Ooh! Threaded Comments! It's my first time with them too (on a Blog anyway :- )…I feel like I should be a bit more dressed-up…hang-on. There, I put my hat on :- )…at least adds a little authenticity :- )

Well, thanks Kate…what a lovely welcome…and of course you are most welcome too…:-)

I love Dogs…I get on far better with animals than with 'yooomuns' ;-P

If I may be so bold as to offer a couple of suggestions that work for me:

Dogs are telepathic. Rather than going off at him in your head, get to know him, and when you feel you have some rapport, give him a job. 'Secure the Perimeter' is a good one, or 'Kill the Pillows' (only use that if you don't particularly like your neighbours ).

And each time you walk past their apartment just say g'day and tell him “Good Job…enough now, take a break” (You might want to save the “take a break” bit for when you are returning home from being out ;- P). I would suggest thinking this more often than actually saying it…though it is important to back-up your telepathy with words and actions when possible :- )…I hope you are in tears laughing by now :- )…I know it's a bit of a cack, but try it :- P

Like us Dogs need a job. No, not a 'get a haircut 'n a job' job!… a real job, a purpose. In my view dogs are the literal embodiment of Kahlil GIbran's fine definition for 'Work' – i.e. “Work is love made visible”. Like us they get depressed and do 'roolly' weird things to compensate…like barking incessantly.

Most importantly when dealing with dogs, and this pretty much goes for any animal and hopefully one fine day with people as well, YOU HAVE TO MEAN IT! :- ) As you probably already know, there is no lying to animals…they see straight though it…or they just don't see it all. So make sure you mean it :- )

Ok! Well that's ask 'Aunty Wanka' for another week. Please tune in again next week when we learn how to train your very own Mosquito Armada…;- P

Cheers

Stephen G

I hadn't thought about my dream in those terms – hmm. I'll let you know if I whip out the paint brushes!

My noisy little friend is still in good voice, I'm kind of getting used to him now. When he falls silent it seems odd lol However, I agree the owners of both him and the noisy dogs you know should be introduced to WMHDs.

BTW I love the story of how your town got it's name!

“…and they are little…” – should read – '…and they are NOT little…' :-p

Cheers

Stephen G again
still from good ol' 'Osstraalya' ;- )

My first time…I have to agree with Trish & vene2ia Kate…such infectious inflections…I was right…it's just you…or more accurately You Just :- )

I'm not inclined to take dreams too literally…though I'd be interested to see whether or not you start moving your furniture around in the coming weeks (Topiary – shaping your environs? )…or suddenly get the urge to redecorate…perhaps painting a nearby road with something in a shade of dog?

You don't know any large angry cats with a penchant for lock-picking do you?

I hate to throw a big fat damper on such an agreeable group, but over here on the other side of the Planet, things can get a bit topsy-turvey. Especially where I live.

I'm happy to say that I live high up in the Mountains about an hour away from Canberra. This wonderful little ex-mining village, now boasting a whopping 574 people is called Captains Flat. It's named after the lead Bull from one of the original bullock-teams. His name was Captain and he was something of a Houdini…no matter what the human inventions, they could not assuage his intentions to escape to greener pastures. They invariably found him down on a little patch next to the river, locally referred to as 'The Flat'…hence the name.

When I describe my lovely mountain home to them-thar smog-suckin' city slickers, I describe it as follows:

Good ol' Captains Flat, where everyone can hear you scream but only the dogs care…:- P

And the little ones merely set the tempo as the 987 or so large ones trump all comers. I remember the day I first came out here. I got out of the car and it sounded like a K9 Kathedral. They have their little conference call about 4 times per day. But there are a couple of unfortunately sad and lonely dogs that simply bark because they don't know what else to do…and they are little…

Come to think of it, it may be a better option to introduce it's humans to the pulsating steamroller…and if that doesn't work, then it's off to Nottinghamshire for a good dose of WMHDs I reckon.

Nice post Kate…Thanks :- )

Cheers

Stephen G
from Osstraalya ;- P

I'm sure if it is performed … until I wrote this post, I hadn't considered the correct terminology for, umm, toping? Can it be a verb? I must find out, I'm quite curious now.

(All in fun, Kate, no intention of insulting you,)