The first dog we bought Coco (a Border Collie for $200) died at a few months old after she ate snail poison in the garden.
My mum had a discussion with the gardener in the morning before driving to school, but the poison was laid nevertheless. The gardener, Vince (who has since passed himself) said that he’d never had a problem with that snail poison in other homes. After the death, I recall Vince showing me the box that said “pet-safe” on it or something like that.
So when we arrived home from school we called out for Coco but she never ran up to greet us at the gate with her happy self. The dog was actually lying near the gate to greet us (see red below,) but she had sadly passed by that stage.
I never saw Coco dead – my mum did – and the gardener was fired, but I am still in contact with the gardener’s son who is a gardener himself and remembers the story. I later saw the bright blue snail poison squashed into the bricks of the garden path (see blue above.) I think Coco had removed the pellets from the dirt to eat or test out. It was really sad but we vowed to get another dog soon.
Our next dog, Socks was returned after a week due to him being too placid. He turned into a champion show dog.
After that, we ended up with Toby who was one of the last to go due to a wonky ear. He ended up super intelligent and we taught him heaps of tricks. Really I think all owners of working dogs should be training them as much as they can, especially if they are out of their natural environment.
Toby was once taken from outside Fuji restaurant where we were eating (with Miriam as standing above) and kept for a few weeks by some type of dog-napper who didn’t bother to check the engraved collar.
We searched and searched and never found him. We stuck up posters too. One day we got a call and salvaged him. He seemed contented. The woman who took him thought he had been abandoned because he wasn’t tied up. It could have been far worse.
He used to lick windows, perhaps she would’ve kept him otherwise?
Interestingly, later on, that restaurant ended up abandoned for what could’ve been around 20 years.
Eventually Toby could go to Como park by himself and run around at Thursday night football training and then walk home. He could even cross roads by himself if he had the chance. We avoided all that, though.
He liked to chase buses, from the perimeter of the park on the grass, but never running onto the road.
As mentioned, I made a short film with him and it was shown to the students of VCE Media units 1+2 (for Year 10) – Karen may remember, she was one of the teachers at the time. But that video is no more. However, I did record a short clip of Desmond in 2007, the sequel dog to Toby:
Like many dogs, Desmond had a degree of separation anxiety and unless tied up, could follow me into shops – even supermarket aisles. Yet he had more style than most. With Toby, this wasn’t a problem because we followed the breeder’s advice and let him welp into the night while he was meant to go to sleep in the laundry as a very young puppy – he was left alone. And being more independently minded, it was easy to make a short film with Toby. Then again, it was never a concern for Des to run away.
Des handled puppy school with ease – so much so that he was offered multiple scholarships at various Ivy League schools, which he turned down in favour for eventual professorship at Harvard apparently – but he never told us directly.
Toby rejected the idea of puppy school altogether and even death, favouring the notion of transcending the Earthly realm and merging with an 8th density consciousness.
Back on a serious note, in a related story, in the early 2000s, I was housesitting for someone in my family and also pet-minding.
As I enjoyed the view, and watched an EWF DVD, for a few days I also saw Rozy (the Cocker Spaniel) rolling around on her neck and scratching her head.
I ignored her until one day I saw her attempting to push off her collar in the front garden (below right.) She was actually positioning herself so that I could see her doing it as her system of survival.
I took a closer look and there was a rubber band around her neck hidden amongst her hair and below the other collar.
The rubber band had caused a deep gash in some parts of her neck and there was blood and pus. I took it off and applied antiseptic. I also cut off some of the hair around her neck. She survived and recovered without me needing to go to a vet, but had it remained it could’ve been far worse.
I remember the neighbour a few days earlier coming over and playing with the dog. There was no one watching him – I just let him do his thing and I didn’t know him – I am pretty sure he came over especially to play with the dog.
Was it malicious – did he want to hurt the dog, the family or even me in the process? (I would’ve got the blame) Did he arrive with a rubber band in his pocket? He also had a younger brother, and it may have been him instead but I doubt it. The rubber band may have also been around the dog’s neck before he arrived (really?), but I knew nothing of it. The fellow above, if it was him, and I know his first name, and the incident was in ~2004, may also have been acting out of jealousy against the dog’s or my own attention within the family. Eden once came over while I was house-sitting, and I also met up with Mark (not from Wesley) who was working in the city at the time. Interestingly, there was a police street-homicide in between that residence and the neighbour’s residence in the 80s.
Anyway, I told the family what happened when they returned and they sort of brushed it off because Rozy was almost completely healed. I don’t even know if they ever followed it up. Perhaps I should’ve taken some photos. I never saw the neighbour again – that family moved out.
