Boxers and Blackberries

Our two boxer dogs have a fetish.

They love blackberries.

If you call them and they cannot be found, just saunter on over to the nearest blackberry infestation and the pair of them can be seen greedily plucking juicy ripe fruit off of the canes. Sometimes even the not so juicy ripe fruit! They come running back with blackberry stains on their faces and the look of juicy contentment.

The dogs are not the only ones who are blackberry crazy. Walk within 50m of the canes and you have three horses come charging up to the fence with that look of expectation that comes with eating little bursts of blackberry summer. If the horses are in the same paddock as the canes, they can often be found eye deep in the brambles seeking out the berries, manes entangled and soft noses lightly scratched and bleeding both blood and berry juice.

Passersby can often be viewed wading into the thorniness to secure their share of summer. Just last week we had someone tie their pony up to our front gate so they could go berry picking unhindered by their equine. They were duly joined in their pilfering by our youngest boxer, more than happy to share in the berry plunder.

Most people look at blackberries as a weed, we view ours as a source of yumminess. Their wandering and invasive nature is nothing that cannot be controlled with a good dose of tractor and slasher to ensure a bumper crop the following year.