Like a brave canine facing a mountain lion that threatens his family.

Mary Padres, La Verne, California, shouted, “The mountain lion was looking at me right,” when faced with a big wild mountain lion in his backyard. She told Mary to CBS Los Angeles. “It was great.”

But Mary’s dogs were watching to protect their home. Both dogs barked at the mountain lion to scare him-and the smaller of both dogs, Rocky, chose to drive the animal away.

Rocky fearlessly chased big wild cats and climbed up hills as evidence of great heroes sometimes coming in small packages.

Unfortunately, the big cat counterattacked and left Rocky with some major injuries. “We saw a hole in his mind,” Mary recalled.

After seeing Rocky fearlessly acting to protect his family, Mary returned in favor and headed out to look for a canine, despite the nearby Mountain Lion.

According to CBS LA, the Mountain Lion is still big, however thankfully Rocky survived the tests and was harmed but alive. He reportedly endured 8 major puncture wounds and also was sewn with 30 stitches by a veterinarian.

His owner was extremely thankful to him for knowing that he was sacrificing his safety to protect her.