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ROCKY WINS

Happy story of the day:

When three masked men burst into an elderly man’s Sydney unit last night they hadn’t bargained on Rocky the German shepherd.

Two-year-old Rocky - described as a normally placid, family dog - attacked the intruders.

“The dog’s a hero really,” said Michael, a 56-year-old relative of the man whose home was broken into.

“He’s normally the most gentle dog. He’s not a guard dog. He’d lick you and love you to death.

“We were surprised he actually wanted to attack but the dog did attack and saved the owner’s life.”

Rocky took a couple of bullets for his trouble, but survives.

UPDATE. A Rocky picture gallery from the SMH.

Posted by Tim B. on 10/09/2006 at 11:52 PM
  1. And Muslims consider dogs to be unclean?  Never! 

    What a brave and loving animal!  I hope he fairs well.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 10 10 at 12:06 AM • permalink

  2. No wonder your average Muslim fanatic doesn’t like dogs; it’s probably just one more thing that fights better than he does.

    Posted by paco on 2006 10 10 at 12:09 AM • permalink

  3. Tim, get a heart man- aren’t you aware that the robbers were probability just victims of our rampant capitalist society and social conservatism…gees talk about blaming the victims.

    Posted by Mattofact on 2006 10 10 at 12:10 AM • permalink

  4. His breeding prevailed!  Good for him.  I hope he fairs well and recovers to serve and protect once again.

    Posted by saltydog on 2006 10 10 at 12:13 AM • permalink

  5. “Greater love hath no creature than this, that a dog lay down his life for his friend…” [with apologies to John,15:13]

    Posted by MentalFloss on 2006 10 10 at 12:17 AM • permalink

  6. Will the Sydney Morning Herald be ethnically sensitive and report on “Rocky the Shepherd”?

    Posted by Dan Lewis on 2006 10 10 at 12:27 AM • permalink

  7. Lucky for Rocky he’s only a dog - otherwise the Police might have charged him with GBH.

    Posted by Alan Dungey on 2006 10 10 at 12:34 AM • permalink

  8. No wonder chaps of MEA aren’t so keen on dishlickers- yet another hazard affecting occupational health and safety.

    I hope Rocky had clear warning labels affixed, as did the entrance to the property, otherwise the owner’s going to be in strife with Workcover.

    Posted by Habib on 2006 10 10 at 12:35 AM • permalink

  9. What is this crap that he has two bullets in his chest and they’re not going to operate until Wednesday?

    Posted by Donnah on 2006 10 10 at 12:44 AM • permalink

  10. Police were contacted and attended the scene a short time later.

    And you guys gave up your guns why?

    Sorry….I’d move to Oz but for that one issue. 

    The police can’t protect you, unless you just happen to be lucky enough for the bad guy to attack you in front of one.  The best you can hope for is the quote above. 

    Maybe they’ll catch him and maybe he’ll be convicted and maybe he’ll serve the full term of the sentence handed down. 

    Assuming all the maybes…..You weren’t ‘protected’. 

    At worst, you weren’t even avenged.

    Posted by fclark on 2006 10 10 at 12:52 AM • permalink

  11. #9 - Sydney’s eastern suburb veterinary clinics have exceedingly long waiting lists. Poodles getting electrolysis, pugs getting face lifts etc. It’s a health crisis that’s often overlooked.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 10 10 at 12:53 AM • permalink

  12. #9 That’s not really that unusual.  It’s a matter of letting the inflamation go down before they start cutting.  I went through something of the sort myself several years ago when I fractured my heel.  They gave me some real good pain pills to get me by for a week while they waited for the swelling to go down before they operated.

    Posted by fclark on 2006 10 10 at 12:54 AM • permalink

  13. C’mon SMH.  It’s a dog of German Shepherd appearance…

    Posted by anthony_r on 2006 10 10 at 12:56 AM • permalink

  14. So, if the USA bans guns, will criminals still have them, as they seem to in OZ?

    I reckon I’m not clear on exactly how this would work….

    Posted by Harry Bergeron on 2006 10 10 at 01:01 AM • permalink

  15. The dog didn’t fracture his heel. He’s got bullets in his chest and wasn’t taken to an animal hospital where they’d have taken him into surgery immediately.
    Happy story, my ass.

