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Characters > Pet Profiles > Bouncer Bouncer Trained by Luke Hura

Bouncer 1987-1993
Lived: 26, 28, 30, 32 Ramsay Street
Whelped: 1986
Pups: Unknown number [two known litters; whelped 1987 and c. 1993]

Lovable Labrador Bouncer was given to Lucy Robinson by Mike Young after he failed to save Lucy's pet terrier Basil from drowning at the beach one afternoon. Lucy was reluctant to accept Bouncer initially believing it would be wrong of her to replace Basil so quickly. But Bouncer soon won her over and she grew to love him.

When Lucy set off on a trip to Europe, she left Bouncer in Mike's care and Mike became rather fond of the dog himself. In fact, the whole Clarke household loved Bouncer so much that Lucy let him stay at No. 28 with them when she returned.

Towards the end of 1987, Bouncer began to regularly go missing from the Clarke's. It turned out that he had been visiting a litter of puppies he had recently fathered and Mike ended up bringing a box of five of them home to sell. Mike and Lucy attempted, but struggled, to sell the dogs under the sale name of "almost pure bred labrador pups". They eventually tried to give the dogs away; one went to Mrs. Mangel, who named her's Pembroke, and one to Tony Romeo, who named his Travolta. Unfortunately Pembroke had to be returned as Mrs. Mangel's lodger Harold Bishop was allergic to dog hair, and Travolta also couldn't be kept due to the objections of Tony's landlord. Eventually the entire litter were sent off together to be trained as companions for the elderly.

Bouncer followed his pups path when he found an attraction down the road in the form of lonely Mrs. Mangel. The pair had crossed paths in spectacular fashion previously when Mrs. Mangel was helping the pregnant Daphne Clarke hang wallpaper in the nursery and an excited Bouncer came rushing in and knocked Mrs. Mangel off a ladder - causing her to temporarily lose her memory. As time passed, Bouncer began to spend a lot of time around Mrs. Mangel's house and she eventually grew fond of him too. A mini battle between Mike and Mrs. Mangel ensued over who Bouncer should live with, and it was only decided by letting Bouncer choose for himself. He ran to Mrs. Mangel rather than Mike, and Mike agreed to let Bouncer live at No. 32 with her.

After Mrs. Mangel married John Worthington and moved to England, she left Bouncer in the care of her son Joe. Bouncer missed Mrs. Mangel greatly at first but when Joe's son Toby arrived, he soon found another doting owner.

Love blossomed for Bouncer when old Clarrie McLachlan came to visit with sheepdog Rosie in tow. Bouncer and Rosie caused mayhem around the neighbourhood with their capers, and Bouncer even dreamed he married Rosie. Rosie came to Bouncer's rescue when he fell down a manhole and she alerted Joe and Toby in time to save him.

Bouncer was crowned the hero of Ramsay Street when he saved Madge and Sky Bishop from a fire at the Mangel house by answering the phone and barking for help. It was somewhat ironic that Bouncer saved Madge, given that she had previously almost killed him by knocking him down whilst she learned to drive.

He moved next door to No. 30 with Toby when the Mangels moved to the countryside and left Toby in the care of Dorothy Burke. Dorothy and Phoebe Bright, who was also living at No. 30, grew fond of Bouncer but it was Toby who adored him most - the two were inseparable. So when Toby and Dorothy were leaving Ramsay Street to join the Mangels in the country, Toby decided he couldn't leave Bouncer behind and brought him with him.

But Bouncer couldn't stay away from the street. Days after moving to the country, Toby phoned Jim Robinson to say Bouncer had run away. The neighbours were sure he was heading for Ramsay Street and it was Hannah Martin who discovered he was back because he had fathered a new litter of puppies in Anson's Corner. It was arranged for the pups to stay at a farm in the country near Bouncer and Doug and Pam Willis packed their ute full of the pups and drove them - and Bouncer - home to the country, as Bouncer left behind all the happy memories that the special dog had from his time in Ramsay Street. And the neighbours in turn remembered all the happy times they had shared with Bouncer, who was to be sorely missed around the place.

Trivia Notes
• Thirteen and a half weeks after finishing his final scenes on Neighbours in 1992, Bouncer died of cancer aged seven

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