“BACKPACKS 4 Vic Kids” is a charity which supports foster children with essentials in towns including Hamilton, Portland, Horsham and Warrnambool and is set to benefit from the latest book published by Hamilton author Lyle Walter.
The packs, mostly distributed through child protection services may include a special blanket, clothes, school supplies, toiletries and maybe toys, books etc.
Lyle’s book (pictured) is available in Hamilton for $25 from outlets including The Pet Palace and Ivory Print.
All sale proceeds go to this non-profit charity.
The book titled ‘A Dog’s Breakfast’ is, as the cover suggests, a conglomeration of stories, mostly about dogs as pets or farm workers, but there are also chapters on rural life in times past provided by Graeme Hallam, Hugh Hobbs, Michael Pern, Kevin Campbell and Tracy Robertson.
The following chapter from the book is Lyle Walter as many will know him:
DOGS HAVE THEIR SAY
Most of us would have grown up hearing people using sayings about dogs to emphasise a point. Some of these sayings about man’s best friend are used in an uncomplimentary way to dogs.
An example of this is when a person wishes to emphasise how ill they have been by reporting, “I HAVE BEEN AS SICK AS A DOG” or “I’VE GOT THE DOG’S DISEASE” when in fact most dogs cope with sickness very well.
Another statement that is uncomplimentary to both dogs and a very tall person who has “A REACH LIKE A SICK DOG”.
Anyone who has spent the day fencing in the cold wind and rain or carting small bales of hay in the blazing hot sun may be forgiven for saying, “I’VE HAD A DOG OF A DAY” or “IT’S A DOG’S LIFE” or “I HAVE BEEN WORKING LIKE A DOG” which could result in people being, “DOG TIRED”.
Once again, the poor dogs continue to be looked at in a degrading manner. It is often reported when someone has lost their way in life, “THEY HAVE GONE TO THE DOGS”. This term is also used to describe a product that once was high quality, but now is rubbish or a quality organisation that has failed.
Another one that is a put down for our canine friends is, “IF YOU SLEEP WITH DOGS YOU WILL WAKE UP WITH FLEAS”. We can take this to mean, if you mix with bad company some of their way of living will rub off on you.
We have at times all been to a function that lacks any semblance of organisation, and nobody seems to know what is happening. It could be best described as, “MIXED UP LIKE A DOG’S BREAKFAST”.
It is not uncommon to come across a little dog that yaps constantly at you behind the security of a fence. Go through the gate and once on his side of the fence all it wants to do then is make friends with you. “ITS BARK IS WORSE THAN ITS BITE”. In human terms it describes the person who is all talk and no action.
Have you ever accused someone of doing something they didn’t do? Well, most of us have and then been told, “YOU ARE BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE”.
Most of us at one time or another have raised a subject that has opened a raw wound with a friend and too late you wish you had kept quiet. It would have been much better to, “LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE”.
In the business world when one company takes over an opposition company by fair means or fowl, it could be classed as, “DOG EAT DOG”.
Sometimes when a child asks an adult, “Where are you going?” the answer may be “TO SEE A MAN ABOUT A DOG”. Especially when the destination of the adult is best not known by the child.
After enjoying a lovely meal, which resulted in overeating, I recall hearing an uncomfortable groan, followed by the words, “I’M AS FULL AS A BUTCHER’S PUP”.
After leaving school my first attempt at fencing was inspected by my father. He cast a critical eye along the line of posts, then remarked, “AS CROOKED AS A DOG’S HIND LEG”.
“SENT PACKING WITH ITS TAIL BETWEEN ITS LEGS” tells of the dog that has caused trouble and is given some hurry up and sent home. It is a term used to describe what the old-fashioned police did when a kid was misbehaving.
However, when a person feels very pleased with themselves it could be said, “THEY ARE AS HAPPY AS A DOG WITH TWO TAILS”.
Many seniors struggling to come to terms with digital technology would appreciate, “YOU CAN’T TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS”.
“ONE DOG, ONE BONE,” is an excellent philosophy to live by.
When I was very young and I did something a little stupid my parents would tell me, “WE WILL HAVE TO SELL YOU AND BUY A PUP”.
We often hear after a successful function someone will enquire, “Who was there?” and the answer, “EVERY MAN AND HIS DOG”.
The elderly person who is feeling the pressure of hard work just a little too much may agree, “IT IS AN OLD DOG FOR A HARD ROAD”.
“STAND BACK AND LET THE DOG SEE THE RABBIT” is an expression used to clear bystanders back and let the workers get on with their job.
Every now and then a dog becomes savage, and someone gets bitten. For that person it is a case of, “ONCE BITTEN TWICE SHY”. This emphasises the point, never let the same person take you down a second time.
“EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY” seems to have two meanings. It could refer to the footballer who hangs his boots up after a long career or someone, who after an ordinary life, does something extraordinary.
The impatient one is likened to “A KELPIE AT A ROO BONE”.
If “THE UNDERDOG” turns the tables in a match and finishes up winning, then they are rightly called “THE TOP DOGS”.
