Deeks and Stella

“Deeks is a Bull Mastiff/ Malamute. He came to us from Big Dog Rescue. They got him out of the pound where he had been surrendered as he had grown too big for his previous owners. He has just turned three years old. He loves any food including plums. He is a clean freak. He licks his paws clean whenever he walks inside the back door. He likes to hang at the front fence and greet the local kids on their way home from school.

Stella was a rescue through Great Dane Rescue. She was two when she arrived and she is now three. She is a mantle Pure Bred Great Dane. She will climb out any window left open despite her size. She loves playing tug with Fawkes and they will play for hours. She is a naughty bench food thief and will steal anything left unattended for more than 2 mins.” by Suzanne

“My name is Kirsty, I live in Kings Park, with my husband, our four children, our 2 chickens and our dogs. We have Mozart the German Shepherd who was originally for my husband, but has aligned himself with our 10 year – they are best mates and always together – his favourite thing to do is to go to the farm and guard the children – he will be by their sides the entire time – and is slowly learning that when the kids ride the flying fox – that they will come back down!

Then we have Jersey my Great Dane, and the remaining puppies of her litter of 12 born in October 2015 were also in the shoot.

The reason we have puppies – is that Great Danes are my obsession! At 16 I was in a car accident, and told that if I got better I could have the puppy that I desperately wanted that birthday. So naturally months later when I was home and well enough to get a dog, we started shopping and found a cute fluffy boy, to join us. We went back to collect him when he was old enough to leave, and he was no longer fluffy or little, but rather leggy and still super cute. His mum was a Border Collie however it turned out that he was cross Great Dane, and his only litter mate was cross Collie! After having that cross Great Dane, I was hooked and knew that as soon as I was in my own home I would have me a real Dane! So that cross baby “Ralph” was the beginning of my obsession – and it has only has only become bigger. I show Great Danes, occasionally breed, support rescue, and am fascinated in the science side of Great Dane health and wellbeing, including the role that genetics play in breeding and how certain health traits are carried and passed on.

Jersey – our current Harlequin Great Dane is 4 years old and her favourite toy is her stuffed monkey – it used to squeak but she always kills the squeakers!
Jersey was imported from Denmark in 2012 and was almost 12 months old by the time she had passed the strict importing regulations that keep Australia safe from major disease and illness. She absolutely loves to run, and for a Dane is unusually fast and active.

The babies pictured are from her second litter (Oct 2015), when she had 12 pups. One of the babies is staying here with us – we have called him Frank, and he will start showing very soon.

The dogs are very important in our family, and are treated like our extended children, we could never imagine life without them.” by Kirsty

“Charlie aka Charles Brown aka Master Charles will reach double digits this year. Charlie’s unique birthday is 040506 and he has been my baby since he was 10 weeks old . He has always been a bit of a snob and generally prefers human company then other dogs . He also has a unique home situation. Charlie has had two homes most of his life . One with me and one with my ex partners mother ( Colleen ) in Manly . It is strange I admit but it works. Charlie is very much loved at both homes . When Charlie was two, I was looking at purchasing an apartment . Before doing so I discussed the situation with Colleen as I didn’t want him confined to a unit all day by himself and since moving into my unit Charlie has spent half the week with me and half the week with Colleen. He is also a regular at a local doggy day care as I would never leave him home alone all day in my apartment when I’m working . Charlie’s main love in life is the water . He loves the bay run at Drummoyne and takes the first opportunity to dive in the water . He also takes advantage of the dog friendly swimming spots on the northern beaches and is very well known amongst the locals. He looks like a pretty boy but loves nothing better than diving in the water to chase a ball then burying it in the sand. He is also very loyal, as are most of our four legged family members . My father nicked named him shadow years ago as wherever I am , he is of course right behind me . His loyalty, instinct and perhaps jealousy came out when my partner moved in with us early last year . My boyfriend and Charles are now best friends but it was a rocky start . Charles is perfectly house trained and would never relieve himself inside but …. A week or two into my boyfriend living with us Charlie decided to mark his territory by peeing on my boyfriends esky /lunch box ( he is a Tradie) . Shock quickly turned to laughter and a quick trip to Bunnings to buy a new esky. We met Magda at the perfect time for me as it was just a few weeks before I left Oz to spend 12 months in Ireland with my partner and his family. One of the hardest factors about moving away for a year apart from leaving family and friends was of course Charles but I am blessed in knowing he is truely loved at his other home and gets to swim every day. And now after my chance meeting with Magda I have these lovely professional shots of those big brown beautiful eyes ” by Chantelle

“I pulled him (LIttle) out of a pound to foster him but I ended up keeping him.

