Phoebe (left) and Katie
"doghandle" a tennis ball. The two dogs, a shelter mutt and a
purebred golden retriever, have become best buddies.
[Gazette
Blog Editor's note: I wrote the following story a lifetime ago, back
when I worked for the Roundup. The Consort found it in their archives
and I'm reprinting it here. They had taken my name off it, but that's
OK. I'll just put it back on. And I'm not sure if they'll approve of
me posting it here, but I don't much care. You see, Donna Rokoff had to
bury Katie and Phoebe today, and they were two very special dogs.]
By Jim Keyworth
Gazette Blog Editor
Donna and Mike Rokoff are just about as close as their
two dogs are, and together the foursome are darned near inseparable.
The
Rokoffs went from a traditional one-dog family to a pair because Katie, their
golden retriever, was fast becoming a lazy, pampered pooch.
I
got Katie for my birthday six years ago," Donna said. "She became
such a spoiled brat and a couch potato. She wouldn't move unless we made her
move."
She'd
rather sleep and eat than anything," added Mike.
"If
she wanted to play, she wanted to play with us," Donna recalled.
"Very
demanding," Mike emphasized.
The
Rokoffs, artists who semi-retired to Payson nine years ago, decided Katie
needed a friend, so the trio went to the Payson Humane Society. It would take
three visits to find just the right dog -- a shelty, husky, maybe-some-shepherd
mix they named Phoebe.
"To
tell you the truth, she picked me," Donna said. "We took her out into
that little area to play and I sat down on a stool. She came over and looked at
me and then she put her little head against my knee and closed her eyes as if
she had just made it into heaven."
"Kind
of like what I did when I first met you," Mike said. The Rokoffs, who met
when they both worked for Hallmark, the greeting card company, in Kansas City,
Mo., have been married 29 years.
When
Phoebe joined the Rokoff clan, they became convinced that two-dog families are
exponentially better than one-dog families.
"We
just went to get a dog for Katie, and she's turned out to be one of the
sweetest animals in the whole world," Donna said.
Even
though Katie is very much an alpha female, she and Phoebe are inseparable.
"They've
been together three years now, but they took to each other right from the
start," Donna said.
And
Katie has regained her zest for life.
"Katie
will grab something and then go limp," Donna laughed. "Then Phoebe
will grab the other end and drag her around the floor. Phoebe is all
muscle."
"Katie
will let Phoebe do anything," Mike said. "They make up these games.
All of a sudden they'll have this hide and seek game going."
"Or
they'll be racing around the coffee table together," Donna added.
"They chew on the same bone and eat out of the same dish."
But
the Rokoffs have gained as much from the addition of Phoebe as Katie has.
"When
we go out to eat or something, go to a movie, we can leave them for three or
four hours at a time and they're perfectly fine because they have each
other," Mike said. "And the same goes when we're out of town and we
board them. They put them in the same kennel because they don't like being
separated."
Before
Phoebe came along, Katie had developed a real affinity for television, to the
point where she'd jump up on the bed and bark at the television when the trio
checked into a hotel.
Now,
when the Rokoffs want a truly guilt-free evening on the town, they allow Katie
and Phoebe to indulge.
"The
two of them are really contented if we let them sit on the bed and watch TV --
especially if we turn on ‘Animal Planet,'" Donna explained. "It gives
us such peace of mind when we go out to know that we're not leaving a lonely
dog at home."
But
Katie and Phoebe love to go on the road with the Rokoffs, and the foursome
travel to the Valley together whenever the weather allows.
"I'm
not a shopper, but Donna does, so I stay outside with the dogs," Mike
said. "Those dogs are babe magnets is what they are."
"Women
will speak to a man with dogs," Donna laughed. "I come out of Ross or
somewhere and he's surrounded by women and children and the dogs are on their
backs getting their tummies rubbed."
"They
just love it because they're the center of attention," Mike added.
"They're, like, rolling on their backs going, ‘Next.'"
The
bottom line for the Rokoffs is that Phoebe has been little short of a wondrous
addition to their family, to the point that they want other people to know how
much a second dog can add to a family.
"Dogs
are pack animals and the family is their pack," Donna said. "When we
had just Katie, we were her pack. Now she's got Phoebe, too. It's a more
natural pack for them."
Too
many people don't even think about a second dog because it just isn't part of
our culture anymore.
"It's
the Dick and Jane and Spot and Puff thing," Donna said. "Except for
farmers and ranchers, people have that thing that two children and one dog make
a good family."
The
Rokoffs readily admit that it costs more to have two dogs, but the rewards
easily outweigh the expense. And they firmly believe the humane society is a
great place to get that second dog, or two dogs if you don't have one yet.
"We
had purchased Katie, and we felt there were a lot of dogs that needed help and
rescuing," Mike said.
"We
didn't want another puppy," Donna added. "We wanted to know enough
about the animal, about his personality, to make a choice. You have no idea
what a puppy is going to turn out to be personality-wise.
"Besides,
there is just something about a dog from the shelter," Donna said.
"Phoebe had been at the shelter a long time, and I think she is
everlastingly grateful. I don't think she ever forgets."
"That's
because we remind her every evening," Mike added as Katie and Phoebe laid
side-by-side at his feet. "We tell her the story about how we rescued her
and what a lucky little dog she is, and it works. She falls for it every
time."
Among
the Rokoffs, Katie and Phoebe, it's hard to tell who's the luckiest.
esterday
a Walmart spokesman criticized the petition I've been circulating that
asks Walmart (and McDonalds) to pay their employees at least $15 an
hour.
