The ATL struggle is real for Rocky.

Besides his unexplainable fear of speed bumps – which he has yet to conquer – you can actually see the disappointment and confusion on SquishFace’s face as passerby after passerby ignores him on his evening walk.

Atlanta is a very active city – I chalk it up to the warm weather – but it’s not particularly friendly. Very few of the walkers, runners or bikers make eye contact – and even fewer are interested in Rocky.

This baffles my little attention whore.

As each moves in to his leash range it’s the same cycle: a swagger-like  trot in their direction, an attempt to lock eye contact, and a little butt wiggle as if to say “yes, I’m a friendly dog, you can pet me.”

I will say, it’s pretty funny the way he looks at me after he’s been brushed off…searching for confirmation that he has indeed been ignored…again.

We took him to the dog park this weekend to try and fill his newly found human fawning void. Sadly for Rock, turns out most dogs don’t like our stocky meatball slipping underneath their undercarriages either.

The dog park sits at the base of a very long staircase that Rocky practically pulled us down…cheered on by  city noises replaced by happy dog noises.  After, we made it about halfway pulling him up before he decided he’d had enough.

There is no motivating a 60 pound bulldog who has firmly decided he’s not moving.

He’ll adjust to high-rise life…eventually.