Redsonic
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Posts posted by Redsonic
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The first holds that humans domesticated dogs for the first time in Europe more than 15,000 years ago.
Opposing researchers believe the domestication happened approximately 12,500 years ago in Central Asia or China.
So what happened in Australia? We know Aboriginies arrived between 45,000 and 60,000 years ago (depending which group you look at eg Tasmanians have probably been here the longest).
And some of them brought dogs? Or were the puppies gifted to them much later by Indonesian traders? Because we know the dogs came with the humans. But when?
Tho the relationship between aboriginals and dogs is not like owner and pet. It's more like flat mates.
It is thought that the Dingo arrived about 5000 years ago via traders from Asia. Never made it to Tasmania, hence the Thylacine survived there until the arrival of Europeans. The Dingo likely contributed to the extinction of Thylacines on the mainland about 2500 years ago.
Most people imagine early domestic dogs were valued as hunting companions, but it is more likely to be the "flat mate" arrangement you mention. Camp dogs provide an early warning system of the arrival of hostile neighbours, they scavenge up the garbage, and would even be a source of food when resources are scarce.
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I would suggest a Border Terrier. I have heard them referred to as "a man's dog". They are rugged enough to do lots of things that bigger dogs do. Our BT goes to my partner's workshop some days, and loves to visit the mechanics next door and the coffee and kebab (hem) place.
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Squirts his anal glands when I lift his tail during his daily tick check
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What I find scary is that I saw on a facebook page recently a poster trying to justify dog attacks on SWFs as what dogs do naturally and there is nothing that can or should be done about it. It sounded to me as if it was suggesting that it's much the same as a cat catching a bird or a mouse. If I see a loose dog coming towards me I don't wait around to find out if it is friendly. I'm outta there as fast as I can.
I hate the whole "it's natural" argument. Hypocritical. Does the owner feed the dog commercial dog food instead of whole rabbits? Take it in the car? Does the owner use reading glasses/ computer/ pain killers?
None of these things are natural, yet we are happy to use them. The "natural" argument is used very selectively. There are lots of bad things in nature which we do well to avoid. "Natural" does not mean right.
And by the way, there is nothing natural about a cat catching a bird in Australia. Our birds have not evolved to avoid a feline predator.
Rant over.
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I have to walk past a house at the bottom of my street which has a barking German Shepherd who's front feet hang over the top of the fence while he's barking. I don't look at him and just keep moving but Im just waiting for the day he decides to go over the top. I'd love to complain but who to? Nothing has actually happened yet so it seems a little petty.
We had this situation near us with a large male Ridgeback who hangs over a fence where we are forced to pass very closely to enter a park. Fortunately, the dog is people friendly, as he could easily bite us as we pass between his fence and a barrier. Don't know what he would do to our dog though. One day, we saw the owner entering her driveway and my partner went over to have a word. He phrased it as concern for her dog's safety: "I would hate to see your lovely dog out on the road". Her initial hostile reaction softened with this, and she has now leant a door (!) there to block her dog.
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"from a friend to a friend, you don't smell fresh"
I have often thought it is just as well dogs can't talk!
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If he's overshot the jaw may correct itself as the bottom jaw is the last to develop.
If he's undershot ( the bottom jaw is longer than the top ) then there is no chance it will correct.
Is he under of over ?
Not if the jaw is severely overshot as the OP has described. The teeth are digging holes in the roof of his mouth. My puppy had this and had to have his puppy canines removed. The top jaw then continued to grow and the bottom jaw got worse.
Once the lower canines have dug into the palate, not only is the dog in pain, but the lower jaw is never going to catch up in growth as it is anchored in place (relative to the top jaw). The first step is to remove the puppy canines to stop this happening.
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An horrific experience for the owners of 2 small dogs walking past the yard of a dog that had already been declared dangerous after killing a Maltese. Broken fingers, amputated finger, and the poor little dog needed a leg amputated.
This happened in Springfield, a relatively new suburb between Brisbane and Ipswich.
The owners sound so reasonable. There is a quaver in their voices when they talk about their little dog Lilly and the attack, but they sound so sensible, just asking that a dog like that be well restrained
I can't figure out how the attacking dog got out of its yard, but it obviously wasn't contained to dangerous dog requirements.
