Mates...….. a.k.a. ‘friends’

I’ve had a few mates over the past three-and-a-bit ‘human’ years. My best mate, at present, is Flip. i think he’s named appropriately because when we’re walking down the sidewalk, Flip tends to flip from the left to the right and back again. Sometimes, he’s also flipping annoying – but he’s a mate – and i put up with his idiosyncrasies – that’s what mates do.

Flip’s a cross - Red Cattle and Fox Terrier; perhaps there’s some Jack Russell thrown in as well. He’s a rescue dog, like me. So, we understand what it’s like to do it rough. He’s not as smart as me – and he’s no where near as independent, either. Although Flip is 12 months older, Flip knows that i’m ‘top dog’ because he’s smaller than me.

Flip and i have been mates for about 12 months or more. We tend to run into each other in Moore Park or Frog Hollow and both run and chase ball. We're both competitive and play well together and have never got into a fight; we respect each other’s capabilities. He’s got a good turn of speed and is probably quicker than me in a straight line. Flip also watches the ball better than me. But i’m always one step ahead. i look at where the ball is going to be thrown and focus on body language and 80% of the time get to the ball before Flip.

Flip stayed with Him and me for three weeks a few weeks ago. Flip’s Boss was moving house and needed somewhere for Flip to sleepover while his Boss moved out of his home, was in a temporary place, until they got their new place. It was the first time that Flip’s ever been away from his Boss since he was adopted at 16 weeks. So in four 'human' years, Flip has never had time to himself.

Flip is well brought up and he didn’t soil my backyard – thank Dog. We got to play together, he had a separate eating bowl (both the Boss and me later found out that Flip has never eaten from a bowl before – he was always hand fed!), and we got to sleep together. It was good to sleep with another warm body against me. Other dogs in the park have told me about how their Boss lets then sleep in the same bed. That doesn’t happen with my Boss. He makes me sleep outside, by myself, even during winter.

Flip sheds lots of hair. He’s white. So there was white hair everywhere around my place. But that was cool.... it was great to have a mate stay with me, for a change.

After about two weeks, Flip developed a nervous twitch and started biting the base of his tail. Flip’s boss and my Boss reckon it was due to separation anxiety from his Boss. You can see he's a little sad in this pic taken in our place when he stayed over. Flip went off his food and was really lethargic.

Eventually, Flip had to be taken to the Vet because the base of his tail started to get infected. Flip was put on some antibiotics. The vet shaved some hair off around the base of his tailand applyed some dressing to the wound. Flip needed to be bathed in salt water daily and kept clean. It made it hard for him to do ‘you know what’ – but it came good in a few days. His hair started growing back but the Boss thinks it will take about three months to be back to normal. i'll stand by him.

Flip always wants to play with me – well, who wouldn’t? He tries to bite my legs, my ears, my neck, my shoulders… anything to get me to play. Depending on where we are, i tend to ignore him and simply focus on what i’m bred for – herding, retrieving, and working. But sometimes, when the work is over and we want to have to fun, we play together and i rollover and play like a ‘sub’ bitch. We both know it’s just for fun, because i’m always ‘top dog’.


When Flip stayed with the Boss and me, we taught him a few things. Flip now knows which native grasses are good for his gut, and he now likes lying down in puddles and understands that when you’re hot, puddles cool you down. When the Boss is walking Flip, the Boss gets Flip to walk on the left, like me, and behind us - just so that Flip knows that he's third in the pecking order in our house.

There are a few other things that Flip and i’ll share with each other, over the next few 'human' years. That's what mates do – share the good times and grow old together, having some fun along the way. You learn a lot from your mates..... a.k.a. 'friends'.