    Posted by Donnah on 2006 10 10 at 01:10 AM • permalink

  16. Yes, he has bullets in his chest.

    Doesn’t change anything.  Unless the bullets are in an immediately life threatening spot, surgery is better left until the swelling goes down.  It improves his chances of surviving the surgery.

    Posted by fclark on 2006 10 10 at 01:25 AM • permalink

  17. The Waverley police are seeking three men of no appearance.
    Do we assume from that that they have a certain appearance?

    Posted by chrisgo on 2006 10 10 at 02:30 AM • permalink

  18. #2 Paco,

    that may be true but our four-pawed friends have more in common with the younger members of the Prophet’s Youth League than you may think. They both:

    Have large amounts of body hair.
    Hang around in packs,
    Have poor personal hygiene
    Wear necklaces

    Except one likes to lick their balls while the other is still trying to achieve this objective.

    Posted by Nic on 2006 10 10 at 03:08 AM • permalink

  19. #18 - Q. Why do dogs lick their balls? A. Because they can’t make a fist.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 10 10 at 03:13 AM • permalink

  20. 10 fclark:
    And you guys gave up your guns why?

    Mainly because we had one guy, Martin Bryant, taking advantage of the hitherto lesser restraint on loading up and then he decided to kill 35 people in short order.  35! Of course its more complicated than that but that was the key er, ... trigger.  Much of JoHo’s constituency didn’t like it, but they kept him in office.

    As I’ve said before, you guys keep your gun laws & we’ll keep ours.  But hey, c’mon down; you might like it.

    <ducks for cover>

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 10 10 at 03:38 AM • permalink

  21. Tim tam, this is my happy story. My grandpa who died recently, left a motsa amount… I mean a motsa moula.. He has shares in a public company worth heaps and has lots and lots of them. Not Telstra ones with the free steak carving knives and the free phone. Oh anyways, it won’t pay my bills this week… have a good day. hi elcid and rebecca.

    Posted by 1.618 on 2006 10 10 at 03:50 AM • permalink

  22. Dear 1.618,

    I am the former Finance Minister from the small democratic state of Tisascam. My enquiries have lead me to believe that you may be the person of highest fiduciary and God fearingness that can help me and my people in our endeavours to advance economically. We is seeking an overseas agent of means considerable to help us hold in account of trust until God sees willing the small amount of USD$35,000,000. Your help in this matter of state and faith in almighty will see you rewarded now with 10% and in eternity with heavens reward.

    If this opportunity blesses you to interest us both please reply in an expedited manner with your bank details.

    Yours in faith and prosperity
    Hon. Takim U Ride.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 10 10 at 04:06 AM • permalink

  23. 1.618,
    what’s so happy about your grandpa dying?

    Posted by entropy on 2006 10 10 at 04:11 AM • permalink

  24. #21: ever asked a DJ to play Misty for you?

    Posted by Henry boy on 2006 10 10 at 04:18 AM • permalink

  25. Great dogs, Shepherds. No matter how dopey and placid they are when around friends, they deliver the goods when needed.
    Good genes will always win out over social bullshit.
    You listening, mussies?

    Posted by Crusader rabbit on 2006 10 10 at 05:30 AM • permalink

  26. Hey ‘99 - you’re on that good stuff again, aint ‘cha?

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 10 10 at 06:41 AM • permalink

  27. Link
    “Sick air passengers SUSPECTED OF DRUGS”?????
    SMH standard journalism perhaps?

    Posted by crash on 2006 10 10 at 06:44 AM • permalink

  28. fclark (#10) and others.

    We didn’t give up all our guns. We just have to jump through the Government hoop to be able to keep them. Not everybody is that well trained.

    Especially in Queensland. I heard there was a fair amount of excavation and landscaping going on at about the time of the gun grab.

    Not that I would know anything about that, of course.

    Posted by Pedro the Ignorant on 2006 10 10 at 06:48 AM • permalink

  29. I can go without a gun, but don’t ask us to go without our German Shepherd! Ours is the best dog you could hope to have, beloved of all the family.

    Posted by blogstrop on 2006 10 10 at 07:15 AM • permalink

  30. 1.618, I’m sorry about your grandfather dying, but we really need you to keep on topic.

    Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2006 10 10 at 08:04 AM • permalink

  31. We had a German Shephard/Husky mix for 13 years before he got so sick we had to put him to sleep.  He was unbelievably gentle and loving and we often wondered if he would attack should the occasion arise.

    Reading this story, I believe his natural instincts would have kicked in and he would have protected us just like Rocky did.  I hope he makes a full recovery and continues to bring joy to his family for many more years.

    Our big foot is sorely missed and not a day goes by that we don’t think about him.

    Posted by blerp on 2006 10 10 at 08:26 AM • permalink

  32. Even the most gentle of dogs can go medieval if they think they, their territory, or their family (pack) is being threatened.  We had a boxer who was the most gentle, loving, funniest animal I’d ever met, but most definite in his opinions about what was okay and what wasn’t.  Anybody who came in the front door was welcomed with hugs and kisses.  Anybody who showed up at the back door was treated to a thoroughly frightening display of lunging at the door, roars, growls, and gnashing teeth.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2006 10 10 at 08:55 AM • permalink

  33. We had a German Shephard/Husky mix for 13 years before he got so sick we had to put him to sleep.  He was unbelievably gentle and loving and we often wondered if he would attack should the occasion arise.

    We had a German/wolf mix. I think I mentioned her on the “tell me about you” thread—she knew many ways to open doors, from bugging a person until they openened it to turning the doorknob with her paws or teeth. Gentle as could be, but if someone she didn’t know came around, she watched them like a hawk. Snapped at a few people, but they were always in “family” territory and moving a bit too quick.

    Posted by Rob Crawford on 2006 10 10 at 08:58 AM • permalink

  34. I’m the surrogate father of a Female Alaskan Malamute, which is a fairly placid breed. We used to joke that she would show the burglars where everything was, provided they showed her how to open the fridge. Then, a few years ago, I was away on deployment for six months, when the other half called me on our satphone (the advantage of being the comms guru, free calls home to ‘test the link’). Apparently some guy had tried to get into the house, other half was there alone, and when the guy got into the front door the dog (50 kilos of fur and love) went for his throat. He was lucky, she ended up taking a chunk (I mean chunk, the size of your fist) out of the back of his leg. The other half rang the brother in law (our local police sergeant, as it happened), and our home invader was arrested in hospital as they tried to put his hamstrings back together.

    Posted by 185600 on 2006 10 10 at 09:13 AM • permalink

  35. You’d want to be a douchebag to shoot a pup.
    Mind you, they were crims.
    So, who was the old chap who owned the dog?
    Do sacks of shit often try to knock over random houses in the eastern suburbs?
    Was it a case of mistaken identity?

    Posted by RabidJim on 2006 10 10 at 09:54 AM • permalink

  36. Ahem..the “so called” German Shepherd..
    Give him a medal I say.

    Posted by crash on 2006 10 10 at 10:11 AM • permalink

  37. Yet another reason to like dogs more than islamotrash.  One will take a bullet trying to protect you from human scum and the other will hide behind their own women and children and blow up buses and airplanes*.

    *Yes I know kilo, they only do that because they don’t have F-16’s and M-1A1’s or some such morally equivalent drivel. Stow it!

    Posted by Vanguard of the Commentariat on 2006 10 10 at 10:21 AM • permalink

  38. Shouldn’t Rocky be described as an Alsation-Australian?

    Posted by andycanuck on 2006 10 10 at 10:38 AM • permalink

  39. Hmmm.

    Personally I’m a cat lover but I’ll admit it’s the very rare cat that’ll do something like this.

    Posted by memomachine on 2006 10 10 at 10:49 AM • permalink

  40. Rocky has dual citizenship I presume.
    Doggone it Angelina Jolie is in trouble again,causing “controversy” for black organisations.They say her role as the wife of Daniel Pearl is a “whitewash” because she is “mixed race”.

    Posted by crash on 2006 10 10 at 10:53 AM • permalink

  41. Personally I’m a cat lover but I’ll admit it’s the very rare cat that’ll do something like this.

    A cat would have pointed the gun at his servant (owner, in our POV) and pulled the trigger.

