My megafauna does cool stuff every day that makes me smile, I'll have to write down some of it so I remember and not just laugh at the naughty stuff. He's hardly ever naughty and thinking of him like that isn't fair to him. He won't even chase wallabies or livestock when we're on walks, he just points so I know they're around and waits for my response
He knows he is entitled to a high level of care. Any time something happens to him that needs attention he'll come straight to me and give me the stare. This morning he was out the back mucking round while I slept in, and he came in and gave me the stare until I noticed he was limping. Back leg swollen at the knee joint. Hot. For a few minutes I was worried about snake bite- we have a lot of venomous snakes here, I checked it thoroughly and observed him for an hour. No symptoms, no sign of bone breakages, just swelling. It cooled down after a couple of hours, so he must have come to see me as soon as it happened, and after +12 hrs he's walking fine again
If something needs doing, or I've forgotten something, he'll sit close and give me the stare until I work out what's wrong. If I forget to take the house keys with me on a walk, he'll hesitate near the door until I work out what's missing and fix it. If I can't work out what needs doing, I just run through a list. If his ears react really strongly, then I know I've hit the jackpot. And no, the default stimulii isn't food, it's usually exactly the thing I need to attend to. Obviously there are some nights when I need to be told that a blanket may be necessary later, for example
If he's being very vague or slightly stubborn I call him Goldfish, for his 3 second memory. It cracks up all the neighbours, me walking off down the paddock calling out " Goldfish... Goldfish..." and having a big hairy dog come trotting up.
Aren't they the best fun? I never thought you could have this much fun with a huge puppy around. The best breed ever
