Sparky makes me smile

If you read my post from April 5, 2009 ("Jumping for Joy"), you will know that I joined a sim community called Second Life where I am represented by an avatar named Sparky, who has a rottweiler named Tackle. Sparky is one of my favorite dog names because I find that it is impossible to say the name without smiling. It's just an inherently happy name. It makes me smile when I say it in spite of the fact that I'm not a particularly smiley person. That's just the way it is. I'm not bubbly and never will be. There's a line from a Bonnie Raitt song I've always found particularly apt for myself: "It takes a whole lot of medicine, darling, for me to pretend that I'm somebody else."


One thing that does always make me smile, however, is a happy rottweiler. VGSR President Lea Spickler once said to me that she likes rotties because they smile with both ends of their body. That is a spot on description. On one end of the dog there is a big, wide, open-mouthed grin with perky ears and very expressive eyes. At the other end of a happy rottie is a wiggling butt and a short stubby tail, wagging for all it's worth. Rottie tails have more wag per inch than any other breed of dog.

So, after using the names Sparky and Tackle in Second Life, I decided to use the names for future rottweiler fosters. Our new Sparky came from the Fluvanna SPCA last week. I had met him the day that I came home with Jake and Friskie (See, May 12, 2009, "Why I don't go to shelters"). He's young, pretty wild, and has some male aggression issues, but he has a happy face and a happy butt, so he became Sparky. When we get in a rottie with a bulkier build, he will be called Tackle.

He had come to the shelter along with a female rottie that I suspect is his mother. He was extremely attached to her and we needed to break that bond so he could learn to interact with other dogs. He spent the first day in a single kennel, but he was Barky Sparky by himself, so the next day I opened the gate and he moved in with Chance, Samson, and Friskie. He and Chance have had a few skirmishes, but have gotten along for the most part. Chance has mostly protected his position as alpha male of that kennel, but Sparky did put a pretty good cut in his leg yesterday when the stupid male stuff flared up. Sparky was neutered on Monday, something that should have happened a year ago or even sooner. He should settle down over the next few weeks and I think he will prove to be a great dog. He reminds me a lot of Bruce, a similar looking rottie or rottie mix that we had here for quite a while. Bruce had the same sort of attitude problem when he arrived as a poorly socialized, intact male, but he turned into a real sweetheart of a dog.

I'm sure that an adopter will change his name, but I'm hoping that Sparky will be making other people smile for many years to come.