When Steph Hackworthy drives through the streets of Shepparton, she has come to expect a few turned heads.
If you catch up for a chat with her at Victoria Lake Park, passers-by will always stop to take in her white car adorned with black stick-on spots that makes it look very similar to a certain dog breed.
And when Ms Hackworthy’s two beloved Dalmatians — Dexter and Dallas — stick their heads out the back window, they’re always greeted with exclamations.
“Everybody loves Dalmatians, they make people happy,” she said.
When a woman asked if she was a Dalmatian breeder, Ms Hackworthy said the question was the “normal” response to the matching car and dogs.
For the record, Ms Hackworthy is not a Dalmatian breeder.
She just loves her dogs.
“My first experience with a Dalmatian was one that was really aggressive, bred in the craze that came after 101 Dalmatians,” Ms Hackworthy said.
“But I met Dexter’s mum and got put on the waiting list ... and when he was born, he was perfect.
A former dog trainer, Ms Hackworthy wanted a dog she “didn’t have to worry about” while she cared for other pooches.
“He’s just too friendly,” she said of Dexter.
Dallas came a few years later at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is the classic example of a COVID-19 puppy.
“He hasn’t been really well socialised,” Ms Hackworthy said.
“He’s a good dog, he’s just got some growing up to do.”
As for the car, it’s just an example of Ms Hackworthy wearing her “heart on (her) sleeve” — and she points to the Dalmatians tattoo on her arm.
“They just crept into my life and took over everything,” she said.
“I may as well have it on the car as well.”
Ms Hackworthy said she didn’t mind the attention the car, and Dallas and Dexter, brought.
She said the sweetest moment of all was when she hired removalists to help her move house.
“They (her dogs) bring out the child in everyone,” she said.
“They were big, burly blokes, and as soon as they saw Dexter, they were like ‘101 Dalmatians!’.
“It was absolutely gorgeous.”