Since I’ve received a couple of emails asking about my dog, this post is for her. If you haven’t seen her yet, my “co-pilot” and fearless security sentinel is “Koko,” a full-bred, female, German Rottweiler. Breeders tell me she has “perfect confirmation,” and an admirably large head - which is why most people mistake her for a he.

She is shy, without the aggressive and confident stance of a show Rottie, which is why some jerk turned her into a breeder dog way back when in some puppy mill somewhere. I got her at one year of age as a rescue. She was full grown, weighed 45 pounds (now weighs 100 at the same height etc) and was 9 weeks pregnant with 10 puppies! Even the vet couldn’t tell she was pregnant when she went to spay her - she was that emaciated. I was told I should “put her down,” but I thought I could bring her around. With 24/7 attention (I owned a newspaper then and worked and lived in my office) I was able to hand feed and care for her. I spent the next 8 and a half years socializing and working with her and she’s now a gem of a pet. She’s also bumping up against her life expectancy of 10 years since she’ll be 10 in December.

I got her after I was mauled by a Rottweiler and suddenly became afraid of all dogs, big and small. I was bitten twice by a nasty beagle owned by a nastier owner who lived down the hall from me and that, added to my fear from being bitten head to hip and my throat grabbed by a full-grown male rottie made life difficult. I don’t like living with fear. I had been attacked by both dogs while just standing or squatting nearby. The Rottie would have killed me if he hadn’t been on a chain and I hadn’t fallen backward, away from the attack and out of his reach. So I have a VERY healthy respect for the breed. He had been injured and I was with his owner, trying to see if his ribs had been broken in the fight. He didn’t like being looked at obviously!

So months later, when I got to Colorado, I got a couple of Rottie pups - at a friend’s urging. One was stolen, the other went to a farmer who could handle the aggression when he reached six months of age. But I felt better about dogs in that six months - so my friend, the rottie rescue gal, found Koko for me. She’s been with me ever since and has been a shy but staunch guard dog. She has shown no aggression - except for the mailman, unless someone comes up to me or the van, or unless they raise their voice in conversation. Otherwise, she’s pretty much content to stay out of sight.

Her body heat keeps me warm at night when it’s cold - and my story of how that saved me on cold winter nights in Denver when I was doing the van thing in 2006 is part of a book that will be released by Penguin Books next year - called, “Every Dog is a Gift.” I chose to live in my van for a year rather than give her up so I could afford an apartment. I’m sure other pet owners understand that!

We walk a lot, but not as much as before. She is a little stiff and her joints hurt. During the days she sleeps a lot. The van is insulated and cool and she has a full-sized bed, food, water and toys - her own rolling kennel. On warm days I stay in the van with her, or park in a parking garage where the temps are cool, or in a shaded park where we work with the doors open. At Myrtle Beach I parked in the shade of some huge bushes and she loved digging in the cold, wet sand beside the van while I napped. I love fall because she stays in perfect temps in the van and I can work inside.

She’s got hives too - only not as bad. She’s on Benedryl too. It seems to help her more than me. We both scratch a lot. It’s 8 a.m. now and time for our walk, and for her paw to get some medical attention. She pulled a claw out and it’s healing slowly. I clean it and bandage it every day, put antibiotics and ointment on it and then bind it long enough to keep her from gnawing and licking at it. Always something!