His name is Rocky but his nickname is the Rocket-man. He's a dark red Field Golden Retriever, with dark golden-brown eyes and brooding brows that express his distrust, his depression, and his fear, to anyone lucky enough to get a view of his battle-scarred and beautiful face. Rocky landed at Homeward Bound with two other boys and two girls, rescued by a fluke of nature from their captivity, abuse, and isolation. The girls rehabilitated quickly, due to the litters they'd had and the people they had come into contact with during the sale of their puppies. The boys however have had a much steeper hill to climb.
Their saving grace came when the recluse who held them and bred them at a cabin deep in the Klamath Mountains, died. All made their way to Homeward Bound, where the story of the boys' neglect and abuse was told to the volunteers by their paralyzing fear of humans, and the horrific scars and lacerations covering their faces and bodies. They had been kept all together, three intact males, kenneled far from the public eye and used for the puppies they could make. HB volunteers have only been able to speculate on what other inhumane abuses they were subjected to: the amount of physical damage these boys have is far beyond what would be expected from dominance fighting. Physical wounds heal, but their debilitating fear requires that they be kept in the medical ward at HB, away from the other dogs and each other. It is there in the quiet of the 'hospital' that these beautiful and severely damaged dogs have truly begun their long journey home.
Kelly is the youngest and least damaged, physically and emotionally. Right from the beginning, he was willing to sneak tiny glances at the people who came into the ward, instead of keeping his head buried in the corner, like Rocky and Glen, who would remain frozen for hours with their heads pressed so hard into the corners that their noses bent and their breathing was obstructed. Attempts to leash them brought spastic scrambling in every direction and snapping at the leash. Initially, attempts at interaction had to be done from outside their kennels - any suggestion of opening the kennel doors or entering brought frantic burrowing in the corners and full-body shaking. Nothing brought Rocky and Glen out, but Kelly had a little sparkle of hope in his eyes, and when he did peek out, it was clear that he wanted very badly to not be so afraid and to have a friend in the world. That sparkle, after weeks and weeks of gentle coaxing, gradual exposure, and teaching, is what got Kelly out of his kennel, onto a leash, and ultimately into foster where bloomed like a morning glory into the 'real dog' that he wanted to be. Sweet Kelly has gone to his forever home, but the painstaking work with Rocky and Glen continues.
Glen is the dog both in the middle and at the bottom. He is in the middle of Kelly and Rocky, in terms of his fear level: whereas Rocky as yet will not admit any desire for human relationships, Glen (like Kelly) has that tiny spark suggesting that if it were ever safe for him in this world, he would dearly love to be a loved dog. His submissiveness is nearly as debilitating as his fear, and this is why he is also the dog at the bottom.
Glen 's body is literally covered in scars, and the first thing to be done when he arrived at HB (along with neutering for all three) was to surgically remove huge masses of scar tissue from around his neck, and repair the large untreated and unhealed lacerations he arrived with. Glen clearly survived the greatest portion of the physical damage, and in many ways is the saddest case of them all. He has permanent nerve damage to one side of his face that makes him appear as if he's had a stroke, but the eye on the working side is bright and intelligent, with the dawning light of hope for the future. This is something he's never conceived of until now; a future free of fear and pain is something the HB volunteers will do anything to secure for him.
Rocky was the alpha dog, and being yanked from the only world he ever knew, as horrible as it was, has completely torn the underpinnings from him. His extreme fear, combined with his desperate need to be in charge of something again, have made him one of the toughest cookies to crack that HB has ever seen. Over the course of three months since they were rescued, Rocky has learned to tolerate a person in his kennel with him (as long as his back stays to the person), to be petted (but not yet to enjoy it), to eat out of a volunteer's hand (but otherwise no food motivation), and to make short ventures from his kennel in the medical ward out to the main HB office, where he watches the comings and goings from the safety of a dark corner under the computer desk. Rocky has so far to go before he could even be considered for foster - his incapability of walking on a leash makes him nearly impossible to transport - but the 15 steps he can crawl, on leash, from his kennel to the office is progress. And however tiny the increments of progress are, progress is how the volunteers choose to see it, and gently keep pushing Rocket-man forward. His dark suspicious eyes are so motivating - how glorious it would be to see trust and love in those eyes, to see those taught muscles relax under gentle hands, so see him sit up to face the world rather than pressed flat to the floor in fear.
Rocky and Glen are long term rescue projects who would have both been lost long ago if not for HB, where the potential of every single dog is recognized, and the hope of a regular dog's life and a forever home are always the goal - whatever it takes. These boys will continue to be surrounded by people who love them and champion all their tiny successes, for the rest of their lives - whether they ultimately make it to their forever homes, or live out their lives as cherished sanctuary dogs at the HB ranch. They are another side of the ongoing work of rescue: a side that HB was made for, because although they rescue, heal, rehabilitate, and place hundreds of dogs a year, there are just some dogs that have been so profoundly affected by abuse and neglect that the standard process can't possibly apply. Rocky and Glen's path is long, with tiny victories like breadcrumbs scattered along the way, but with time and faith and unconditional love, their time has finally come.