On this day, a year ago, we said goodbye to our beloved Rocco. He was almost 14 years old and ready to go. He was my first dog, the best dog ever, and left a huge hole in our hearts when he passed.
All Things Chihuahua was founded because of him. I wanted a legacy for him that would reshape the world for the better. One day, I would love for a chihuahua owner to take any question they can think of related to chihuahuas, type it into the search box, and get their answer.
Rocco changed my life in the best possible way, and I still miss him a year later. I wanted to do something for him on our blog, a little testament to the fact that we still think of him even now.
A Quiet Place
In Rocco’s honor, we have opened up a new section of our blog. This is a section for grieving dog parents to place a picture of their pups. When your pup is in the quiet place, others can come and light a candle for your pup.
Due to how inappropriate some people on the web can be, at this time you have to email me your dog’s picture if you want your pup in the Quiet Place. Feel free to check out the other beloved pets there and light candles for them too.
Review of Healing Wisdom for Pet Loss
We also read many dog books on grief, planning to do a series on it, but we ended up with a lot of pet loss books and not a lot of time to read them. Instead, we are featuring the best out of all of them today and will share the rest as time goes on.
The best book on pet loss we read was Healing Wisdom for Pet Loss, by Anne Marie Farage-Smith. Anne operates a grief center for pet owners and is very experienced in helping people through animal loss.
Her beautiful book helps validate your emotions—even if your pet hasn’t actually died or others see your friend as “just a pet.” She has several recommendations throughout the book that really help when dealing with the loss of your pet.
You can read our review here. It is a wonderful book.
Celebrating Life
On this anniversary, I’d like to share a story about Rocco that isn’t on this blog yet.
A few weeks after we brought Rocco home, someone gave me an old squeaky toy, shaped like a purple hippo. Rocco loved that toy. He would grip the hippo with his front legs, and throw the hippo between his back legs. Then he would run after it, pounce on it, and throw it again!
He would throw the toy until it got stuck somewhere he couldn’t reach, where upon he would cry until someone got it down for him.
One time I was reading a book in my bed while Rocco was punting the toy around on the floor. It went quite far and hit me in the head!
I’ll never forget his face as he snuck up his steps and cautiously retrieved it. “Sorry mom—I didn’t know it would go that far!”
Many years later, we had a house fire. My husband was the last one to cook, and wasn’t allowed to cook for a year thereafter. When he was finally allowed to cook on a chilly autumn day, Rocco came in to stare at what we were allowing in disbelief.
He asked to be let out the back door, walked to the edge of the tree line, and sat down, plainly waiting for the house to go up in flames again. “I see you have let dad cook again. Do not worry—I have evacuated myself.”
He was always doubtful of my husband’s cooking skills thereafter.
Rocco was a fantastic dog, and I hope this blog stands in memory of him decades from now.
Similar Posts:
- Healing Wisdom for Pet Loss Review
- Happy Second Anniversary!
- How to Deal with the Loss of Your Heart Dog
- Review of Saving Sadie
- Review of Bespotted
