In October of 2009 our world was suddenly improved with the addition of a hand-me-down corgi named Rocco (aka Rocko) ((aka Rockstar)) (((aka Corgiboy))) and on Saturday he quietly took his last curtain call.

My family has a long history of corgidom and I thought I knew what to expect… but this tricolored little dude soon proved me wrong!

Rocco was the exact opposite of all the corgis I had known before– He was very picky about his food instead of inhaling anything that looked even remotely edible. He hid from people instead of smothering them with corgi-kisses. He wasn’t interested in rope tugs or balls, but he adored his frisbee. He loved the safe space of his crate instead of running around like a small bundle of chaos.

And to top it all off he was tiny instead of a giant loaf of bread… although that bit was actually in his favor. (Who knew corgis could actually come in ‘ideal’ bodyshape? 😉 )

Over the years having to live with us (and the pack + cat) slowly warped him into something more sociable. He’d still spend most of his time hiding under things, but he’d do it right next to us.

He’d eat dry food and biscuits and eventually the odd french fry, but mostly he’d just carry new food items around so the other dogs couldn’t get them. (Until he got bored of it and then Shiva would ninja it away.)

He never got the hang of sharing though, so he’d defend his food (and toys) ((and sometimes the bin of food)) from all comers, even if Ginger was four times his size.

He even got to the point where he’d run up to people for pets… even if he ran out of brave pretty quickly and had to retreat under a chair.

People might be scary, but he loved meeting new dogs, no matter how big they were, and loved cats because they were just the right height to sniff! (Taft-cat was much more relaxed about the random corgi-nose than Dex-cat ever was.)

He learned the art of Management Barking, where he’d stand on the deck and oversee Ginger and Shiva as they ran about defending the far side of the yard.

He loved making nests out of anything soft on the floor, so we learned not to keep dirty clothes or blankets where he could get to them. Sadly he could only make it up on the bed with help, otherwise we never would have gotten him off of it! 😉

Unfortunately, he also learned the secret art of Metronome Barking in the early am when he wanted something… but he wasn’t sure what. (The pause between barks was juuuuust enough that you had the faint hope that he didn’t really mean it and was going back to sleep.)

I said it before with Dex and Ginger and I’ll say it again: the next few days and weeks and months are going ache from the hole he left behind in our lives… But he was worth it. Always.