If anything good has come out of this report, it got my partner and I talking about how to (safely) protect our terrier if something like this happens to us.
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I had to learn the hard way that rough-housing with a miniature dachshund has very different outcomes to rough-housing with a 30kg Lab.......
Re the rough play with you, can I suggest that you divert her play towards interactive toys? Tug, fetch, hide and seek etc.
She may mouth or scratch the wrong person one day (thin skin, immune compromised or not a dog lover), draw blood and be in trouble.
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Agree with the previous posts re a crate. Once they are crate trained, it really is like a doggy den for them, and they are happy in it. All night should be no problem.
Make sure he is getting plenty of exercise and mental stimulation during the day.
You counter condition this behaviour (as Papillon Kisses suggests), but initially it would involve being with him at night every time he sees a possum, so probably not practical.
I would definitely contact the neighbours to let them know you are working on the problem. Far better to placate them than to have a complaint to council. As annoying as his barking is to you, multiply it tenfold for the neighbours, as he is not their dog!
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I investigated using the rubber for my home made seesaw, but found it was hard to get and way too expensive. I think the cheapest option was child's playground coating.
I ended up covering the plank with heavy duty PVC tarpaulin (pop riveting and gluing it down), and then dribbled on polyurethane elastomer, which you buy as a 2 part liquid and mix together. The result was very grippy, even in the wet.
Here is what it looks like:
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Probably no surprises here, but this article on ABC News finds the reasons are multifactorial, and warns against buying a dog from backyard breeders jumping on the bandwagon of rapid popularity. The article has lots of photos I couldn't embed here.
French bulldogs and dachshunds have bumped pugs off the podium to become the trendiest dogs Down Under. But what determines which dog breeds are "in"? And what happens when popular pooches fall out of fashion?
The dachshund, with its slinky, sausagey body, is having a moment. So too, is its squishy-faced cousin, the French bulldog.
Not so long ago you couldn't walk through Melbourne's inner suburbs without stumbling over a pug; they were — and arguably still are — the dog breed hipsters favour.
But if pugs were "so 2014", in 2016, dachshunds and Frenchies are in vogue. Whether you're in South Yarra, Port Melbourne or Fitzroy, come brunchtime, the pavements are crawling with wiener dogs and Frenchies.
See dogs, like clothes and home decor, cycle in and out of fashion. Like men's bell bottom pants, Afghan hounds were all the rage in the 70s, though you would struggle to find them these days.
German shepherds were huge in the 80s and, memorably, handbag dogs a la Paris Hilton and Elle Woods — Chihuahuas — were big in the 00s, but in 2016 are nowhere to be seen.
So then what determines which dogs are "in"? And is it possible to forecast the next big "it" breed?
It turns out an intricate combination of factors is fuelling the popularity of dachshunds and French bulldogs in Australia right now; the trend towards apartment living, the fact more women are delaying having children, the magnetic pulling power of celebrities and the burgeoning influence of social media personalities all work to make and break dog fashions Down Under.
But a dog-of-the-minute is not always a positive thing: trending breeds are at risk of being discarded by their fickle owners and left to live out the rest of their days in crowded animal shelters, as some once-prized pooches have found.
So what is it about dachshunds and Frenchies that has Australians so smitten? And why have handbag dogs — the must-have accessory rocked by the likes of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears circa 2006 — fallen out of fashion?
Which pooches are most popular?
Australian National Kennel Council (ANKC) registration data confirm dachshunds and French bulldogs have in fact surged in popularity in recent years: registrations of dachshunds in Australia have increased by 462 per cent since 2014, with 743 new smooth dachshunds registered with the ANKC in 2015
Dachshund Club of NSW secretary Nikki McLeod says she is currently unable to meet the demand for dachshund puppies.
"I've been secretary of the club now for 13, 14 years and the level of enquiry in the last two years or so has absolutely gone through the roof," Ms McLeod told ABC News.
And French bulldog ownership has exploded even more so, with new registrations increasing 1,142 per cent since 2005 — growing 33 per cent to 2,896 between 2014 and 2015 alone.
"I've been breeding and showing Frenchies for 30 years and it's just over the last few years that they've been increasing in popularity," said French Bulldog Club of NSW president Debra Brady.
