tin dog

plural tin dogs

1. AustraliaA noise-making device, often constructed ad hoc from materials to hand, used by a farmer to get sheep or cattle moving.

   2005 October 30, Bruce Simpson, interviewed on Landline, Australian Broadcasting Commission, transcript, I was with the cattle on my own at that stage, and to get them going, I inserted a few stones in the quart pot and used that as a tin dog. It got the cattle moving.

2. AustraliaalternativeAlternative form of tinned dog, a disparaging term for canned meat.

   1993, Don Munday, Tin Dog, Damper and Dust, autobiography.