Constable Rob Vergano with his ram Guido who thinks he's a police dog
Posted on 05/17/2003 8:37:17 PM PDT by Rebelbase
GUIDO, the police ram from Collector, tries hard to be a dog.
He chases cars. He rounds up other sheep. His girlfriend is a cattledog. He loves a scratch behind the ears. He follows his owner, Constable Rob Vergano, wherever possible. He frightens city folk who come to town.
"They won't get out of their cars if Guido's around," says Constable Vergano.
"It's the stereotype of rams – they see his horns and panic. But he's harmless – you can pat him."
Despite his canine aspirations, Guido does not have the stamina of Constable Vergano's cattledog, Jada.
"I go for a jog every morning at about six with Jada," says Constable Vergano.
"And one day Guido followed me to the front yard like normal but then a few minutes later I turned around and he was still there. So I thought, OK I'll let him follow. But after one and a half kilometres I had to pick him up and carry him home, the poor little bugger."
Guido has lived at Collector police station since he was an orphaned lamb.
A motorist found him wandering on the road, and 25-year-old Vergano happily took him in and bottle-fed him until he was old enough to graze.
"I'd actually been looking for a poddy lamb," he says.
"My partner at the time wanted to rear one, but that only lasted a couple of weeks – that's another story – and Guido's still here."
Guido lives in the police compound in Collector, a small town in the southern tablelands south of Goulburn.
He wanders through town at will, greets visitors, and hangs around with Jada. On Monday mornings, he goes to yoga classes at the Collector town hall.
"Without fail – he always sticks his head in and has a look around," says Vergano.
"There was a stray wether in town last Wednesday, and the dog and Guido raced out and were running around chasing the wether. He doesn't know he's a sheep, unfortunately – he thinks he's a dog."
He's also all ram, and accordingly, apparently misses female company.
"When Jada's off the leash she's the boss, but when I have to tie her up it's a different story.
"She loves him, but he sort of torments her. He tries to do all sorts of things to her."
What sort of things?
"Bad things," he says.
To Jada's undoubted relief, Guido's love life is about to become a little less lonely.
Constable Vergano's police colleague at Taralga has requested Guido's 'services' for his ewes.
"I'll take him for a few dates with the girls," says Vergano. They're very lucky ewes, he says.
"I reckon he's the best looking sheep in the world. He's a good bloke. He's always there when I walk out the door, and he'll follow the car down the driveway.
"I'll look back in the mirror, and Guido and the dog will be standing there, staring after me."
Constable Rob Vergano with his ram Guido who thinks he's a police dog
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