Hi folks, yours truly here once more with a link to an audio clip I have done, answering those questions we did not have time for at the Geelong Dog Listener talk.

Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWryNeSD_xg to hear them.

The subject of language – and the misunderstandings that occur – was evident as I tried to get to grips with the Aussie language. Yes, I know that technically it is English, but at there are differences that can create major problems.

For example, if you support a sports team in Australia, you “barrack” for them, while in America you “root” for them. Do NOT get these mixed up – if you were to tell an Aussie that you root for Dallas, they would think your name was Debbie…

Anyway, to illustrate this, I am now going to use an Australian Slang Dictionary given to me by someone who attended the talk (many thanks, or good on ya)…

“Fair dinkum, I won’t carry on like a pork chop about it, but as a pommie chalkie of Dog Listening, when I’m Down Under my bunghole sometimes makes a blue, and I look a right galah. I’ve got Buckley’s chance of avoiding it either. Fair suck of the sav! It gives me the irrits, like trying to make Lamingtons and forgetting the bum nuts. Even so, the mob said I was Mickey Mouse for a molly dooker, and that Dog Listening is ridgie didge.”

The hardest thing about that was finding phrases that were suitable for all the family – believe me, there are some crackers in this dictionary!

If we can have problems understanding fellow English speakers, imagine the plight of the dog in our home, surrounded by foreigners in a world is doesn’t understand.

So, isn’t it a really good idea to learn to communicate effectively with our dogs? Dog Listening does that for humans and dogs. Meanwhile, I have to work on my “strine”…

Hooroo, Tony Knight