The Rogers household is still in a state of shock and disbelief at the sudden loss of our 12 year old Chocolate Labrador, Diesel.

Everyone feels their animals are special and those loving pet owners who have lost their furry friends know what I mean.

Much has been written and said already about our fine big boy. I'm writing this for therapy; if you find it worth reading, I hope it helps you as it helped me to spill. A lot of his fans have written asking to know more.

He was a huge dog in so many respects. And with a busy private life and a high profile public life, he certainly was special, not just to us.

Huge in heart, loyalty and sense of fun. He relished a bit of nonsense and even right up to the morning of his passing, was fooling around with half a tennis ball, as if he was still a three month old puppy. He loved a bit of tussle with his new buddy, Uncle Tony's two year old GSP.

Huge in public profile, as he fronted the column in The Weekend Sun, co-authored by uncle Tony. The column grew from an initial six-part barbecue recipe series (barbecues his favourite pastime) to a best-read weekly spot in the Sun which covered a slightly irreverent view of social topics, politics, sport and a recipe thrown in for good measure.

In recent years, he'd undertaken some major promotions, fronting up for the SPCA, community groups, attending talks to many clubs and organisations with Brian, general manager Ross Brown and other Sun staff.

He was a favourite with John the Aussie Butcher and usually managed to work a mention into every column.

Most recently Diesel's campaign to collect food for the animal victims of the Christchurch quake resulted in a container load being sent south – he'd just seen it despatched on the Wednesday morning and he died just a few hours after.

Huge, physically. He had a great presence in the room. It was a presence that you couldn't ignore. Like a horse in a phone booth sometimes. He loved human attention and we spent many cosy nights with him at our feet or his face on our knees, lapping up every shred of contact.

While he was a big boy, he was not overweight. Just big boned, heavy set. The weight issue, as with most Labradors, was a constant battle. It was not helped by his obsession with avocados; and those big swooning brown eyes that could win over anyone with lunch or a picnic.

We'd got Diesel as a puppy from Ron and Gwen Harding in Te Puna in 1999. He was a great mate of Claire's nightmare Boxer-Rottie cross, Tash, and the two marauded happily at Te Puna, where we both worked from home. It's an idyllic place for a puppy.

It was a fantastic spot for our two youngest children to grow up, with an energetic pup on the estuary.

The house was a riot on occasions with the big ungainly chocolate bomb tearing around the wily boxer, with various children and their friends in hot pursuit.

It all culminated one day when Diesel failed to take a corner, went through a wall, in a cloud of wallboard and plaster dust.

They were good times and important formative socialising time for family and dog, even if the household repairs and maintenance budget took a hiding.

That all changed when we decided to start up The Weekend Sun, Coast & Country and move to town. It meant bundling two dogs and kids into the car every morning.

Working long, hard hours establishing the business and newspaper titles often meant juggling kids' needs, school, sport and work; with dog outings.

Many weekends were spent with dogs, kids, bikes and skateboards loaded into an impossibly small Nissan station wagon.

As Diesel got a bit older, he was able to spend some days with Grandma and cousin Theo on the orchard; and in later years, a few days a week with Mick and Jean during the working day.

This was the perfect life for an energetic lab. The office and city walks with the boss some days; the rural and beach life with granny other days.

From 2005, long weekends and holidays were spent at the family bach in Whitianga – with 300 acres of neighbouring bush and beach to explore.

Diesel became the most proficient possum tracker the world has ever known. Not a night at Whitianga went by without him tracking and bailing a possum or three. And if he couldn't get it (most times) he would bark incessantly until the boss turned up with a gun to knock it down.

He also had some close encounters with wild pigs. A clever dog, he knew it wasn't worth tangling with a pig. His trademark manoeuvre was a full-on bark, while running backwards down the track that was too narrow for a big Labrador to turn around.

The tales of adventure from the Coromandel, plus his townie and public life, were the basis for many of the yarns in his Sun column over the years. Mostly true, sometimes with a little embellishment for dramatic effect, it made Diesel a household name and many people loved meeting the mutt behind the stories.

He was a great swimmer and regularly followed the dinghy out into Te Puna estuary to the yacht on the mooring, 300m away. Getting a 45kg Labrador from the water onto the yacht was virtually impossible, so often he'd just circle around the boat until the dinghy left for shore again. Oddly enough, the seagulls seemed to know he was not able to snap back, and they'd arrive from nowhere to divebomb the brown face doggy-paddling so far from shore.

His favourite pastime at the beach was rock finding. The bigger the better. Not much of a ‘fetch the stick' sort of dog, Diesel preferred people to chuck large rocks into the water. He'd spend ages digging and pawing them into the shallows, where he'd pick them up in his mouth and carrying them ashore, bark briefly in satisfaction, then expect someone to chuck it in again.

This rock carrying had a significant effect on his teeth, which were decidedly short and stumpy.

A late bloomer in the gundog field, he also enjoyed a bit of shooting. Diesel was just getting into the pointing, flushing and wildfowl retrieving by last season and it's a real shame we didn't have another few seasons for him to hone those skills and show Ady how it's done.

Not a great fan of cats, Diesel did have one odd relationship. It was Ralph, the skinny old black cat who had adopted us at the Sun while in Devonport Road. After several years of being a self appointed office cat, Ralph was not in good health and the decision was made in about 2008 to take Ralph home for his final hours.

On arrival in Te Puna, the hate-hate relationship with Diesel faded, and Ralph flourished. We discovered that he had a milk allergy and once away from the do-gooders in town who kept giving him dairy products, the little black cat put on weight, gained gloss on his coat and lived for several more very happy years. It was made happier when he and Diesel figured out they could get along and ended up quite tolerant and even understanding of each other.

Ralph took a turn for the worse just a month ago, and disappeared, presumably to die, just two weeks before Diesel's departure.

Diesel enjoyed life right up to his last day, showing no signs of the tumour on his liver that suddenly took his life on March 30.

He did not suffer, just lay down in the office, lacking energy and looking dazed. A quick response by Mobile Vets quickly diagnosed the problem and significant internal bleeding. He was into surgery within the hour, given a 50/50 chance. They'd hoped the tumour would be confined to his spleen; it turned out to be on the liver and there was no hope. The kindest and only option was to let him go.

The messages of condolences have been overwhelming and we thank all his readers and friends for their support and comfort. Especially those in the Te Puna area who knew him as a local celebrity. Many have passed their commiserations to Jean, who regularly took him for midweek mudflat walks.

Even the owners of one of his full brothers, from the same litter, dropped an email message.

He truly was a special dog and is sorely missed.

His ashes will be scattered at Whitianga where he can be returned to the quiet bushland that he loved so much; and haunt forever those dastardly possums.

Our thoughts are also with Chris and Keith at Rotoiti who are dealing with the passing of Tess this week, one of Diesel's many adoring girlfriends.