Life of Reilly

This story is proudly brought to us by Reilly’s owner Lynn Krisanski.

We have always had either work dogs (cattle work) or the children’s pets or both. Our last dog, a Labrador Blue Heeler cross named Louie, tended to never listen to me and would only listen to my husband and my three sons. I would never take him mustering cattle, fearing that as he didn’t listen to me, I wouldn’t be able to control him and he could cause chaos. However, one day in frustration with a very stubborn cow, I turned Louie loose on her and amazingly he listened to me and worked the cattle like he had been doing it all his life. After that he would regularly come out mustering with me. Right up until the end of his life he would dig holes in my garden and the lawn, even though he had more than 1,000 hectares to choose from! So when we said goodbye to him I vowed we wouldn’t get another dog.

After a very difficult day mustering without a dog I decided I had to get a new one. I came home and got straight on the internet, searching for any dogs close by, but to no avail. I ended up finding one I really liked in Karumba, which was more than 2,000 kilometres away. The advert did say “can put on plane”. After several emails and then realising that the pup would have to endure approximately eight take offs and landings, as well as an overnight stay in Mt Isa, I decided I couldn’t do that to a young pup and said I wouldn’t buy him. A short time later the owner emailed to say he could get the pup driven to Cairns and did I still want him? After a journey of nearly 800 kilometres by car, followed by 1,700 kilometres by air, I picked him up from Brisbane airport. Despite much ribbing and scoffing by my family about me buying a dog unseen from the internet, I knew he was ‘the’ dog.

From the moment we met it was mutual love. I had a tentative name picked out for him but when he arrived I realised it didn’t suit him, and he became Reilly. I have never had a dog quite like Reilly. From day one he didn’t leave my side. Wherever I was, so was Reilly. If I was in the shower he was laying at the shower screen door, waiting for me, and if I was at the computer he was laying on my feet. If I was in the cattle yards he was at my heels, and if I was in the car he was next to me on the front seat, and when we are out sleeping in swags he lies beside my swag.

None of our previous dogs were allowed in the house, however Reilly has been the exception. He knows he isn’t allowed in the recently renovated bedrooms, so he lies on the tiles at the bedroom door, waiting for me to come out. I have to wash the dishes

with him lying on my feet - not always so good in the hot Queensland summer. Every morning I am greeted as if he hasn’t seen me in months. My children do give me a hard time about letting my dog in the house when they weren’t allowed to have their dogs in the house, but they then cuddle him and play with him inside! My husband also teases me about my dog being an ‘inside’ dog, not a working dog, but he also lets Reilly crawl up on his lap and plays with him.

After our first month together, there was an incident which really told me I had a faithful dog. I was fencing into Wivenhoe Dam where the water was receding; the first section was shallow water so I had to fence a long way in. Reilly stood on the bank, wanting to swim out, but just wasn’t brave enough to face the distance. The other boundary was in the steep end of the paddock, so I was chest deep in water and only 20 metres out. Suddenly I felt something behind me; it was the pup. Reilly had swum out to be with me. I did try to finish the job with him balancing on my

In the cattle yards once the mustering was over

shoulder but it wasn’t successful. I took him to dry land, but he followed me back into the water, so he spent some time tied to the fence until I finished the job!

As I type this he is lying under my desk just waiting until I decide to move. When he was little he would follow me from the computer, around the table to the printer and back again. Now he knows the word ‘printer’ means I am coming straight back so he just stays put.

Reilly is a ball, plastic bottle and stick chasing fanatic. If we don’t hide all the balls he will constantly bring one to us to throw. I can’t throw the ball far enough for him so I have an old tennis racquet so I can absolutely belt the ball down the paddock. If he can’t find it in the long grass he courses back and forth, scenting the ball until he finds it. When he returns with the ball I

hold the tennis racquet horizontally and he puts it on the strings so I don’t have to touch the drool-covered ball.

If we throw a stick he knows exactly which one it is and brings back the same one each time from amongst the many sticks in the paddock. If he drops the stick too far from my feet I just tap the side of my leg and he will

“I never quite ‘got’ the people who had to take their dogs everywhere and couldn’t even leave them home for a day. That was until Reilly …”

bring it closer. Sometimes he gets so excited he throws the stick at me rather than just placing it neatly. ‘That’ll do’ is the command that the game is over. He then sits with the stick and begs with his eyes for us to throw it again. Sometimes he will pick up a stick or ball and throw it for himself or decide he will ‘kill’ the garden hose.

Reilly is a pure bred Australian Cattle Dog and, when in work mode, loves nothing more than keeping the cattle in line. If any beast decides it will move out of the mob

Reilly is on them like a flash and puts them back in the mob. It only takes a nod of the head, a flick of the finger or “fetch them back” for him to go like he has been shot from a bow and bring the cattle back. He can push as well as block which isn’t always the case with working dogs.

It is rather unusual for a working dog to be so good at their job and also be a pet. We have had working dogs before, but usually they need a little bit of time to ‘cool down’ after cattle work before wanting pet-like attention. He is so very docile and happy to lie around or have a cuddle. He has been well worth the effort to obtain him, although I don’t know if I would ever buy another pup sight unseen. I do thank the owner of Reilly’s mum for giving me such good information about him and his blood line - an honest bloke who made me feel very comfortable buying a dog off the internet.

We always cared for our dogs and they were well treated, however I must admit I never quite ‘got’ the people who had to take their dogs everywhere and couldn’t even leave them home for a day. That was until Reilly …