time the rest of his life." I laughed as I pictured him dragging around a ball and chain, then began to explain what kind of role a Service Dog has, and how precious they are to the person who is fortunate enough to get one.
When we were finished talking, I told her I felt at the very least Rocco would get to take a break out of the pen he had been living in. She wasn't happy with that answer. Her reasoning was, once he had been in a home, he would be miserable if he had to come back to the rescue. I told her if he had to come back to The Sanctuary he would return obedience trained which would make him more likely to be adopted both quickly and permanently. Now I had HER attention. She listened as I continued because her main focus was for him to find his own special forever home.
I told her if all went well Rocco would never return there. He would be elevated in status above all other dogs as a Service Dog. He would have constant companionship because his human would be with him 24/7. Someone in our community would be able to live a safer, happier, more independent life because of Rocco. She agreed to let me take Rocco and give him an opportunity to try out for the role of Service Dog. Then it was time to see if he had the stuff great dogs are made of!
At first she wasn't very receptive because, as she put it, "I don't want him to have to work all the time the rest of his life." I laughed as I pictured him dragging around a ball and chain, then began to explain what kind of role a Service Dog has, and how precious they are to the person who is fortunate enough to get one.
When we were finished talking, I told her I felt at the very least Rocco would get to take a break out of the pen he had been living in. She wasn't happy with that answer. Her reasoning was, once he had been in a home, he would be miserable if he had to come back to the rescue. I told her if he had to come back to The Sanctuary he would return obedience trained which would make him more likely to be adopted both quickly and permanently. Now I had HER attention. She listened as I continued because her main focus was for him to find his own special forever home.
I told her if all went well Rocco would never return there. He would be elevated in status above all other dogs as a Service Dog. He would have constant companionship because his human would be with him 24/7. Someone in our community would be able to live a safer, happier, more independent life because of Rocco. She agreed to let me take Rocco and give him an opportunity to try out for the role of Service Dog. Then it was time to see if he had the stuff great dogs are made of!
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