Age Old Rivalry

What do you think Rocco is looking at?




If you guessed a squirrel, actually a squirrel perched near our roof on a drain pipe, then you would be correct.






Yep, the Rocco-Squirrel rivalry is back.

A comment from a friend

This is what a friend emailed me late last week, referring to Rocco.

"I'll be honest that a lot of Rocco's behavior just bothers me, and I roll my eyes...."
and
"What a doofus that dog is..."

It's a shame that he judged Rocco so harshly.
But again, this was quoted by a cat person.

People OWN dogs. They just feed cats.

Rocco's love is unconditional. His loving nature, his spirit, his soulful eyes and his trusting heart fill our lives.
I'll admit that Rocco is having an extended adolescence, but that doesn't make me love him any less. Rocco makes me a better person. He gives me more patience than I ever thought I had.

The eyes of a dog, the expression of a dog, the warmly wagging tail of a dog and the gloriously cold damp nose of a dog were in my opinion all God-given for one purpose only — to make complete fools of us human beings.
~Barbara Woodhouse~

I wish God granted dogs longer lives. They are here with us for such a short time. I cherish all my time with Rocco, even on his bad-dog days. Because Rocco loves me the most when I am having a bad day.
Rocco, for all his faults, is wise to the ways of the heart.
Especially THIS heart.

Happiness is a warm puppy.
~Charles Schultz~

So you may think that Rocco is a "doofus". That's your opinion.
But when you have a long day and you go home to your cat, think of me and my 120-lb compassionate puppy, trying to sit on my lap and licking all the tears away from my face with his sloppy Rocco kisses.
I wouldn't trade that for anything.

Random winter photos

Our snow covered planter resembles a snow cone, doesn't it?



Or at least Rocco thinks so!
Yum!



This is our snow covered grill...


And our snow covered bird bath...


And our snow covered cedar patio bench. Each snow storm is identifiable by the layer indentations like an old tree. That's a lot of snow storms this winter!


(Sigh). I miss summer!

Hot Potato

My husband and I have been trying to eat healthier meals with the start of the new year.
For my husband, that includes baked sweet potato's.



Yes, the potato is labeled "Biggin's" and it's wrapped in cellophane. We don't get a great choice of produce here in Chicago in the dead of winter.

Although it appears my husband found a store run by Al Bundy.

This potato was on the kitchen counter when we left yesterday evening.

When we got home later last night it was on the kitchen floor, along with Rocco's other dog toys.
Notice Rocco's feet in this photo?


Because as I was snapping pictures, Rocco decided to play a game of Hot Potato. He decided the potato was HIS and he grabbed it and ran.
Since we can only see his paws, Rocco can sure move FAST when he's being naughty.


I followed him into the living room where he was so engrossed in the potato that he didn't notice me watching him...





Until now...
Uh Oh!


My husband took the potato and put it back on the counter while scolding Rocco. "This is MY potato Rocco, not YOURS! Did you hear me? MY POTATO!"

I don't know which was funnier, that verbal potato scolding or Rocco's guilty face?

More snow. And more. And more.

We woke up to at least 6" of more snow. Theres at least 12" out there now, and it's still coming down.
Molly loves it, Rocco hates it.
Look at his face. "Hellooooo...its COLD out here. Stop taking pictures and LET ME IN!"





On the flip side, can you guess what Molly is looking at in these pictures?





If you guessed a snow covered Frisbee hidden in the frozen grape vines, you are correct.



Because in Molly's world, why let a little snow interfere a good game of Frisbee?

It's nice to see she's feeling better!

Left, Right, Center

My husband has this dice game. HE LOVES IT.
Which was why he left the dice sitting on the dining room table yesterday.
Precariously close to the edge of the table.
Also known as Rocco Territory.
So this morning, when we noticed that the left dice was there, and center dice was there but the right dice was missing we knew who was the culprit.
After a brief search, we found it on the floor with part of the "R" missing.



Rocco is lucky he doesn't have part of his tooth missing, chewing on a dice.

The funny part of this story is when my husband found the vandalized dice, he actually looked at me incredulously and asked in disbelief "WHO does this?".

Um, Rocco?

Too cold to post

The dogs are actually in hibernation mode, sleeping the cold days away.
Molly on the couch, Rocco on the futon.
So I have no stories to report today. Just trying to get through this cold spell!

Selective Memory

We adopted Rocco in the winter of 2006. He was only 3-months old at the time, and it was his first winter. He was frightened of the snow, but he was only a puppy.

During the next year, the winter of 2007, Rocco was over a year old. He didn't remember snow, and was fearful of it throughout the entire winter.

Flash forward to the winter of 2008/2009.

It is Rocco's third winter.
Yet, everyday he still looks at the snow like "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"



If you can't tell by his expression, he hates getting snow in his face....



...yet he sticks his face in the snow every.single.day.

Rocco will never be a snow dog.
But he sure is cute, isn't he?

Another Rocco Quirk

Rocco hasn't quite figured out how to get through a doorway if the door is slightly closed. He doesn't have a narrow doorway aversion, so its not a cognitive mannerism. He just hasn't discovered that all he has to is nudge the door and it will pop open.
Molly, on the other hand, shoves the door open so it slams against the wall and she bursts out like a magician's assistant.
TA DA!
Rocco peeks through the door opening and stares at me, willing me to let him in or out.
His eyes plead HELP ME!





The funny thing is that Rocco is big enough to actually BLOCK a doorway.
He just can't figure out how to get THROUGH a doorway.
I guess we'll never have a doggie door in this house.

Rocco = Bird Dog

Saturday afternoon Rocco was outside and Molly was waiting to go outside. She was in the kitchen and I was trying to coax her down the stairs. Since her surgery, sometimes she is still leery of the back stairs. I opened the back door to let Rocco in while turning my head to watch Molly.
After she was outside and Rocco was inside, I walked into the kitchen as he dropped something at my feet.
I shrieked.
Well, screamed was more like it.

This was on my kitchen floor.



APPARENTLY Rocco decided that a dead bird was a wonderful present for me.

Between screaming "OH GOD, LET IT BE DEAD" and "BAD, BAD DOG", I realized that I could not pick it up.
I just couldn't.
And Ken was working.
So I had to call next door.
THANKFULLY, Bob was home and came over to dispose of my present.
He said it was still warm.

So Rocco killed the bird.

I am feeling kind of bad about that.
Well, I felt bad AFTER I bleached the kitchen floor and tried to rinse out Rocco's mouth with mouthwash.
There will be no Rocco kisses in this house for QUITE awhile.

Guess where I was this past weekend?

At the hospital.
Getting my foot x-rayed.
For stepping on a hard plastic dog toy and hurting my foot.
I can barely walk on it.





The good news is that wasn't a stress fracture.
The bad news is that it's probably tendinitis.
And I will have to wear one of those funny shoes.
In the winter.
In Chicago.
In freezing weather.
Nice, huh?

Christmas Loot

Rocco and Molly were spoiled this holiday.

They received Christmas stockings from Jeanine.
The one on the right is Rocco's if you missed his possessive profile.


And stockings from Gerry & Darcy...


...all filled with generous gifts.

They received a 14-lb box of treats from Ed & Sue...


Note the scale of this box as compared to a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke.


They also received gifts from Kim...


We let them open those gifts themselves.


They each got their own stuffed hugging bear. This one was Rocco's if you can't guess that...


And of course in true sibling rivalry, they decided to fight over the same toy...




And made a mess.




Thank you everyone for thinking of Rocco & Molly this holiday season. They truly loved everything!