I got him when Allan and I were in Minneapolis, Minnesota in December 2003. On a starving-student budget, we figured it would be a great, quirky place to visit on our honeymoon. You might be thinking: "Minnesota? In the dead of winter!?" but our lapse of judgment in making that decision is another story entirely :-P Anyway, we were in the Camp Snoopy store at the Mall of America when I came across the stuffed dog with the collar and leash. Yup, the stuffed Rottweiler, a product of Fiesta Toy's line of "Good Dogs" looked woefully trapped in the red leash:
You see, for a long time I'd been on the lookout for the perfect stuffed dog. Most fall into one of 2 categories: 1) They look realistic but aren't cute. Or 2) They are cute but don't resemble real dogs. I had a hard time finding that perfect blend of realism and cuteness. Until I chanced upon the Rottweiler in the Camp Snoopy store. He was the only one left, and I hurriedly snapped him up. First thing I did when I got him home? Cut off that suffocating collar and leash!
Anyway, Rocky looked real enough that he's fooled people into thinking that he's a real dog. When I first got him, I'd do a double-take whenever I walked into the room where I left him, thinking there was a puppy sitting on the bed. My mom had the same reaction when she saw him. The nurse who came to check on me after Todd was born, was startled at the sight of what she thought was a real dog-- inside the hospital! And just recently, while I was carrying Rocky under my arm while entering the building for work in the morning, a co-worker spied him and asked if it was my dog. Thinking she knew it was just a plush dog, I replied, "yes". She then took a closer look and realized, "Oh, it's a toy!"
Rocky has been everywhere. As mentioned above, I took him to the delivery room with me when Todd was born. He helped me get through the childbirth process by giving me something to focus my attention on. He has accompanied me to Germany, the UK, and Canada. Starting off in Minnesota, he's since traveled to California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada. He's probably seen more airports and airplane cabins than Allan. He has spent days lazily lounging on the bed, and days watching over the other creatures in my office (remember the day he played police dog after Wallace fell over?)
One of my favorite Rocky stories takes place at a rest stop in the UK, where we parked next to a car with a couple of dogs resting in the back seat. The window was cracked open slightly and just for fun, I made Rocky bark at them. The dogs went absolutely ballistic, lunging for the crack in the window and sounding like they wanted to tear Rocky to shreds! Here's a shot of their reaction:
I've become so attached to the little stuffed critter that not only does he get carted around everywhere I go, but I've taken numerous pictures of him (most of which make it into my blog), written this entire dedication to him, and even given him a profile on Facebook (via the Dogbook app):
http://apps.facebook.com/dogbook/pet.php?id=374770
Arf, arf! :-D
(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/315682425)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment. If you would like to reply to an existing comment thread, click the "Reply" link under the comment you wish to reply to, and follow the copy-and-paste instructions that appear.