And one more...dog park fun

I didn't realize until a friend reminded me that I didn't mention how thrilled Rocky is to have his daddy home! He is so, so excited. No more depressed dog around here. I'm also excited, because Greg loves to run around the house with Rocky, which isn't really my thing (I'm the pet once he's exhausted kind of dog parent!). It is interesting though, because having Greg back has really shown the difference in the roles we each play in Rocky's life. I never really believed the whole dog pack theory (that dogs equate humans to different roles that would traditionally be in a pack) until now!

Basically, Greg is the fun one. He comes home, Rocky is excited, runs around with him, knows he is going to have the best play session ever, is crazy, etc. But Rocky also thinks that he can get away with murder with Greg. He'll bark right in Greg's face, he won't sit immediately if Greg asks him too, he only goes to Greg at the dinner table because he knows that's where he'll get food, and just in general is more aggressive with Greg. Greg calls it some "manly connection" that I don't have the capability of getting. On the other hand, while Rocky is always happy to see me, he's never as exuberant as he is around Greg. However, he knows that he can't get an inch with me. So he'll sit, lie down, listen when I say no (even when his jaw is open and heading towards a pillow), and will quietly sit by the sliding glass door while I feed Caroline for his turn to come in (compared to bombarding the door to see his favorite playmate in the whole wide world, Greg).

This weekend, we took him to the dog park, and I was so proud to show Greg how Rocky loves to flawlessly jump in and out of the Tahoe. Well. I am not kidding when I say that that boy remembered the fact that Greg would always lift all 75 pounds of Rocky into the Tahoe before he left, and wouldn't you know it, Rocky wouldn't jump in when Greg was around! It was crazy. That dog is so smart. So Greg lifted him in, and he was happy. But Rocky knew there was no way I could've handled that during a deployment.

It's all very interesting. On one hand, Greg's relationship is great because Rocky is always so fanatically excited about seeing him. On the other hand, I like mine because he minds what I say (and is still excited to see me - labs being mildly excited is the equivalent to being psycho exuberant for any other breed, so I don't feel short changed when I see him). I think we have the best of both worlds, and Rocky is glad he has Greg to balance out his life now.

Here is a pic of Caroline and Rocky from the dog park last weekend. No matter how many dogs are there he loves to circle back to us and say hi every so often!