Rogue, Houston, TX

Hello, fellow “monsters”! My name is Rogue Reiss, formerly known to the City of Houston’s animal shelter as intact male canine #A1073518. Although my true story is unclear to my furever mom, all she knows is that I was confiscated from my previous owners for animal cruelty.

I was bag of bones, a mere 25 pounds when I was brought to the shelter, full of parasites, and did not know a single obedience command. And then one day my miracle came and it changed my life.

I’ve been told that every dog has his day, little did I know that my day was soon to come.

I was listed on Petfinder.com as an available adoptable dog. When my future furever mom came to the shelter to see me, she found out that I was not adoptable and the shelter staff encouraged her to go visit the healthy adoptable dogs. But my mom put her foot down and insisted on seeing me. They advised her that I was not available for adoption because I was suffering from a very severe case of kennel cough and malnutrition, and was locked away in the hospital ward, and to come back in a week when I was to be made officially adoptable.

She continued to insist on at least meeting with me, and am I ever grateful. Although I was skinny, weak and unhealthy, she saw the real potential I had and fell in love with my goofy good looks and my happy-go-lucky attitude. I like to think the big beautiful grey spot over my eye might have helped win her over, too.

Ten days later, I had gained 10 pounds, was cough-free, vaccinated, neutered, and little did I anticipate, told to jump into the back seat of my mom’s Lexus to go to my new furever home! Whaaat? World, look at me now! 🙂

Mom named me Rogue because of what I had been through, and because of my general rogue boy sensibility. I didn’t know any commands, didn’t know how to walk on a leash, didn’t know how to sit nor stay, or anything of the like, but my mom made learning easy.

Did I mention that I was a skinny boy who really liked his food? And you mean to tell me that all I have to do is sit and lay down to get lots of treats? This is easy! I’ve got this! I got this even better than my sister Pia!

Needless to say, I learned my basic obedience commands with zero hesitation! I never let an opportunity to earn a treat slip by! My mom is now teaching me more difficult tasks, along with teaching me to resist the urge to grab my treat and go. She makes it ultra hard when I know she has cheese treats, and expects me to perform my command without licking my chops in anticipation. Can you believe she is actually making me really work for and apply myself for my treats?

It’s OK, I’m a really smart boy and I can always compound upon what I know to learn something new! Besides, mom makes learning new things fun, because after I learn a new task, I get lots of praise and positive affection for a job well done.

I don’t understand why people think we are all bad dogs. One of my nicknames is ‘Chop,s’ maybe because of my big kissable lips, or my slight overbite that makes my chops look extra luxurious. Or maybe it’s because I am jokester at heart, always busting people’s chops with my comedic sense of humor. 🙂

One of my favorite funny boy activities is to jump in the bathtub when I don’t think anybody is looking. Whenever anybody has to use the restroom, I always go with them and I jump into the bathtub while I wait for them to finish their potty business. Mom seems to think that the cat taught me how to do this, because sometimes he does the same thing.

I’m also quite adept at finding some human people’s soccer games and then running in to steal their ball, making Mom apologize. I’m not sure if I have jokes, or if I’m just a really silly boy, but I seem to have a knack for making people laugh.

Another fun thing I like to do is lick mom’s face very early in the morning, and let her know that I would like my breakfast served before the sun comes up. I think it’s hilarious — Mom does not. Despite my 5-am kisses and nudges to wake up, she loves me unconditionally. 🙂

It’s been about a few months now that I’ve been in my home, and I have gained quite a bit of weight, the condition of my coat is improving daily, and my muscle tone and mass is also beginning to show. Mom says she wants me healthy, muscular and sleek. I could not be happier, I feel a lot better, and my stamina has increased 10-fold!

We go on a lot of walks and we even go to the dog park often, so I get to interact with a lot of other people and dogs, and I get to really stretch my muscles and run. Even though I like to really get out and run, I am also still a goofy little boy at heart. One of my favorite things to do when I get hot is wallow in a mud pit, and any mud pit is a good mud pit to me!! I am ALL boy, and the muddier the better! But, at the end of the day, I’m such a lucky dog because I get to curl up on the couch with mom, the cats, and my sister pittie Pia, who was a “monster'” several months ago.

Speaking of cats, my mom was thrilled to see how good I am with kitties. When I first came home and met the cat, I must’ve known that he was family as well because I was never mean to the cat, even though I cannot say the cat was not mean to me. We are all pals, but mom says the cat is only thrilled to have a brother dog because it means he has a new victim to taunt. It’s true, the cat is a smarty pants and he victimizes me a lot, but it seems to always be in good fun.

Well, thanks for reading my story. Have you hugged your “monster” today?

~ROGUE

Parent: Mandy