"I get emails and phone calls on a daily basis."
Other small breeds surging in popularity, though not to the same extent as Frenchies and dachshunds, include the Italian greyhound (registrations with the ANKC are up nearly 61 per cent since 2012); the Scottish terrier (up 53 per cent); the Boston terrier (up 48 per cent); and the miniature schnauzer (up 41 per cent).
Some reasons...
DOGS Victoria chief executive Lyndall Black says smaller breeds in general have become more popular in Australia in recent years partly because of the rise of apartment living and the dwindling size of the suburban Aussie backyard.
"People still want to have a dog as part of their life but they've had to change the way they think about that," Ms Black told ABC News.
"Now they have a smaller yard, so they need a smaller dog ... they still want their kids to have the experience of owning and loving an animal."
Damian Shore, an analyst at market research firm Euromonitor, also cites declining birth rates and the fact that couples are delaying parenthood as a key reason why small dogs have become more popular in the United States.
Is it not just a coincidence that couples are birthing fewer babies but buying more little dogs?
"There's definitely some replacement happening there," Mr Shore told Quartz.
"Women are not only having fewer children, but are also getting married later. There are more single and unmarried women in their late 20s and early 30s, which also happens to be the demographic that buys the most small dogs."
'I'll have what she's having'
Films, celebrities and popular culture also influence dog breed fashions.
A 2014 study led by Brooklyn College psychology professor Stefano Ghirlanda found movies featuring dogs had a significant impact on people's choice of pet — as reflected in spikes in registrations of particular breeds with the American Kennel Club.
Yes, family favourites Lassie, Milo and Otis and 101 Dalmatians actually fuelled the popularity — at least in America — of collies, pugs and Dalmatians.
"The effect can actually be quite long term," Professor Ghirlanda told ABC News.
"You can see an effect for up to 10 years after the movie is released."
Interestingly, dog breeds can come into and go out of fashion in as few as five years, though the average trend lasts for 10 to 12 years, Professor Ghirlanda said.
"But you also have to pay attention to how quickly a breed is coming into fashion. If something comes into fashion very quickly it will also go out of fashion quickly," he said.
"So if you have a dachshund craze for one year to another, it's probably not going to last long. But if you see registrations climb [for] say, five to six years, then you can back that [the breed] will continue to be popular for another five to 10 years or something like that."
Famous people can also have a distinct influence on dog breed popularity, says Professor Ghirland, though "it's much harder to track the effect of what celebrities do or the information that goes around on social media".
Ms Brady, who has been breeding and showing Frenchies for three decades, agrees the inclusion of Frenchies in high-rating TV shows such as Modern Family has helped fuel the breed's popularity.
"There are also quite a few celebrities that have them here in Australia as well as in America and they're also often used in TV commercials and in magazines," Ms Brady said.
Indeed, among the long list of celebrity French bulldog owners are Lady Gaga, Chrissy Teigan and John Legend, Hugh Jackman, David and Victoria Beckham, Jon Stewart and Reese Witherspoon.
Perhaps Yorkshire terriers — a breed currently in the celebrity spotlight thanks to actor Johnny Depp and his wife Amber Heard's smuggling situation — will become the national dog of choice in 2016-17?
Then there's Instagram...
Of course, it's also not hard to see how the internet's most famous dogs — with their cute canine clothing and perfectly posed photographs — might sway prospective pet purchasers' preferences.
After all, social media influencers are called "influencers" for a reason, says Detch Singh, cofounder of the influencer marketing platform Hypetap.
"High-engagement influencers on Instagram are extremely powerful in impacting the purchasing decisions of their followers," Mr Singh told ABC News.
"They are the key trendsetters and tastemakers in their respective verticals and there's no reason why that wouldn't apply to pet dogs as well."
Unsurprisingly then, the top two most influential Australian dog breeds on Instagram — as determined by Hypetap's proprietary algorithm — are dachshunds and French bulldogs.
Among Australia's "top dogs" is Melbourne-based dachshund Frankie the Lil Sausage, who has an Instagram following of over 53,000.
Whether she's wearing high-top sneakers, a Batman costume or a Mortarboard, Frankie's posts routinely attract thousands of likes and comments from her dachshund-loving devotees.
