In this poem Lawson muses on the strength of the Allied powers, with the various 'national dogs' presented as metaphors (the British bulldog, the Australian kangaroo dog, etc). This version omits the last stanza of the original, which refers to Russia (ie. 'Russian wolf-hounds'). At the time Lawson wrote this poem, Russia was one of the Allied powers. However, this was to change following the Bolshevik revolution of October 1917.