Around two years ago I was going to Yoga class and there he was running loose along Northpointe where they were widening the road. I could tell he was really hungry and scavenging for food. I stopped and started trying to catch him. He was fast and when I did catch him, he was strong and would not stay in the car. Another couple stopped and the gentleman, who was wearing a tuxedo jacket, and his wife kindly helped me get this dog into the car using a blanket they had in their trunk. Once I was driving home with him it struck me, I worked with a rescue organization, but I did not feel right about bringing him there. Rocky had two things going against him (that I knew about at that time, ultimately there were three) 1) He was dark colored. Black and dark brown dogs have a very tough time being adopted (for some unknown but proven time and time again in my three years in rescue). They can wait a long time to be adopted. 2) He is a Labrador Mix. There are more labs than any other dogs on the planet so they also are tough adoptions. I knew that if I brought this dog to the rescue, he would be there a long, long time and he would bring added expense to this all-volunteer group. Rescuing dogs is very time consuming and expensive as they have to pay for boarding, feeding, medical treatment and then work to find potential adopters, get them approved, and get the dogs adopted. So I made the decision to bring him to my home and do my best to find his home. He had not been fixed and I knew that that was going to be necessary in order for him to stay there. While he was getting the surgery, he also had a check up and we discovered he was heart worm positive. I knew then that he was mine to keep. And what a loving dog he has turned out to be. Such a great addition to my home. Before I had always had Golden Retrievers and Golden dogs and I still love them but this dog has been a joy.