Ditto, Leonardo the French bulldog, another Melbourne-based influencer dog whose fan base has swelled to over 28,000.
Leo is less into dress-ups than just going about his business. Still, his admirers frequently leave comments saying they "just wanna squeeze him!".
Popularity can be a health risk for dogs
Sadly, it's not all party hats and bellyrubs for popular pooches; when particular breeds come into fashion, inexperienced breeders often to rush in to meet demand and, if they don't meet stringent breeding standards, can produce dogs with serious health problems.
"Unfortunately some people will pay big money for a dog that's not necessarily from a reputable breeder because of the popularity of the breed," Ms McLeod said.
"That's where people who don't know any better can get caught out with dogs that have problems later on."
Ms Brady says she is up against the same issue with French bulldogs.
"We certainly are doing everything we possibly can to improve the health of the breed... We only breed selectively and carefully but unfortunately... backyard breeders will just buy two French bulldogs, a male and a female, and put them together," she said.
The hugely-popular "designer" crossbred "oodle" dogs — cavoodles, schnoodles, groodles — owned by the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Tiger Woods and Julia Gillard, have sparked outrage among vets and animal welfare groups for similar reasons.
Oodles, according to pet care brand Purina, became popular because they're smart and easy to train, don't shed, and make great family pets.
But even the Australian man credited with creating the labradoodle in the 1980s has admitted he regrets doing so, blaming himself for fuelling the puppy farm trade and producing unstable "Frankenstein" dogs that would wind up being left at shelters or euthanased.
"Marvellous thing? My foot. There are a lot of unhealthy and abandoned dogs out there," Wally Condron told the Associated Press in 2014.
What about handbag dogs?
But wait — the question of how designer handbag dogs fell out of fashion remains.
Last year the animal charity Blue Cross reported petite pups Chihuahuas, bichon frises and shih tzus were being abandoned by UK owners in unprecedented numbers, with Yorkshire terriers topping the list of the most unwanted breeds.
"Sadly, people often think these little dogs won't be much trouble to care for and it's often too late when they realise they don't have time," said Blue Cross re-homing centre manager Kellie Brookes.
In Australia however, it's medium-sized and larger dogs being dropped at dog shelters, with Staffordshire bull terriers and Jack Russells topping the list of breeds being surrendered to the RSPCA in Victoria.
"Staffys are intelligent dogs that require a lot of exercise, training and attention... Jack Russells are also high energy dogs," RSPCA Victoria Animal Care supervisor Heather Hesterman told ABC News.
"RSPCA Victoria encourages prospective owners to research breed traits, and to talk to adoption staff to determine what type of dog best fits your home, family and lifestyle."
In the meantime, it remains to be seen as to whether Aussie dachshunds and Frenchies will endure for the typical 10-year cycle, or fade away fast like last season's boots (or Paris Hilton's Chihuahua).
And who knows, if Mr Depp is influential enough, Melbourne might soon be overrun with Yorkies.
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Wonder if the raven was after nesting material?
I used to skydive, and the crows (Ravens?) during the breeding season would get very territorial towards the canopies as we came into land. I have never been swooped by a crow as a pedestrian/cyclist, but when these birds saw the parachute in the air, they used to go ballistic swooping at them. So much wasted energy gaining altitude so they could strike from above. I wonder if the Raven is mobbing the bear because it is outside the bird's experience of "safe"? In a similar vein, I investigated some mobbing noisy miners to find them swooping a poor koala. Normally it is a snake or cat, but koalas are now so rare here, that the birds saw one as an unfamiliar threat.
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Steve: that link didn't work for me.
I totally agree with Steve's argument that the onus is on registered breeders to ensure that they are not breeding to a standard that compromises the welfare of the dogs they produce. The fact that back yard breeders are producing rubbish and breeding to no standard at all is not something pedigree breeders can directly control. Only by breeding superior dogs and educating the public can pedigree breeders shift the demand away from BYBs and pet shops/puppy farms. By superior, I mean 1/ healthy; 2/ sound temperament; and 3/ appearance/conformation to standard. IN THAT ORDER. If the breed standard is not encouraging selection for healthy traits, then the standard needs to be changed/ clarified.
