Cheers! It's dog beer

Now a man really can have a beer with his best friends. And their canine buddies are lapping it up.

Having seen her two dogs jump at the chance to catch a drop of beer, Elise Schumacher decided to make a drink suitable for her four-legged friends.

So the Sydney mother invented Dog Beer, which is just like real beer but without the alcohol.

"It's DB, just like VB, and the slogan is, 'Shout your best friend a beer'," Mrs Schumacher said. "Dogs really love human beer but it's bad for them."

The hops in beer can cause dogs to have seizures while the carbon can lead some to die.

In an effort to keep her family pets happy, Mrs Schumacher, owner of Paws Point store in Sydney's eastern suburbs, decided to design a canine-friendly beer.

After researching how to brew her own beer, the mother of two then had to taste test the beef flavours.

"I have drunk it," she said. "It tastes like beef and smells like beer."

While unlikely to be served on tap at the pub, some dog-friendly cafes are stocking the brand.

"It is popular with male customers," she said, adding that summer barbecues often prompted greater sales. "People pick up a few bottles for the dogs."

And the best part about this beer is that customers don't have to be over 18 to drink it.

NSW truckies take it slowly in protest

It's all about the rising cost of petrol these days, though if you think you have it tough spare a thought for our truckies.

A convoy of disgruntled NSW truck drivers took their rigs and grievances to the F3 freeway on Tuesday in slow protest of rising fuel costs. They left the Caltex Service Station at Warnervale on the central coast before driving down the freeway at speeds of between 60 and 80km/h.

The increase in fuel costs has some drivers spending as much as $500 a day!