Rooney

A life well lived.

I have often referred to Kona as my heart dog, but Rooney is my soul dog. He came into my life at a time in early 2013 when I did not want another dog. The loss of Kona 4 months prior was still raw. But I had 11-month-old Dolce and 11-year-old Jolie who were ready to duke it out for control of the house. I decided the fix would be to get a dog to fill the hole Kona left. And in the end, that dog imprinted himself onto my soul.

I contacted Charlene with New Spirit 4 Aussie Rescue and let her know what I was looking for. Truth is, I pretty much just asked for another Kona (minus the epilepsy). When “Rippy” was found wandering north of Cincinnati and was picked up by animal control, New Spirit pulled him from the shelter after the holidays, where he had spent over a month.

I can understand why he did not get adopted at the shelter – he was a bundle of crazy energy, with zero training. But Charlene sent me a picture, and I decided he sounded great. Patti and I went down to Cincinnati to meet him. He played with Dolce and ignored Jolie, which was exactly the right thing. So, he came home with me.

He was so happy, eager to learn, and really just sunshine in red fur. I struggled to bond with him because I had not been ready for him. But I started channeling the energy, giving him routine, structure, and outlets for it. We started taking classes. We tried agility with BRAG. He actually has one CPE Snooker Q. It was fun, but we started trying more things with Anything Goes for Dogs – rally, tricks, fitness, nose work, barn hunt. He earned his CGC and CGCA there as well.

Then Kym said she was going to try learning treibball – would I be interested in a class? We went for it. And discovered something that brought us together. That big red ball made me love and appreciate the dog who had been in front of me for some time. I smiled to see the joy on his face and the way his nub tail would stand straight up and move back and forth in time with his steps to move the ball. We still played all the other sports, but treibball was our favorite thing.

Dolce’s resource guarding became serious, so she went to live with my mom and stepdad. Rooney’s happy personality blossomed when Dolce left – she had lots of rules, and he had been adjusting constantly to avoid conflict. Puppy Chino joined our house as a bundle of energy, not so different from young Rooney. Rooney was an amazing big brother. Videos of them playing together will always make me smile. Rooney would play but wanted his own area when he was relaxing. Slowly, Chino bridged that gap, and I have many pictures of my pair of sleeping boys together in the same space.

He took over Dolce’s spot doing therapy stuff – he loved kids and heard many stories at the library and schools. We had many adventures. So much fun, I cannot even begin to cover it all here. Rooney was my go anywhere, do anything dog. My easy dog.

A bout of pancreatitis last year took its toll on him. He went almost completely blind and deaf in the last year as well. He struggled a lot with mobility in the last few months. For a dog once so wild and crazy, it was hard to see the inevitable physical decline from aging. But he was a tough, stubborn guy who would have gone on forever if we would have let him. Part of me wanted to do that, but we all know that cannot be. It is time to let this special guy rest and wait for us on the bridge. Plus, he will finally get to meet Kona, the reason he ended up with me.

I know Rooney was loved by many, and I wanted to thank a few people for helping me take the best care of him. Kym and all the other trainers we have worked with over time, our longtime vet Green Meadows, Traci at Veterinary Rehabilitation Medicine of Ohio for helping find ways to reduce his pain the last year, Jenn at House Call Grooming by Jenn for always making him look great, and Maria at Annisage for all the care over the years.

In March, I suddenly felt compelled to do an end-of-life photo shoot with him. If this is ever something you want, check out the Tilly project website to find a photographer. I chose the amazing Caroline Rose Photography. Enjoy some of the wonderful shots she got of him.

This week, we embarked on a bucket list, made possible with some help from Traci. He did his last nose work class, enjoyed a bonfire at home, sniffed the land at Adventure Unleashed Branch Campus, enjoyed ice cream for Chino’s birthday, Timbits, a pup cup, the wind in his hair on a car ride, checked out the boat club, and finally got to enjoy the food he could not because of the pancreatitis – pizza, steak, cheese, bacon, a Take Five candy bar, and a McDonald’s sausage, egg, and cheese McMuffin.

I will miss this boy more than I can put into words. Thirteen years was not enough. But the price of loving a dog is doing the best thing for them, even when it is hard. Rest easy, sweet boy. Till we meet again.