I’ve had Rocky since he was a pup and it has just been Rocky and me forever. We’ve had many adventures together, some good, some not so good and quite painful. There was a time when Rocky got lost and I spent many sleepless nights and days searching for him, and, thankfully, got him back. There were three times he went missing, one time he was dognapped but managed to escape, another time he went missing for two nights and three days, and another time in the bush. Thankfully on all these occasions I got Rocky back…

Rocky has saved my life on a few occasions, especially from snakes, which he is quite capable of tackling – cobras being his specialty. One cobra I was about to tread upon brought forth raucous barking from Rocky, who sprang between me and the snake, who was basking on some rocks with some dry grass concealing him…

The one thing Rocky has never been good at is swimming, he tends to sink like a rock. I’ve had to dive in to get him on a couple of occasions. He is, however, very good at saving lives. On the farm where we lived there were screams from a farmhouse nearby. I was fast asleep and didn’t hear them. Rocky grabbed me by my sweatshirt sleeve and pulled me out of bed, leading me to the door. Only when I opened it did I hear the faint screams of a woman. I told Rocky, “Go fetch!” Which he did. . . In the farmhouse two would-be rapists, thieves and murderers, had broken a window and were attempting to force themselves upon an unfortunate lady, who lived alone, at 2.30 in the early morning hours. Little had they bargained that a brindle ball of sharp fanged fury would bring their terrorizing to an end as Rocky dived through the broken window and charged at them. . . They flew back out that same broken window like bats out of hell and sprinted like professional athletes up the dirt road away from the farmhouse with Rocky at their heels…  When I arrived at the scene the lady was running around in circles, naked, screaming hysterically. Rocky trotted back and started to yap at her, “It’s okay, they’re gone! You can go inside and put your clothes on now!”

When Rocky was a pup there wasn’t a hose left unbitten or chewed to pieces. He also loved playing with his Frisbee and climbing trees. Rocky would go out for the whole day and play with his friends, some wild, some not so wild, but he would always come back for supper. The one time he was dognapped he pitched up the following morning beaten and bruised, covered in soot and smelling of an indigenous campsite come village. He had escaped, but you could tell by his demeanor the experience was not a pleasant one. He tended not to stray too far after that experience. . .

Rocky is too old now for running in the bush, but he really enjoyed it in his younger years, he absolutely thrilled at it. I would use tea tree oil to keep the ticks off. He was a terror to all snakes and could rip a cobra apart by getting behind it and grabbing its neck, he was exceptionally quick. He was however, friendly to all animals, unless, of course, they turned aggressive on him – they would then see the other side of his nature…

Rocky has had so many adventures, too many to list here, which is why I am writing the book series. There is always an element of true life in the stories, sometimes 100 percent, at others 50 percent. If Oscar and Roxanne, Rocky’s parents, were around, I know they would be proud of their son, I am. Rocky is in his 16th year, he will be seventeen in October. I wish he could live forever, he deserves to. I wish I had started writing his adventures sooner and we had been able to teach his environmental messages in every school in the world.

Rocky may be an old dog, he may have a few health problems, but, he still has a lot of adventures under his skin and some fight within. I do think Rocky’s biggest wish would be that we all start looking after the Earth and the flora and fauna she has given birth to, and that we could stop those destroying her and her creatures, both great and small. Neither of us will give up and if we are not here in body, we will be here in spirit, fighting on the side of Mother Nature against those who wish harm upon Her.