When he learned that if he brought me dead birds or lizards he found at the park I would give him a treat so he would drop it – now he goes out of his way to find them and bring them to me to exchange for a treat…

Gavin is generally a very laid back, lazy creature and for 2 years we had prepared him for a debut in agility, it just so happened to be at the Hawkesbury Festival where there were hundreds of people watching, Gavin came over the first jump and then turned into a complete maniac which was completely unexpected given his usually personality, zooming around the ring, not going over the right jumps…much to the amusement of the crowd – he had fun, I left somewhat red faced…” by Sacha

“I have a strong belief that we don’t adopt our dogs, they adopt us.

Standing in the middle of the highway out of Mildura on a Sunday morning in 2002, as heavy loaded semis barrelled past, was a red kelpie, perfectly calm, looking up and down the highway.

Worried about his welfare, we stopped by the road. I ventured onto the road and he must have taken sympathy on this human about to get squished no his behalf so he followed me back to the car. He had a small piece of plastic rope around his neck that had frayed. Yep, he had literally fallen of the back of his truck.

There was no way we could leave him there to wander back onto the road. He had no i.d. and clearly had no interest in loping off to a farm nearby. So I opened the passenger door of the car. He looked at me, looked in through the door and must have thought we were trustworthy enough so he got in. And there he stayed, curled at my feet all the way back to Sydney. He was dusty and very lean being a working dog, so I named him Slim Dusty.

He’s lived with us for 13 years now, and apart from one attempt at catching a duck in Sydney Park soon after he arrived, he has never done another day’s work in his life.

When the Sydney Park Kiosk opened five or six years ago, Paul, the first barista, took to him and began giving him the odd bit of bacon or cooked chook when we stopped for a coffee. That ritual has developed now into Slim hosting the Breakfast Bacon Club every morning at 7a.m. with anywhere up to a dozen dogs joining in and various human companions getting more and more rounds of ‘doggie bacon’ to extend the session.

Our vet reckoned he was 2 when we got him so December 2015 we celebrate his 15th birthday. He ambles along his walk these days and doesn’t head off to scrounge for food so much anymore. He won’t admit he is pretty deaf and near sighted, and the bed is a bit high for him to jump onto these days.

Other than that, and his potent old man farts, he’s doing fine.” By Marilyn and Paul

• “Thought I’d share the story of how our family came to be…

  Our wonderful dogs,

  are Hungarian Pulis. The breed have worked with shepherds in Hungary for hundreds of years, but they are pretty rare in Australia. We ended up sharing our lives with this unusual breed thanks to a series of fortunate accidents.

  Darren (my husband) and I were discussing getting a puppy as a companion for our dear old boxer Syd. I mentioned, jokingly, that Pulis were cool. Darren had never heard of them so we googled ‘Hungarian Puli’. He agreed that they were pretty cool but we didn’t expect that a Puli puppy would be easy to come by.

  We were surprised to find that there was a breeder in Sydney, a kennel called Rustufarion. We contacted them by email, were told they’d just had a litter, and were invited to come out and meet some Pulis and learn a bit about the breed. The next Saturday we spent a whole afternoon with the breeder and some of his Puli clan and we left there completely smitten. As well as the new litter, there was a 6 week old pup running around causing mischief and generally giving the older dogs hell…within 2 weeks that Puli puppy was causing chaos in our own home. We named him Loki, after the Norse god of mischief.

  When Loki was 13 months old, we had to say goodbye to the wonderful Syd. It soon became clear that Loki didn’t enjoy being the only dog in the house and he developed fairly severe separation anxiety after Syd died. Loki was such a great pup (he learned quickly, was gentle natured etc) and it seemed natural to get a second Puli…and so Juno, his half-sister, entered our lives.