I understand that heredity is not straight forward and carrier states exist, many diseases are multifactorial, and testing is not always available for heritable diseases etc etc. We are not talking about that here. Blind Freddy could hear the breathing struggles a lot of brachycephalics go through. Pin hole nostrils and nasal folds rubbing the cornea don't take a veterinary degree to detect. Public awareness of these welfare issues is rising, and pedigree breeders can't miss the boat here. I am reminded of the convulsions the production animal industry goes through when various suspect husbandry procedures are publicised. Think live cattle export, sow stalls, docking of dairy cow's tails etc. Pedigree breeders should be leading by example, not kicking and screaming "it is not us" as public pressure forces change.
Edited: spelling mistake
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People who practice positive dog training are actually using negative punishment all the time. Every time they withhold an expected reward they are using negative punishment.
It would be very, very rare for me to withhold a reward as I pay any try. The dog would pretty much have to piss off to not get a reward.
Then how does the dog know that the latest try was further from your goal than the others he/she had offered you?
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The best way to understand the terminology is to think of positive and negative as maths symbols: +,-.
+ you add something
- you take something away
Reinforcement and punishment refers to the behaviour you are trying to encourage or extinguish. Reinforcement makes a behaviour more likely to happen again, and punishment makes it less likely to happen again. Unfortunately, punishment has all sorts of bad associations, and people don't like using the term, but in the context of classical conditioning, something you do acts as punishment if it means the targeted behaviour is less likely to happen again.
People who practice positive dog training are actually using negative punishment all the time. Every time they withhold an expected reward they are using negative punishment.
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not just dogs. I was shocked when I went to a cat show a couple of years ago and saw the tiny tiny nostrils on the persian cats, and the way their eyes are almost lower on their face than their nose.
It should be banned.It's not cute, it's cruel.
http://www.pictures-of-cats.org/images/persian-cat-health.jpg
My favourite breed, the Burmese, which always used to be such an elegant, athletic breed is currently being ruined by the trend for short, snub faces. It's heartbreaking.
Yes, cats are the next species we are going to ruin
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Um, pet dogs are generally from the same litters as show dogs.
That was my whole point. Breeders get first pick, and presumably they choose dogs with more open nostrils, nasal folds not rubbing the eyes etc.
The rest of the litter goes out to pet homes and we are seeing problems with these dogs. Registered breeders are producing brachycephalics with problems, it is not all the fault of backyard breeders. The selection pressure towards healthy brachys is obviously weak or non-existent because this is a trend that is worsening, not improving. My picture of the "show quality" Dogue de Bordeaux a case in point.
Edited: spelling mistake
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There is a video of the "high speed pursuit" on the link below.
Poor dog looks terrified. Very lucky they closed off the bridge before he was hit. Hopefully his owners will find him with all that publicity.
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I don't object to focus being put on health issues. I do object to pedigree breeders getting the blame for the health issues of dogs bred by BYB and puppyfarms.
Fair enough to say that back yard breeders are scrambling to keep up with the popularity of Pugs, French Bulldogs, etc., and breeding from anything they can get their hands on. This has always led to problems for whichever breed is popular at the time.
I think the point is that the average brachycephalic these days is on the edge of respiratory distress, even those from ethical, registered breeders. And, how many registered breeders are there who don't need routine caesarians for their Bulldogs? How many "average" brachycephalics have skin fold problems? Dental issues? Entropion/ nasal folds rubbing the eyes?
On other threads in Dogzonline, there has been criticism of a trainer holding a Frenchie puppy while it struggled, with a casual statement that you just can't do that with these breeds. Surely, we should not be breeding dogs that are so compromised they can't handle gentle restraint? A colleague used to bring her Frenchie in to work and it was distressing to see the poor thing struggling to breathe in the airconditoned office. It had to sleep sitting up, leaning against the wall of its crate and was constantly woken by the need for air. It was put down when a specialist could do no more for it.
My guess is that that the show quality dogs are usually OK, it is the "pet quality" pups (i.e., the majority of the pups produced) that suffer the worst. If registered breeders really are working to improve the breed, these improvements should be trickling down to the pet quality pups, and they don't seem to be doing this. Although back yard breeders have caused a lot of damage to all sorts of breeds, I think brachycephalic breeders should take some responsibility here.