    Posted by Rob Crawford on 2006 10 10 at 11:06 AM • permalink

  42. I’m surprised they didn’t describe the pooch as being of “canine appearance”.

    This is a good counterweight story to those ragheads refusing to carry working dogs in their cabs.

    Our Border Collie is the perfect companion for the wife when I’m on the road.  That pup is smarter than 2/3s of my kids anyway.

    Posted by trainer on 2006 10 10 at 11:31 AM • permalink

  43. I bet Inspector Rocky (as opposed to that metrosexual girlie dog Rex) is so smart he could tell us where Kerry O’brien’s gray hair disappeared to..

    Posted by crash on 2006 10 10 at 11:58 AM • permalink

  44. Paco must surely have a story to tell about Rocky’s adventures..?

    Posted by crash on 2006 10 10 at 12:00 PM • permalink

  45. Here‘s a gorgeous Shepherd, btw.  Not bragging, mind you.

    Posted by Donnah on 2006 10 10 at 12:46 PM • permalink

  46. No wonder your average Muslim fanatic doesn’t like dogs; it’s probably just one more thing that fights better than he does.

    LOL, Paco. In humor there is truth.

    Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2006 10 10 at 12:54 PM • permalink

  47. #44: Not about Rocky, but I do have a funny beagle story. The brother-in-law of a friend of mine has a beagle and put up one of them newfangled invisible fences: you know, the kind that zap your dog when he crosses the boudary marked by the fence. Well, no beagle worth his salt is going to let a little thing like an electric fence stop him from chasing a cat, so this dog took off after some pesky feline and ran right through the fence; he yelped, but kept going. The brother-in-law went to fetch him and found him off in the woods somewhere. The dog had wriggled out of his collar somehow, so the B in L picked up the beagle and the collar and headed back. Unfortunately, the B in L forgot that he was holding the collar in his hand when he walked across the electric fence, and got a good zap himself (This is the same brother-in-law who once felt that he was having a heart attack and decided to drive himself to the hospital. He got hungry on the way and stopped off at his mom’s house for a steak dinner before continuing on to the hospital. Turned out he really had experienced a minor heart attack).

    Posted by paco on 2006 10 10 at 01:07 PM • permalink

  48. Well, good for Rocky. I too am a cat person (sort of; my beloved orange Maine Coon acts just like a puppy, complete with chasing his tail, begging, and playing fetch), but stories like this warm my evil Republican Chimpy McBushitler-worshipping heart. German Shepherds are tough; it’s most likely that he’ll survive and continue to bring big sloppy licks to his family for years to come.

    Now, if this happened in America, the burglar would sue to get the dangerous animal put to sleep. And he’d win.

    God, I want to move to OZ.

    Posted by Tungsten Monk on 2006 10 10 at 04:15 PM • permalink

  49. The thing I “love” about the Australian Media and Crime Reports:

    If your dog saves your life the dog is a hero.

    If you defend yourself with your bare hands you’ll get a good wrap, even if you wind up dead from the attack.  The reporting on female murder victims is just great, “she put up a valiant fight judging by the amount of skin under her fingernails.”

    If you shoot your attacker and wind up without a scratch, then you’ll be portrayed as a vigilante nut-job.  The crim will get a full page spread on their bad upbringing and how they were just miss-understood.

    Australia’s Gun Laws are rubbish.  The crims and nutters kept their guns as they were always going to.  Interestingly during the buy-back(s) there was a massive shortage of 6” PVC pipe and screwed end caps.  I wonder why?

    Posted by rickw on 2006 10 10 at 06:36 PM • permalink

  50. My two bitzas (when they were porkers). Bundy is a shep/blue-red cattledog cross, Meg is a red cattledog/kelpie bitza everything cross. Bundy is nearly 13 years old now, going deaf and blind. Meg is only 4.

    Bundy once tried to attack the council inspector because he came around the back the wrong way, ie. not through the house.

    Unconditional love, that’s a dog.

    Posted by kae on 2006 10 10 at 07:34 PM • permalink

  51. I can well believe it of Rocky.  I had a lab many years ago who was the pet of all the neighborhood.  Everybody loved Duchess.  She was just so friendly. 

