mouthing off
Virginia trioli \ THE COMMUNITY DOG
T
here’s this bloke I know who quite likes dogs. He likes their company and companionship, but he likes them only in small doses. He likes to have them with him, but only sometimes. So while he certainly has the means and the circumstances to be able to have a dog fully in his life, he doesn’t want to own a dog. Instead, he borrows one. He has a colleague with a very sweet, fluffy thing who, from time to time, accompanies him to his weekend retreat, and who flies with him to his outlying properties (the dog’s weight has been recorded for the light-plane inventory) to spend a couple of days frolicking in the bush and lying by the fire. My mate gets the pleasure of his company, the dog gets an exciting change of scene and a damn good exercise and the dog’s owners get a few days off from the sometimes-tedious requirements of dog ownership. Just like taking the neighbours’ kid with you to the footy. But with fur. When I once asked my friend why he doesn’t just get a dog of his own, he answered with killing logic: “Why would I? I can just borrow one.” Hard to argue with that.
They say it takes a village to raise a child but, since talking to my friend, I have realised that there are whole communities out there involved in the care and pleasure of dog company, while sharing around the responsibility of ownership. My mother’s dog, Polly, regularly crosses town to spend time with my sister and her ageing Pomeranian: a little holiday in the ’burbs that the two seem to enjoy. And our chocolate Lab, Bunk, has a range of social scenes and alternative dwellings that make his life far more adventurous than our own. One set of close friends have always loved dogs, but their peripatetic lifestyle makes dog ownership difficult these days. So, instead, they regularly collect our dog on a Friday and take him with them to their place in the bush for the weekend. Bunk comes back muddy, happy and exhausted and we get a little break from the intense demands of a five-year-old Labrador. Another friend, who secretly craves a dog of her own but lives in an apartment above her business, borrows Bunk for a couple of days of vigorous walking in the inner-city’s beautiful parks and gardens. Bunk always returns from these jaunts looking
so sleek and healthy, and just as happy to be home. I’ve written here before about the documented effects of companion animals, particularly in the lives of the elderly, infirm and disabled. One pediatrician I know once had a dog that was allowed to accompany her on her hospital rounds: nothing made sick children happier than seeing her sweet puppy loping behind her along the corridors. What I like so much about my friend’s relationship with his borrowed dog, and other situations like it, is that it provides yet more evidence that more of us are choosing to live in a much more interconnected, community-minded way, sharing responsibilities and resources with care and affection. As our cities become more densely populated and resources become a little more scarce, as our community ages and requires more care and attention from all of us who share a neighbourhood, we are going to have to pay more attention to each other, and look after each other, and each other’s families, in ways that we haven’t before. It won’t be hard work: it’ll be fun, I promise you. There’ll be grannies, kids and dogs – and there’s very little that’s bad about that. \
Virginia Trioli is co-host of ABC News Breakfast on ABC1 and ABC News 24, 6-9am weekdays.
Follow Virginia on Twitter @ latrioli
We Welcome your feedback @ www.theweeklyreview.com.au/mouthing-off
Some great new deals from us, and just in time for your Spring clean. FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY Venus Wall Faced Toilet Suite Was $410
299
$
Methven Kiri Tai Satin Jet Rail Was $224
199
$
15% OFF
all Polilife Ash Colour vanities. tapware and waste sold separately
Blackburn 212 Whitehorse Rd (03) 9894 2427 Brunswick East 27-29 Kirkdale St (03) 9380 8231 Moorabbin 158-160 Cochranes Rd (03) 9555 5144
Offers available until September 30th or until stocks runs out. firstchoicewarehouse.com.au
facebook.com/firstchoicewarehouse september 4, 2013 \ The weekly review 3