This photo of a Dogue de Bordeaux "good enough" to compete at Westminster i.e., "better" than the average pet quality dog.
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Consumer demands for smaller dogs resulting in debilitating health problems, vets say
AM By Katie Hamann
Updated about 2 hours ago
The surging popularity of certain pedigree dog breeds in Australia is leading to an increase in the number of pets with serious health problems, veterinarians have warned.
In a report published today in the journal Canine Genetics and Epidemiology, researchers from the University of Sydney point to increasing demand for dogs with short, wide heads, such as pugs and French and British bulldogs.
Known as brachycephalic dogs, these breeds are prone to serious complications such as breathing difficulties, skin and eye conditions and digestive disorders.
"In New Zealand, brachycephalic breeds are number four of the top five dog breeds considered by veterinarians to be unsuitable for continued breeding due to compromised health and welfare," lead researcher Kendy Teng said.
As the number of these dogs being bred and traded grows, researchers said veterinarians needed to be prepared for a significant increase in cases of diseased dogs.
One explanation offered for the popularity of these breeds is the trend towards downsizing of our homes and lifestyles.
Honorary Associate Professor Max Zuber from the University of Sydney's Veterinary Teaching Hospital said people were choosing little dogs because they were living in smaller homes without backyards.
He also believed some people chose brachycephalic breeds because of a perception that they did not need much exercise because of their breathing problems.
"[Owners] think 'well I can have that dog because I don't have the time to exercise it and it can't exercise anyway'," he said.
Vets report increase in diseased dogs
Dr Julia Crawford from the Australian Veterinary Association said vets were already seeing a rise in the number of dogs needing treatment for brachycephalic conditions.
The estimates can range from something like a four-year-less life expectancy.
Associate Professor Max Zuber, University of Sydney
"We're seeing a lot of dogs with very, very tiny nostrils, they have a very long soft palate and they often have laryngeal problems ... and that means that they have consistent upper airway obstruction," she said.
"They also get really bad skin folds quite often as their faces get squished up more and more and this leads to chronic skin infections around the skin and their eyes."
The cost of treating these pets can run into the tens of thousands of dollars and, according to veterinarians, their quality of life and life expectancy is often greatly reduced.
"The estimates can range from something like a four-year-less life expectancy," Associate Professor Zuber said.
Up to 70pc of dogs unable to birth naturally
Breeding standards for pedigree dogs are set by the Australian National Kennel Council (ANKC) and for British bulldogs the standard suggests heads should be "as large as possible".
But according to the ANKC as many as 70 per cent of pups are delivered by caesarean section because their heads are too large to pass through the mother's pelvis.
President of the ANKC Hugh Gent conceded it was a problem and said breeders were working to reduce the size of heads.
"We're also trying to breed them with larger pelvic girdles so they can have them ... but it's really to avoid the distress and pain of having to try and pass a puppy with a big head," he said.
Associate Professor Zuber said the ANKC should look at their breeding standards instead of seeking to re-engineer dogs.
"I would personally feel as a profession we should be advising that that's an inappropriate breed standard," he said.
Dr Crawford said breeding standards were based upon current trends in pets.
"If you were to go to the Australian museum, there is an English bulldog from the 1930s that looks nothing like today's English bulldog," she said.
"It's something that breed descriptions need to look after because it's more important that an animal can breathe than how big their head is."
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Purin the dog set a world record for fastest dog on a swiss ball over 10m:
This is her second world record after catching a heap of balls with her front feet!
Go Purin!
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My dogs are Rascal 7years ( I would never let him go he's our only foster failure)
Astro turning 5 (he wouldn't leave my side while pregnant)
Claudia turning 4 (she is my princess and probably also my kids favourite so we couldn't let her go)
Hugo the poodle ( naughty but very bonded to myself and my daughter)
Chloe just turned 1 (I love living with this girl she is loud and spunky, just had patella surgery and I can't imagine her not in our lives, also due to her being such a barker she could potentially end up going from home to home)
I was going to suggest you get references from your current neighbours in order to persuade any new neighbours to allow you to keep all your dogs. Until I saw the bolded bit...
You could be lucky and end up with neighbours willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Chloe may be the spanner in the works though.
