Just for Fun
Who was Chunky Dogg? A small white mutt with a huge heart, and one of the great companions of Dr. Rick's life.
Dr. Rick was 18 years old, newly arrived in Hollywood, dreaming of becoming a rock and roll star, when a trip to the dog pound changed his life.
A friend chose a huge golden retriever. Rick chose the shy little white puppy at the bottom of a pile, expecting a collie-shepherd mix that would grow into a big impressive dog.
Instead, he got Chunky Dogg: a mutt, plain and simple, who never got very big, but turned out to have the biggest heart in the world.
Hollywood, Age 18
The story begins in Hollywood, when Rick was 18 and thought he was choosing a future big dog.
Memorial
Chunky Dogg lived to be 19, almost 20, and remained one of the most treasured friends Rick ever had.
Back at the apartment, the little puppy wanted nothing to do with his new surroundings. He slinked into the kitchen, crawled under the stove, and stayed there while Rick tried everything from food to toys to patient invitations.
By the next morning, the puppy had made one thing clear: he was shy, but he was not above mischief. Rick woke to find the apartment decorated in toilet paper, with two black eyes and a nose peeking out from the middle of the white mess.
Little by little, trust won out. The puppy never missed a meal, began venturing out from under the stove, then claimed a corner, then a chair, and before long followed Rick everywhere, indoors and outdoors alike.
The dog's feet kept growing, and everyone said that meant he would become a large dog. But only his feet and belly seemed to believe that prophecy. The rest of him stayed compact, soulful, and unmistakably himself.
One afternoon, while Rick was reading a comic book, the puppy looked up from the middle of the floor and the name arrived: Chunky. From that moment on, he was Chunky Dogg.
Chunky Dogg never became the collie-shepherd mix Rick thought he was bringing home. He became something better: a loyal little friend who tried to make peace with cats, showed kindness to smaller creatures, and made life bigger simply by being in it.
In his later years, Chunky spent time with Rick's parents and their huge white German Shepherd, Sheba. They were like Mutt and Jeff. Chunky gave so much happiness that his memory still shines all these years later.