If you told people that you owned a ‘Dalmaffy’, chances are not a single person in the room would have any idea what on Earth you’re talking about.
And quite rightly, because it’s a name we as a family made up to describe our Dalmatian-cross-Staffordshire terrier, Luna.
Luna is an energetic, but mostly lazy, nearly-five-year-old dog.
She will lie around all day on the floor, couch, or her personal favourite, beanbags. But the second somebody gets up and puts on their shoes, her ears stick straight up, and her excitement levels go through the roof.
Now this doesn’t necessarily mean she’s going for a walk. She just thinks she is.
This special four-legged friend of ours absolutely loves going on walks.
Unfortunately for those who walk with her, the case is not always the same.
Luna never thinks we can go fast enough, and continuously strongly pulls on the leash, until the person holding the leash risks developing a severe spinal injury.
The way Luna acts when she encounters other dogs just trying to enjoy their relaxing walks could be best described as wild.
She barks extremely loudly and pulls harder than ever on the leash, and this doesn’t end after we walk past the other dogs.
Luna keeps barking and pulling, despite the fact that the other dogs have long gone into the distance.
This crazy behaviour doesn’t end once we arrive home, either.
Luna appears to believe we are the worst dog owners ever when we tell her she cannot consume the family cat for dinner.
The poor cat just wants to enjoy her days, but when Luna is death-staring her through the gate that separates them, it’s hard for her to.
Now so far, Luna might seem like a very naughty and disobedient dog, but besides all those things, she is very well-behaved at home.
She waits to be told ‘go’ once her dinner is placed down before she digs into it, she sits down when she wants something, and she even politely cleans the floor for us when we accidentally drop some food.
She just loves cleaning up chicken and cheese, and makes the area where it was dropped spotless in less than half-a-second.
Luna has some adorable traits as well though. Sometimes in the mornings she pushes doors to the house open with her snout if she is up before they are awake.
She enjoys looking out various windows around the house, whether it’s to look at a cat, a bird, or even just to take in nature.
She likes playing fetch in the backyard and also loves being chased by her owners as she is just too fast for us.
She also cries constantly in the car, but is very happy when we reach our destination.
This ‘Dalmaffy’ is mostly black, with some patches on her chest, legs and paws.
She has brown eyes and big floppy ears, and is about 60cm tall.
Her tail moves side to side very fast when she’s excited; sometimes even her whole body.
Felix Harding is a Greater Shepparton Secondary College student who recently completed work experience with The News.