New horizons: Anne-Marie Greenway has always kept Labradors, but they’ve all been black females. Golden boy Dexter will be a first for the Goorambat landowner.
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Anne-Marie Greenway
Tragedy brought Dexter to Goorambat. Since landing on Anne-Marie Greenway’s property, the Labrador-cross puppy has been enjoying a non-stop life, busily making up for the sad circumstances surrounding he and Anne-Marie’s first meeting.
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Tell us about Dexter.
He’s our new puppy, a Lab-cross. Our old dog (Sophie) had recently passed away after 14 years and we thought it was time to get a puppy. At first we got Purdy from a breeder in Bendigo. She was a pure-bred Labrador — I’ve always had Labradors because we were a shooting family in England — but when we got home we realised she had a congenital problem and we had to put her down after six days. The vets, and friends I had who are vets, all said there wasn’t any surgery that could be done and the quality of life wasn’t good enough for dogs with her condition (to keep them alive).
Nap time: A young Dexter concentrates on growing up fast.
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Anne-Marie Greenway
That must have been hard.
It was very distressing. We’d booked and paid for her two months before and it was our first night away since COVID-19 when we travelled to Bendigo. You’ve already invested so much and love them straight away.
What was Purdy’s condition?
Ectopic uretha. It’s a rare condition the breed has. It’s so rare I didn’t know about it and the breeder hadn’t heard of it either. Dogs with that condition can’t be kept alive. The breeder refunded us the money but it was very hard. She was a beautiful little black female and I had only ever owned females. Now we’ve got this golden boy.
Sad story: Young Purdy was Dexter’s predecessor.
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Supplied
How did Dexter come into the picture?
One of the vet nurses pointed us in his direction. His litter was just starting to be homed and he was about the same age as Purdy. We ended up taking him.
Will he have a job on your farm?
Ever since our old dog died last March, our hen house has been raided non-stop by the foxes. In the past we’ve put fox traps out but only caught a feral cat. Our 14-year-old late dog kept the foxes well away. We only saw the dead ones.
Retriever instincts: Dexter confiscates a dead bird he found.
Photo by
Anne-Marie Greenway
How is Dexter now?
He’ll be turning five months old when your publication comes out and will have had The Snip. He recently developed a bad case of travel sickness and won’t go near anything with an engine, however he does like ‘helping’ with bringing in the horses. He’s been quite good at finding dead birds and bringing them back to show me how brave he is!
Hold the horses: Dexter ‘helps out’ with miniature pony Spirit.
Photo by
Anne-Marie Greenway
