Rusty

Today's whipped cream on top reminded me of my first dog (as an adult). His name was Rusty. He was a mix with German Sheperd as the domanant breed. He had been a stray in the streets of Indianapolis. I adopted him from the Humane Shelter. I originally wanted a puppy. But I decided to check out the adult dogs first as a courtesy. Just before I was going to head over to the puppies, my friend and I noticed this quiet and curious fellow who's pen was spotless. All of the other dogs were abnoxious and messy. But this fellow was sitting there all clean and proper. It was a wonder he wasn't already adopted. I asked if I could take him out to the yard to interact with him. I immediately fell in love.

Here's how sweet this guy was. When I got him home, he was exporing his new home. We also had a cat at the time. Garth was his name. Garth wasn't sure about Rusty. But Rusty was patient and didn't bother Garth too much. It was if he knew he was being invited into a new home that he didn't build. He wanted to find his place in his new family. That night, I was cooking myself dinner when Rusty suddenly appeared with a frightened look on his face. He glanced into the living room and then back at me. After doing that a few times, I realized he was telling me I needed to check something out. This was near Christmas time and what had happened is Rusty's curiousity led him to knock down our Christmas tree. He looked so panicked, the poor thing. I set the tree back up and reassured him he was not in trouble.

He was supposed to be a surprise for my wife. I presented him to her for the first time at a family gathering. He was tied up outside and she asked, "Who's dog is that?" To which I replied, "He's yours!" She then said, " No he's not!" LOL She didn't like the idea at first. But she quickly grew to love him. I believe it was her mom that gave him the name Rusty. It was because of his rust colored coat. My wife and Rusty became friends. But in the end, Rusty bonded with me more and basically became my dog. What started as a Christmas gift for her became one for the whole family. Even Garth became Rusty's little buddy.

The next year, we took Rusty to a lake with us. He didn't know what to make of the water. He was so scared of it. And he seemed so worried about us as we swam in the lake. But eventually he jumped in to join us. Perhaps he thought he needed to save us or something. After that, he loved to swim. It actually became difficult to get him out of the water. He didn't much like the bath I gave him afterward. But that never stopped him from enjoying the lake each time we went. He loved it when we'd throw his ball out into the water. Or even when we'd throw a stick out there. He'd jump right in and fetch it.

When Malachi was born, Rusty became very protective of his new little buddy. When other kids here playing and getting too close with their rowdiness, Rusty would deeply growl. He never once got aggressive. It was all just a warning of potential danger. He just didn't want any harm to come to his precious Malachi.

At that time, we were living with some friends during a transitional period. When we finally got into our own place, we couldn't take Rusty with us right away. So he stayed with the other family for a bit. When they came to visit us, they'd bring Rusty. But they moved before we were able to bring Rusty to our new home for good. Shortly after they moved, Rusty ran away. We figure he ran away to try to find us. He was that kind of dog. Sadly, I never saw him again.

I miss Rusty. But I'm grateful for the time I had him in my life. I hope he found a new family that loved him before he crossed over the rainbow bridge. My heart is happy that today's whipped cream on top reminded me of him. It was the swimming dogs and his love of that lake that triggered the fond memories ❤️