1.Beau and D: "He was the runt of the litter. It was pretty much love at first sight. I don't go anywhere without him."
2.Justin, Lucky, Maggie and Molly: "This is my family. They live in the house with me, drive in the front of the car with me, and they're my mates. Call it strange, but that's how it is with me."
3.Ringer, Snowy and Pup: "It can be pretty lonely living in the bush. But when you go to sleep with a dog at your feet and you wake up with that dog still there in the morning, it lets you know you have a mate. I could never live without a dog."
4.Andrew and Mob: "Dogs are part of life in the bush; they're with you every day from sun-up to sundown. They're around more than your girlfriend or your wife."
5.Paddy and Rover: "He's the local identity. Everyone knows Rover. He just walks around and does whatever he wants, no dramas. He even has a spot at the bar."
6.David and Jordan: "She'll follow me out if I put me work clothes on or I'm going to train. Otherwise she's happy to just lie beside you. If I'm ever coming back after this life, I'm coming back as a dog."
7.Craig and Max: "having a dog in your life is everything. It's your companion; it's everything."
8.Keith and Honey: "[She] came from the pound in Coffs Harbour. She sold herself that day, she cam roaring up to the wire and it was almost automatic that we saved her."
9.Lindsay and Shadow: "She started out here as a bit of a flea-bitten mongrel sort of thing, and we've doctored her up a bit since. It's pretty hard to find a skinny pub dog."
10.Mark and Captain: "He's pretty good, especially in the workshop situation. He'll sit there in one spot; you can work around him and he won't flinch."
11.Mark and Ruby: "When I'm out tracking, I'll run anything from two to five dogs, depending on the weather conditions. They are my ears, my eyes, my nose and my brain."
12.Des and Legs: "Over the years I've learnt that you be good to dogs and they'll be good to you."
13.Antony, Andrew, Rags & Lucy: "Dogs are central to our lives – these two in particular."
14.Ben and George: "He has caused a few anxieties in the community, so I had to build the wall of Mordor to try to stop him escaping."
15.Bob and Nelly: "She's a good old gal. She bumps into doors, bangs into walls and gets stuck in corners... In a few years that'll probably be me."
16.Bob and Mates: "The funny thing is when I hear about someone getting killed in a car accident or some tragedy I feel a bit sad, but when I hear about a dog getting hurt of killed, I hate it, it's heartbreaking. I guess because they're so vulnerable."
17.Photographer David Darcy: "Dogs are a huge part of my life and always will be."
All photos from David Darcy's Every Man & His Dog, published by Murdoch Books. Buy it here!
