In case you live outside Australia and are not sure what a Ute (Utility) is – it is a vehicle with the cabin of a sedan and the back of a small truck. Very popular among the Australian, usually male labour workforce.
The good old Aussie ‘Ute’ has long been a favourite vehicle for our farmers, tradesmen, builders and landscapers across this wide brown land. Over the years it has gradually become an icon and a quintessential working bloke’s Aussie style accessory, along with his dog, who generally rides up back with his tongue hanging out.
Tradesmen in Australia are called ‘Tradies’. Yep, we like to shorten most words and stick an ‘ee’ or an ‘o’ sound on the end of them. Sandwiches are ‘Sambo’s’, Garbage Men are Garbo’s, a sick day off work is a ‘Sickie’ and a Tradesman is a ‘Tradie’.
So why do Tradies and dogs go so well together?
Australia has one of the world’s highest rates of dog ownership and according to studies conducted, dog owners are better at dealing with stressful events and this helps them avoid anxiety-related illnesses. This has got to help out on a building site when things go wrong surely? Turns out women notice too.
Construction workers were voted number 2 in the top 25 hottest professions a man can have. Carpenters, tilers, painters, builders and plumbers have been scoring high on the ‘sexy man’ jobs list since early 2000 according to a bunch of dating surveys done of the years.
In addition to being popular with the ladies, other Tradie benefits include, getting fit on the job, finishing early enough for a surf, pulling some pretty decent salaries and taking your best mate to work with you each day.
Typically we think of the Tradie Dog as looking like gorgeous Jessie the Blu Heeler on the left, or the slightly scarier gang on the right. So you might be surprised to see ‘Construction Worker Wiener Dogs’. The video below features the rather famous social media pooch, Cruscoe the Celebrity Dachshund hard at work on a building site in the snow no less.
These little guys make us laugh, but their safety on site and at work is no laughing matter. The Tradies and their mates are well looked after with a plethora of dog apparal companies making high vis clothing options to keep these guys safe and warm.
You can get yours with your hounds name on it here and look out for your next Tradie, Ute and Dog combo. You could be on to a winner.
