Dr Harry with Bruce. Pictures: DAVE TEASE
Owners Chekobi Clements and Ryan Nederkoorn with Dr Harry and Bruce.
Meet Bruce, the Aussie Bulldog who has a dangerous obsession with the lawn mower and whipper snipper.
It’s unusual behaviour given the two-year-old’s breed and something owners Chekobi Clements and Ryan Nederkoorn, from Bellambi, can’t seem to work out.
To fix the problem, they decided to enlist the help of Dr Harry Cooper - Australia’s favourite vet from the TV series Better Homes and Gardens.
On Tuesday he visited the pair to film a house call segment for an upcoming show and witnessed Bruce biting the wheels of the mower and attacking the whipper snipper.
‘‘He is going to do himself some damage if we’re not careful,’’ Dr Harry said.
‘‘He’s quite violent, he can actually pick up the lawn mower and shake it.’’
While it’s not the most difficult problem Dr Harry has encountered, he said it wasn’t going to be an easy fix.
Chekobi and Ryan have owned Bruce for six months and Dr Harry said it was likely the problem existed before they got him.
‘‘He’s off and on ... like a light switch,’’ Dr Harry said.
It has been more than three years since Dr Harry last visited Wollongong for a house call but, because he breeds show ponies which are trained at Kembla Grange, he ‘‘gets down here a bit’’.
‘‘We try and move [the filming of the show] around,’’ Dr Harry said.
‘‘We do the lot, there’s not too much we don’t touch.’’
Despite being a vet for 48 years, Dr Harry continues to love his work with animals.
‘‘It’s still a challenge,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s hard to be prepared for everything.’’
His number one tip for dog owners is to do basic training - sit, drop, stay, come when called and heel when walking on a lead with its head against the thigh.
‘‘If you can teach it those five things, you can save its life,’’ Dr Harry said.
‘‘But you’ve only got six months to do it.’’
And, as for that saying ‘‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’’?
‘‘I reckon I can, it just takes a lot longer,’’ he laughed.