    There was a family moved in with a teenager who should have been drowned at birth.  This kid stirred up the old dog belonging to an old lady.  The dog got tangled up and the old lady fell and broke her hip.  A couple of weeks later I had Duchess out off the leash and the kids were rampaging around bothering everybody.  Duchess took off, chased the kid down and pulled him off his bike - then ran back to me for a petting.  The kid made the usual threats and I told him Duchesss and I would be waiting.  Never heard another peep out of him and he certainly toned down.

    The only other time I saw her get upset was when we had the big blackout in NYC.  I took her for a walk and if she did not recognize the passersby, she growled loudly and the potential looters left hurriedly.  PS My neighborhood was about the only one in Manhattan that did not have a lot of breakins.  Duchess and a few other dogs were upset by the blackout and behaved as she did so we did not have any looters.

    The next day she was her usual self and the kids in the neighborhood all knocked on the door and asked if they could take her to the park and play.  She had a great time with them.

    Posted by dick on 2006 10 10 at 09:17 PM • permalink

  52. When I used to work on the Richmond avenue docks in Staten Island we had an official “tug yard” dog, half lab, half mastiff, half tar and half creosote.  Try to pet him and your hand just stopped when it hit that fur.  Huge brute, well over 100 lbs, about 18 years old, maybe four teeth.  Pretty much the king of the neighborhood; you saw puppies looking just like him all over the place.

    One dumbass off a transiting tug thought it would be funny to throw firecrackers at the mutt.  The mutt thought it would be funny to break his leg with its toothless jaws.  Everyone in the yard sided with the mutt.

    Another time, a Doberman came wandering into the yard from God knows where, saw him, and just attacked.  The mutt kind of grumbled, lurched to his feet, trotted forward.  The Doberman came tearing across the parking lot with that rocking charge, you know, where it looks like their ass is trying to pass the rest of the the dog.  The mutt accelerated to a jog.  The Doberman lunged… and the mutt ducked his head, rolled the Dobie over his back, and switched ends and had his jaws on the Dobie’s neck before it hit the ground.  He shook it once and threw it, screaming, about ten feet.  The Dobie hit the ground running and we never saw it again.

    Another time we had a stray dog that had gone into the river somehow and couldn’t get back up on the wharf.  I fished it out and the mutt wandered to the trembling, soaked creature where it was crouched on the dock.  He sniffed at it with great solicitation, helped it lick itself dry… and as soon as it had recovered he growled and chased it clean out of the yard.

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 10 10 at 09:29 PM • permalink

  53. As an aside, I don’t know the science of how they do it but dogs are able to isolate people with evil intent from the general crowd.  I have witnessed this first hand with my own dogs.  I too am happy that when I travel my dogs protect my wife and child.  I have a lot of confidence in them having seen them in action.

    Posted by allan on 2006 10 10 at 09:49 PM • permalink

  54. #52: That is one of the greatest dogs I’ve ever heard of. Fine story!

    Posted by paco on 2006 10 10 at 10:10 PM • permalink

  55. Haven’t seen anyone post on the defensive merits of staffies.

    Possibly with very good reason- if they woke up, they’d happily show cut-throats where we were sleeping and the location of any valuables as long as the miscreants gave the sods liver treats and dragged them around with a looped rope toy ‘til they got bored.

    The buggers would be especially co-operative if the burglars offered them a “drivey”.

    Now if the place was blagged by cats, possums or other dogs however, it’d make the Texas Chainsaw Massacre look like The Little Mermaid.

    Posted by Habib on 2006 10 11 at 12:21 AM • permalink

  56. When the family lived in Royal Oak, Michigan, we had a piece of land for camping up on Saginaw Bay. I was about 5 or 6, running through the fields and such when I stepped smack on a hornet’s nest. I was getting perforated and rapidly losing conciousness when I heard an almighty barking.

    My older brother’s dog, an Alsation bitch three times my age chomped my shirt, dragged me clear about 30 metres and then (by all accounts I later heard) went back to the nest and started soccering it as far away from me as she could.

    Family says she kept at it until they arrived on scene and then she went hell for leather to the lake and dove in.

    Victoria was her name. Her only fault (that I recall) was her overly familar attitude toward skunks.

    Posted by MentalFloss on 2006 10 11 at 12:38 AM • permalink

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