True mateship

Gymbowen farmer Glenn Rowe is a firm believer in the adage a good working dog is worth two men – if not more.

So, he was surprised when the lengths he went to to save his canine co-worker Jack attracted widespread media attention.

Mr Rowe gave Jack mouthto-nose resuscitation last week after discovering the kelpie was ‘not looking too good’.

He had left Jack tied to a four-wheeler motorbike while he used his other dog to round up sheep.

“I thought I’d use the younger dog to give him more training,” he said.

“We got the sheep in and shut the gate. I walked back to let Jack off and noticed he was hanging off the side of the motorbike.

“Even though his back legs were touching the ground, he didn’t think to jump back on and he strangled himself.

“I honestly thought, ‘gee whiz, I can’t believe I’ve done this. I can’t afford to lose him, because he’s just too handy’.”

Mr Rowe pressed on Jack’s chest but he did not respond.

“I thought, alright, I’ll try to get air into him. The only way I could think to do that was through his nose,” he said,

“I put my mouth on his nose and blew in a few times and pressed his chest. Then he started to gasp for air and I thought, ‘you beauty, I think I’m going to get him going here’.”

Mr Rowe said he urged Jack to come around.

“I was saying, ‘come on Jack’ and I kept working on him for a bit and he actually took a breath,” he said.

“And then he’d stop again. Then he’d go a bit more. Eventually he got going.”

Mr Rowe said he was concerned Jack would not fully recover.

“I was a bit worried he might not be right – I thought he might have been a bit brain damaged or something because he was a bit glassy eyed,” he said. “But he came good and he’s good as new.”

Prior to saving Jack’s life, Mr Rowe’s CPR experience was limited to a lesson in high school, along with lambing time.

“When a ewe gets a lamb stuck you press on them to get them going, but you don’t blow on them, you just press on their chest,” he said.

“I thought it would be much the same. I didn’t really think about it but I soon realised blowing wasn’t going to work, I was going to have to put my mouth on it.”

Mr Rowe, who runs a mixed sheep and cropping operation, has had Jack since he was a pup.

“He’s now about six, I suppose,” he said.

“He’s more than a pet, he’s a work-mate. We work together all day.”

Mr Rowe was reluctant about his 15 minutes of fame, which stemmed from a call about his feat to radio station 3AW.

“I’ve had a few calls but I’m just a little too busy for it all,” he said, when The Weekly Advertiser visited on Thursday.

“I’m trying get some work done before the rain comes on the weekend. I’m re-sowing some paddocks that burst with the rain – I don’t have time to be a celebrity.”