There is always a dog or two around the place I live. Always has been. I am not too sure why. It may be that I enjoy the company of animals that, sometimes, enjoy mine without the imposition of too many conditions.
Sam and Jojo have been around for the last 4 years or so. Their predecessors died within a month of each other both gored by cattle. Too brave, too inexperienced and too good at getting through the fence.
Sam was bred on an Aboriginal community in the Western Desert. As a pup he was, quite simply, ugly. Almost hairless, big distended belly and so anti social that he kept separate from the other pups in the litter. Blue heeler was a major a part of his breeding but there could have been other bits as well.
The best parts of life for Sam have always been eating and chasing and he was completely indiscriminate about both. Sprinting around a paddock chasing a kite circling, through the bush after a pig or wallaby, on the road after cars (but that stopped a few years ago) or chasing me on the quad bike, always being very careful to ensure that Jojo was not in the lead - never ever.
Biting people is something that is apparently necessary when you are a dog with certain attitudes. When people leave and they shouldn't - even if they are the lovely lady who often feeds you. When people arrive, invited or not - how are you to know? And looking mean is always useful. The bans from the kennels who have looked after Sam mean that he has had to be looked after by people bribed to bring him food at home.
Territory is of the utmost importance and requires constant vigilance. Barking through the fence at possible interlopers requires considerable attention and, if they are silly enough to get too close, ripping up their face is a reasonable response to such a lack of discretion. Neighbourhood relations and vet bills are matters for others to consider.
Vicious? He always puts his teeth quickly and gently around my hand when I let him into the back of the ute - special things utes. He brought a 4 year old who had wandered off from her parents in the bush back to them with his mouth around her wrist - no marks and no crying.
Snakes have played a part in Sam's life. When he was a pup we were woken by an incredible racket and found Sam jammed between 2 pieces of corrugated iron screaming his head off. The other pup was dead and a western brown was leaving. Next night same thing but the western brown was many meters away. Awareness of snakes has been one of the real values of having him around.
I don't know how a snake was able to bite him high on the back of his neck, but it did. Took him a while to die and we thought that he was going to again be Sam the survivor. Not this time though.
Parked him on his favourite hill so that he can continue to keep an eye on the front gate, the fence, the cattle and the house. Not sure why Sam was special, but he was.
4 comments:
that's really quite sad. I always liked Sam - he seemed to like me, although I think he took me for some sort of strange copy of his boss - the younger, city version come to visit, perhaps.
See you, Sam.
I remember coming home once, and as we were coming down the driveway you said, "Now, be careful when we get out of the car, because these dogs we have now can be vicious with strangers." You were sort of proud of it. When I got out of the car I immediately had two snuffling, licking dogs welcoming me and leading the way up to the house. It was lovely, but you seemed a bit disappointed in how quickly they stopped being tough. Anyway, I concur with nabla, I think he took me to be some strange version of his other boss.
Also, I suggest the other bits in his breeding may have included shark.
Did he get a tree?
A tree? No, Sam gets an entire garden. A reasonable amount of top soil and compost has been shifted to the site. Tree selection is now underway.
You pretend to be tough, daddo, but we know who you really are.
*hugs*
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