It is common knowledge that our canine friends have a shorter lifespan than we do. A dog will typically live from 8 to 16 years depending on the breed of the dog. Small dogs live longer than larger dog breeds. There has even been a study on one breed showing a decrease in that breed’s lifespan.

We have the fortune or the misfortune to have many dogs in our lives. We get to experience them in their early years through old age. Enjoying their love and companionship all the way up to the end. We also feel the loss and sorrow when it comes time for them to continue their journey into the next life.

Rocket The Wonder Dog, he was my wonder dog. Rocket moved on to his next journey. He was my friend and I miss him.

He may not have had any special training, he may not have had any special job to do, and he may not have been all that wonderful. After all, he did have some quirks we just had to live with. He was not a perfect dog. But we loved him and he loved us! He was my Wonder Dog!

He chose me as his person. He always had to be near me. When I was gone he would mope around and look for me at every sound.

We rescued Rocket out of California. When we picked him up he wanted to bite us to make us go away. I was initially worried about how we were going to handle him during the trip home. We were able to get him loaded into his crate without incident. I grabbed him by both sides of his face, looked him in his eyes, and said something along the line of “We are going to be spending the next few days together, we are not going to have any trouble from you biting any of us. You are going to have to get along with us, now!” I then removed his leash and shut the crate door. From that time on Rocket was my dog, even if I did not know it at the time.

Rocket was a Belgium Malinois/German Shepherd mix. He was all Malingator! He liked to bite my beard sometimes getting my nose or ears in the process. He was a little nippy and several of us suffered from his sharp teeth. He did mellow out of the nippy stage as time passed.

He hated flying insects. In one place we lived, we had large horseflies, wood-boring bees (they look like bumble bees), and large dragonflies. He would spend hours if we would have let him, trying to catch them. Occasionally he managed to catch on and the game would be on.

We took all our dogs out to the beach one Memorial Day. We were still a small rescue at the time so we only had around 10 dogs with us. Rocket was afraid of the water! There was a small stream crossing that we had to make on the short hike to the beach. I had to drag him across the stream, it was like he would die if he got wet. He would not go into the water at the beach. On our return hike back he nearly knocked me over trying to not cross the creek, then jumped over the creek. We never addressed his fear of water.

The property had a creek running along one side. Whenever we hiked along the creek he would approach the water but never go in. He would avoid getting into the water. We had some beavers move in and they damned up the creek flooding parts of the creek. We were hiking along the creek when it dawned on me that Rocket was standing belly-deep in the water. He went into the water of his own free will.

We moved onto a Naval Base into Naval Housing. Our backyard was essentially the recreation facility. It was great Rocket and I would go walk the track almost every day. There were bleachers, very large tires, large platforms, and other obstacles all around. I would use it to train Rocket, I was really just trying to build his confidence. I enjoyed seeing his progress, for example, the bleachers. There were these tall bleachers he did not want anything to do with them. I would let him loose from his leash and I would go sit on the top seat. At first, he would reluctantly and awkwardly come up and sit next to me. We worked on going up and down the bleachers. I then would just walk behind the bleachers and set his ball on the top seat. He would eagerly run up and retrieve his ball. He loved his ball. I never was able to get a good drop the ball from him. I would have to use 2 balls to play fetch. The second ball would entice him to drop the ball he had.

Rocket loved chewing on toys. It was his personal mission in life to destroy each and every squeaker in existence. We would buy these “Indestructible” toys for him. He could shred the toy and destroy the squeaker in under 2 minutes. Give 10 minutes and the toy will be completely shredded. The cheap toys had no chance he could de squeak a cheap toy in under 30 seconds. Sometimes the squeaker would die before he shredded the toy.

My wife and I were in our bedroom when our son came in. He was historically crying and talking, at first it was hard to understand what he was saying. Rocket was dead! I did not believe him at first, I wanted to believe he was playing April Fools Joke, even though it was not the 1st anymore. Rocket did not show any signs that he was sick. He did show signs of aging though. It was harder for him to jump into the truck, he had slowed down a little in drive, and his muzzle had turned gray a while back. But this caught us completely off guard. It was so unexpected, so devastating to all of us.

We did not have an autopsy performed, it would not have changed anything. Rocket was to the best of our knowledge about 12 years old. Our vet suggested he may have had a heart attack. It did look like he laid down on his bed and went to sleep only to never wake up.

I miss my friend, Rocket my Wonder Dog!

Mark

PS. We have had many dogs grace our lives on their short stay with us. Each dog has been special in their own way. Some are better than others, some more remarkable than others, and they all left holes in our hearts when they left. Some holes are just larger than others.

We can get new dogs to help fill those holes to replace the dog we lost. But some dogs can never be replaced.