Most Difficult Question Ever

Before you read any further, lemme give you some background information about the short story in which the whole entry is all about. It's called 'The Drover's Wife' and it revolves around the life of a woman with her four children, living a hard and quiet life in an isolated bush in Australia. The husband was a drover so he wasn't around most of the time. Dipendekkan cerita, one day a snake entered the house and this threatened their safety. The woman did everything she could to protect her children, with the help of the house dog. In the end, she managed to kill the snake and next, burned it. The eldest son made a promise not to be a drover as he wanted to protect the family from such danger. The end~

Okay, now, the question:

"What is the name of the dog? Why did she bring it into the house?"

To my surprise, my students came up with different responses. I didn't realise that the dog has so many 'nicknames'!!

1. Tommy - helloo, this is the eldest son of the family!
2. Rhino - where the heck does that come from?
3. Lessie - sounds familiar.. is it from a movie?
4. Brave/Fierce - okay, okay, I know that the dog IS brave and fierce, so?
5. Rocky - err.. 
6. Armagala - like, seriously?? sounds like armadillo to me
7. Black - is this the guy from the reality TV show Mentor?

and the 'best' response I've got so far is:

     8. Si Comel!! - kot ye pun taktau, at least letaklah nama matsalleh kan.. ish ish..

Are you sure it's not Alligator, guys? Enlighten me.

p/s: Soalan paling senang pun tak boleh jawab. Nampak sangat tak study. Aiyokk!