Dogs of Eaglemont #50
Our feature dog for the 50th nomination of Dogs of Eaglemont is a cuddly little Dachshund called Gilbert.
Not a common name these days, but Gilbert was a name in vogue back in the day.
I bestowed the name Gilbert on a little cross-breed waif who we took in as a stray back in Adelaide days.
Before secure fences and gates became the norm there were many more strays wandering the suburban streets - and chasing cars, terrorising local cats and keeping Posties alert.
Micro-chipping was still a thing of the future, social media and the internet were in their infancy, less dogs had registration discs - stray dogs were harder to place back with their families.
We relied on asking a few neighbours, putting up some cardboard signs and a note in the local shop windows. Tell the Council, tell the local vet.
We were always hesitant about involving the Council as re-homing was not a guaranteed outcome........
(I discovered at one rural SA Council I was doing a consultancy for that the General Inspectors aka dog catchers were being paid daily fees for feeding & watering impounded dogs - penalty rates and a minimum 3 hours "attendance" on weekends. No dog was ever recorded as being released on a Friday, a Saturday or a Sunday! So 10.5 hours pay for scooping out 2 serves of Chum was a nice little earner.)
Good little dog Gilbie, as I recall - his only vice was wanting to dig in the garden a bit more than was appreciated by the gardeners.
His coat was very much like a wire-coated black & tan Australian Terrier, body shape more like a Standard Fox Terrier - God knows what his mother had got up to.
No vet fees, a small dog with a small appetite, so annual registration fees and a bit of preventative flea treatment was a low impost - and he did give an impression of being grateful for regular food and a warm bed.
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