Shaun O’Shannessy’s three children have grown up and left their Toolamba West lucerne farm. Shaun’s red and white border collie, Rupert, is there to fill the hole they left behind and keep Shaun and his wife, Lynda, company.
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How did you get Rupert?
The dog was a present to my son for his 18th birthday so he named him Rupert after his grandfather’s nickname. Rupert spent a little bit of his early life in Melbourne while my son was studying. Council fines were building up because he kept leaving the yard to go play with neighbourhood children. So, then he came home with us and continued to be a member of family.
Does he have any funny habits?
He’s obsessed with our dishwasher. When it gurgles, he believes there are mice behind it — it’s missing paint on one side where he attacks it.
We thought he was a little bit perverted; he comes into the bedroom in the morning and watches us get dressed. If I put on farm clothes, I’d be his favourite, but if I put on good clothes, he’d be all disappointed.
Lynda mows the lawns and he plays fetch at the same time with one of those throwing sticks. He knows exactly where to put the ball when the mower will come back around.
Does he get on with other dogs?
He doesn’t associate much with other dogs; we think because he believes he’s part human. If someone comes up with another dog, he completely ignores them.
Does he travel with you?
If he’s not in the truck when I start it up to deliver hay, he barks until he can get in. He used to always come on the motorbike into town to get the newspaper, he’d wait outside the coffee shop — he’s incredibly well behaved.
Unfortunately, he has arthritis because he was such an active dog. When he played fetch, he would play like his life depended on it. Now when you get the medicine out of the fridge, he puts his tongue out and knows what you’re doing.
