This is the Friends Mystery Debating Society. I'm John Batchel, Jeremy Zachson, New South Wales.

You will all recall the now nearly 11-year-old Spoodle, Dallas, has been acquired by a magpie family with a teenager,

and perhaps other families are crowding in. Other birds have seen that Dallas is very generous with his morning breakfast.

Actually, he's very generous with Jeremy's sleep.

Because on Saturday, when Jeremy wants to sleep in,

Dallas is impatient to get the birds fed so he can lie in his house and watch them.

Now, however, everybody knows about Dallas.

He turns out to be an easy mark for the whole bird population of the neighborhood.

But he's a generous young, well, not so young.

He's a generous middle-aged spoodle.

He enjoys himself.

Have you seen any change in the bird's behavior treating Dallas as a softty or do they respect him, Jeremy?

Well, John, I really don't know, but I have certainly seen a change because here's the

interesting thing. Since it's become very, very cold here in sort of south of Sydney, the birds too,

I guess, are feeling the cold a little bit. So I've noticed that they tend to be puffed up in

the trees and they tend to be kind of looking for warmth. But what's happened now in the mornings,

Dallas has kept his routine. I mean, fair call to him. He's nearly 11 years old. He feels the cold like anybody else.

But it's his duty to get out there. Let me know that the magpies are there and get them fed.

So normal time in the morning, around about 6.30 a.m. 7ish. We're definitely getting up. Dallas

leads me out to the backyard, wagging his tail and expects the birds to already be there. But here's the plot twist now, John.

They're not.

The birds aren't there at their normal time whatsoever.

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