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From ABC News:
A Christmas Day fishing trip turned into a perilous rescue mission for Evan Hanias, when he stumbled upon a dog struggling in the water — which just happened to belong to Australian cyclist Anna Meares.Mr Hanias, his girlfriend Stella Papas and his cousins Andy Lattas and Nicholas Toskas went fishing at West Lakes, in South Australia, late on Friday afternoon after a family get together.
But before long, a storm began to roll in and the group took shelter underneath a bridge.
"I went forward to check the rods at the right time, I guess, and I heard something splashing," Mr Hanias told the ABC.
"In my head I was thinking, 'Is that a pelican?' I had a closer look and it was a dog.
"I screamed out to my cousins and my girlfriend, 'There's a dog in the water'.
"It was a strong current so the dog was moving pretty quick — but it was as if he knew we were his only chance to get out, so he swam towards me ... and I reached in and I grabbed him.
"I've got four slipped disks in my back so to get him out of the water was a struggle.
"I was holding onto him and it felt as if I was slipping in and I screamed out and [my cousins and girlfriend] pulled me up with the dog in my hands, so it was a team effort."
After bundling the dog up in a sweater, the group took him to an emergency vet and posted a photo of him on some South Australian-based Facebook pages dedicated to reuniting pets and owners.
'I know who Anna Meares is — but it did not click'
About the same time, Meares — well known for her remarkable comeback to win a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics, after breaking her neck in a cycling accident — was desperately searching for Bruce, her beagle of 10 years.
"The storm and wind that came through blew the front door open and allowed the dogs to get out and unfortunately mine decided to travel a little further than the other one," she told the ABC.
"It took me probably forty minutes to get back [from a friend's house] and start searching for him
"On the drive back to town I put it on all my social media channels and a lot of people shared that, and Lost Dogs of Adelaide also shared it on their Facebook page so we really got it out there quite quickly that he was out and about.
"I was quite surprised how many of not just my own personal friends but strangers who follow me on Facebook who live in that area went out on bikes and cars to look for him as well, so the community response to it was quite touching as well."
Mr Hanias saw the post about Bruce so "we took a photo of him and said 'Is this the dog in question?' and left a number and Anna Meares called us".
"At the time I had no idea — I know who Anna Meares is — [but] it did not click," he said.
"She was hysterically crying, you know, it would have been a stressful day, Christmas Day looking for your lost dog."
'The important thing is Bruce is home safe now'
Meares met the group at the vet to pick Bruce up and take him home.
"Look, I'm not a cycling fan but obviously I watch the Olympics, I've seen her on TV before, you know, rooting for her," Mr Hanias said.
"But at the time we had no idea where we knew this lady from.
"Anna couldn't hold her excitement, she ran behind the vet counter and met the dog halfway and it was just an amazing moment.
"She hugged him tight, she was bawling her eyes out. She must have hugged us five, six times."
It was not until Mr Hanias and his family got home that they realised they had helped out "the champion" Anna Meares.
"Anna Meares shared it on her professional Facebook page and as soon as we saw the photo there it clicked — 'Oh my God, this is Anna Meares, the champion'.
"I've had, like, 10 different messages from Anna thanking us. For someone that busy to take time out of her day — Bruce must mean the world to her."
Meares said "it was a huge relief, very emotional", to have Bruce home with her, while Mr Hanias played down the "hero" label.
"The important thing is Bruce is home safe now and anyone would have done the same," he said.
"We were just at the right place at the right time. It was just lucky we were there."
Domestic Dogs May Have Origins In Asia And Europe
in In The News
Posted
There are some intriguing 30 000 year old footprints preserved in a cave in Europe which seem to suggest that a boy and a dog were walking together.
Modern man and Neanderthal man actually separated about 180 000 years ago. Neanderthal man was adapted to European conditions (pale skin, large nose to warm cold air, stocky body to help preserve heat) but went extinct approx 30 000 years ago, about the time modern man made it to Western Europe. Like the Dingo and the Thylacine, the new arrivals probably contributed to the extinction of Neanderthal man, although there was some intermixing, and non African people today carry about 2-5% Neanderthal genes.
This is very true. Wolves alive today are likely to be far, far more cautious of humans than their predecessors due to generations of persecution and inadvertent selection for wariness.