  Why we thought getting a pup of the same breed meant she would be a similar dog I’ve no idea!! They now look almost identical (we tie different coloured ribbons in their dreads so our friends can tell them apart!) , but she and Loki are chalk and cheese. Juno puts 150% of her energy into everything she does. This means she’s been a handful at times. Its also one of the reasons we love her so much. Loki, on the other hand, has a much more laid back approach to life and of course we love him just as much. Being a working breed they both like to be active so our daily routine includes time in Sydney Park where they chase and rumble with their furry mates and beg shamelessly for treats from friends and complete strangers alike…

  Having an unusual breed means we often get stopped and asked about the dogs. In the 5 years we’ve been lucky enough to have Hungarian Pulis in our lives, the following conversation has been had countless times!!

  Q: Wow, do your dogs have dreadlocks? A: Yes

  Q: Does that happen naturally? A: Yes. They are fluffy as pups and when they are 8-9 months old the fluff starts to matt together and within another 6 months you have dreads.

  Q: Is his name Bob (ie Marley)? A: No! We’re more creative than that…Thankfully one person asked if her name was Whoopi which made a pleasant change” by Kylie 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  are Hungarian Pulis. The breed have worked with shepherds in Hungary for hundreds of years, but they are pretty rare in Australia. We ended up sharing our lives with this unusual breed thanks to a series of fortunate accidents.

  Darren (my husband) and I were discussing getting a puppy as a companion for our dear old boxer Syd. I mentioned, jokingly, that Pulis were cool. Darren had never heard of them so we googled ‘Hungarian Puli’. He agreed that they were pretty cool but we didn’t expect that a Puli puppy would be easy to come by.

  We were surprised to find that there was a breeder in Sydney, a kennel called Rustufarion. We contacted them by email, were told they’d just had a litter, and were invited to come out and meet some Pulis and learn a bit about the breed. The next Saturday we spent a whole afternoon with the breeder and some of his Puli clan and we left there completely smitten. As well as the new litter, there was a 6 week old pup running around causing mischief and generally giving the older dogs hell…within 2 weeks that Puli puppy was causing chaos in our own home. We named him Loki, after the Norse god of mischief.

  When Loki was 13 months old, we had to say goodbye to the wonderful Syd. It soon became clear that Loki didn’t enjoy being the only dog in the house and he developed fairly severe separation anxiety after Syd died. Loki was such a great pup (he learned quickly, was gentle natured etc) and it seemed natural to get a second Puli…and so Juno, his half-sister, entered our lives.

  Why we thought getting a pup of the same breed meant she would be a similar dog I’ve no idea!! They now look almost identical (we tie different coloured ribbons in their dreads so our friends can tell them apart!) , but she and Loki are chalk and cheese. Juno puts 150% of her energy into everything she does. This means she’s been a handful at times. Its also one of the reasons we love her so much. Loki, on the other hand, has a much more laid back approach to life and of course we love him just as much. Being a working breed they both like to be active so our daily routine includes time in Sydney Park where they chase and rumble with their furry mates and beg shamelessly for treats from friends and complete strangers alike…

  Having an unusual breed means we often get stopped and asked about the dogs. In the 5 years we’ve been lucky enough to have Hungarian Pulis in our lives, the following conversation has been had countless times!!

  Q: Wow, do your dogs have dreadlocks? A: Yes

  Q: Does that happen naturally? A: Yes. They are fluffy as pups and when they are 8-9 months old the fluff starts to matt together and within another 6 months you have dreads.

  Q: Is his name Bob (ie Marley)? A: No! We’re more creative than that…Thankfully one person asked if her name was Whoopi which made a pleasant change” by Kylie 

“We found Bella at Blacktown pound. It’s a heartbreaking walk up and down the kennels at the pound – but Bella made us smile with her instant love and affection. When we first saw her she came up to the bars and was madly licking our hands and wagging her tail so excitedly – you could tell she loved people, so we were soon back to pick her up and so happy to give her a home.

We have been told Whippet x Staffy, but we think also part Kangaroo (she has such an energetic spring to her play time bounds).

Bella is 4 years old and her favourite toy is a purple squeaky ring – you can’t even bribe her with food to get it back.

Bella thinks she is a 17kg lap dog – she would love nothing more than to sit on your lap and have her head stroked all day long. She also loves to lick the yoghurt foil lids when we are done with them (that said she will coax out of us just about any food scraps she can). Bella has such a cheeky personality – but because she is a pack dog she has been easy to train and a delight to have as part of our family xx .” by Alison