Treats and tricks: Teddy’s close-up

Teddy’s family would describe him as a well-behaved, loveable dog who will do anything for treats.

The Finster siblings, Audrey, Tom and Elsie, have trained Teddy to do many tricks, including rolling over and shaking hands.

“He’s pretty good; it took a while to train him. We’re still training him,” Audrey said.

Teddy’s brother lives right next door, which Eva Finster said was one of the reasons Teddy ended up with their family.

“A random farm up the road was selling them, and we saw that the neighbour had their puppy, and we were talking about getting a dog. We couldn’t resist,” Mrs Finster said.

“They still have play-dates sometimes.”

Teddy’s very sociable. In fact, one time, when his family had gone out, he went looking for company.

“When we were away, he actually jumped the fence,” Mrs Finster said.

“Our neighbours were keeping an eye on him, and I think he just got too lonely and jumped the fence to follow them. He ended up staying over there while we were away.

“He kept jumping (over the fence), so we had to put in temporary fencing.

“We were like ‘You can’t keep doing that!’”

This behaviour even got him a new nickname.

“Teddy the horse, we call him,” Mrs Finster said.

This was a big triumph for Teddy, considering once upon a time, he struggled to get up the steps.

“When he was a puppy, he couldn’t get up on the deck (because he was so small),” Elsie said.

Teddy is an outside dog, but he’s not alone. The cat, Possum, keeps him company. The Finsters said the pets even cuddle up together in Teddy’s kennel.

“They’re besties because we got them around the same time,” Mrs Finster said.

“He’ll chase any other cat and bark at it, but not ours.”

But like any other dog-cat relationship, they face their challenges.

“They have their ups and downs,” Audrey said.

“When he’s wagging his tail at the door, and the cat comes, she starts playing with it.

“And she’s got a long tail, so she puts it in his face.”

Like every dog, he loves going on walks and gets super excited about them.

“He knows (he’s going on a walk) when Mum puts her sneakers on. He starts getting really excited,” Audrey said.

“He does whine every morning for a walk,” Mrs Finster said.

But Teddy is always looking out for his family, whether encountering dogs or people.

“With smaller dogs, if they’re just out walking, he’s not as protective, but with bigger dogs, he is,” Audrey said.

“Some people he’s funny with, and he’s quite protective, but then with others, he’s okay.”