Joe's Page

Nature strikes back - Co-existance the better way! Aussiedog - Mitch with Rex the rabbit

During recent months we have all been made aware of instances involving clashes of wildlife with domestic animals. I think there is a need not only to train dogs for obedience and socialisation, but also co-existence. Probably in many cases it will save the dogs life and also preserve many native animals that are in some cases on the verge of extinction.

From the onset of summer the wild life here in Australia were obviously on the move as rainfall has been minimal so food became scarce in their natural habitat, subsequently forcing animals of all shapes and sizes into towns and into suburbs of major city's in search of food, also the bushfires that have devastated vast tracts of the bush and national parks added to this invasion of wild life.
This invasion was sure to clash with the populace and should have been anticipated,
Many instances of animal movement were reported in the media throughout the summer so no one could claim they did not know!
Most native animals are "flight animals" and run when disturbed, but as these animals were hungry in many cases they did not run and stood their ground.
Being desperate for food, they were not going to let a dog stand in their way.

Kangaroos:

People who normally allowed their dogs to chase kangaroos for fun soon found that this was a dangerous sport to engage in. Those who were lucky enough for the dog to survive were faced with huge veterinary bills, and those who lost their dogs rue the day.

Dingoes:

Normally these are shy animals in the bush however, there were reported instances where dingoes had taken small dogs.

Snakes:

During the morning snakes will lie in the sun to warm up and get going, they need the heat being cold blooded., [I know its annoying for some but that's the way it is!].
These animals are also following the food chain, namely small rodents, marsupials and lizards.
Many sightings and confrontations have been reported some fatal.
When people say that their dog saved them in a snake attack, I wonder about it namely because the snakes do not attack, only when threatened!.
The truth is probably that the dog came across the animal lying in the sun or disturbed it in the vegetation by the side of the path.
When the dog provoked the snake barking and snapping, what did the snake do?!!.

In all the above reported instances, none of the dogs were on a lead!.

Possums:

These animals are also on the increase and cause some dogs to bark incessantly just after dark when they set forth in the search of food , and many are killed by dogs.
We live on the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne and this year we were invaded by both ring tail and brush tail possums.
One night just after Christmas, the temperature was over 40 degrees C, the family were all sitting in the spa, two ringtails with babies appeared in the pecan tree above our head and as soon as we got out they came down for a drink from the spa!.
They are now permanent fixtures and a great talking point when visitors come round and feed them at night on the patio, Mitch will sit watching this and occasionally steal a piece of apple from them, apart from that shows no interest, even when they drink from his water bowl.

Birds:

One of our girls picked up a young magpie from the side of the road, which had obviously been hit by a car and severely dehydrated. Over a period of weeks we nursed the bird back to health and it became quite aggressive towards Mitch and quite attached to him so wherever Mitch went, the bird went too. This although very amusing, was quite inconvenient at times, especially when the bird followed Mitch into the house. Although the bird was always persistent in his pursuit, apart from the odd growl and snap now and then Mitch made no other reaction towards the bird.

The magpie is now in the wild as it flew after a period of two months whilst it was convalescing.

'What is a dog?'

Thanks for dropping in to my page, you obviously own a dog otherwise you wouldn't be here, so lets talk about dogs!
We make interaction toys for you and your dog. The lady who gets a new blue disc every two years (because the silver paint has come off) and the guy that gets a red disc every 18 months (because it don't look the best) are both making the decision to up date, not the dog! it's the dog's toy with lots of life still in it, but that's people for you! One owns a Chihuahua, the other a Bull Mastiff - but they are both dogs!

Many people are breed or size specific when it comes to dogs!
The kid that loves his mongrel or the lady with the golden retriever both think there is no other dog and this is the same for the biker with his bull terrier, but fellas; lighten up! There are lots of other dogs out there, be more tolerant of other peoples choices, after all it would be pretty boring if all people were the same so why not different dogs?
Perhaps the following may help.

1. What is a dog?

Just about the most diverse animal on the planet!

2. They come in all shapes and sizes.

I can hear the purists amongst us yelling "What about birds"? Birds lay eggs & have two legs.
We are talking a leg at each corner and barks, well most of them do - bark, that is. And unless they have picked an argument with a truck, "they have four legs". (Must diversify here - how about the dog with no legs Its owner takes it for a drag around the block!! ;-)