Different Perceptions

May 4th, 2021.

Glenside, Pennsylvania - 3:12 PM.

"... do you want to go outside?"

"Outside... outside... outside," repeated rapidly as I sprinted through an open field towards a fresh steak. Suddenly, my surroundings are becoming brighter and brighter. Everything turns white as I regain consciousness and realize that my mom just asked me if I wanted to go OUTSIDE!

I shot up, flung my drool across the room in an attempt to shake myself awake, and performed perfectly executed puppy yoga on my way to the door.

Okay, you caught me, it wasn't perfectly executed... nor was it yoga... in fact, my zoomies were so intense that I drifted across the grey hardwood floors and slammed into the back door, accordion-style.

The following 10 minutes were a bit of a fog - I'm almost positive that I felt a few brain cells fall out after that head vs. door situation. The next thing I know, I'm out in my HUGE backyard playing frisbee with my mom. She gets really excited when I catch it before it hits the ground... it's exhausting, but I do it to make her happy. I love seeing her smile.

I live at this place called an 'apart mint?' I don't really know what that means, all I know is that my home looks a lot bigger on the outside than it is on the inside and I always hear ghosties in the walls which is a tad unnerving.

Sometimes, people who I have never sniffed before try to walk on my lawn. At first, I thought this was weird and did not like it, but my mom never seems worried so I came to the conclusion that they are all just unsniffed friends. When I see the furry unsniffed friends, nothing else in the world exists, except for my desire to walk in circles with a butt in my nose and a nose in my butt, followed by a game that is similar to a combination of track and WWE.

My mom spends a lot of time with me every day to help me learn to be 'calm' and 'control my energy' around other floofs. I hope that you could hear the annoyance and mockery in my voice while saying that. Apparently not every floof wants someone to run full speed at them and insert their nose into their butt? I still think that's bologna.

As I was saying, on May 4th, 2021, I was sprinting after a frisbee - tongue slapping against the side of my face, full stride activated, a cloud of dust trailing behind me.

As I planted my back legs to lunge through the air and make my catch, I caught a whiff of an unsniffed friend. This broke my concentration and caused me to fumble the frisbee and trip while landing.

I then heard my mom say, "Rocco, COME!" but figured I was just hearing things after my fall and decided to shake it off, literally. I thought about going to shove my nose in that butt that I smelt to help me feel better, but I was feeling too embarassed to go near them. So, I took off to get comfort hugs from mom.

Plus, I knew if I played my cards right I'd get sympathy snacks.

Suddenly, my mom started jumping up and down and running around. The next thing I know, my hooman is pulled to the ground by a mud monster! I felt so guilty, I heard my mom call for help and I didn't come. That thought fueled my legs to run faster than they ever did before. I got to my mom in seconds and, without hesitation, jumped directly on top of her in hopes of releasing the mud monsters' grip, rubbing myself on the ground to smash up his remains. She then started rolling in the mud with me telling me that I'm a good boy and that she was proud of me.

I didn't always live with my mom. She rescued me so that I could have a better life than what I was given. Going through so many homes was stressful and sometimes I'd get insecure because I was scared I would just be sent away again if I did something wrong. I never felt like I belonged anywhere... like I had a home where I was needed.

May 4th, 2021 was the day I learned what my purpose was - to protect my hooman from anything that tries to hurt her.

May 4th, 2021 was the day I knew that I was at my furever home.

May 4th, 2021 was the best day of my life.