The welcome for any visitor to Peter Bird’s farm near Tatura is all one needs to know about Sunny, the ‘coming-on-six-years-old-now’ Labrador bitch.
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Atop the grassy knoll in Peter’s front yard, Sunny holds her ground with endless barking until Peter is on the scene.
She gave Country News this very welcome and, given that the driveway is considerably long, it becomes apparent that she does not mind a bit of overtime.
Peter runs about 80 head of cattle (“I’m just a hobby farmer”) and grows crops on the farm, as well as managing Personal Best Coaching, a fitness business for individuals and football teams.
Where does Sunny come into your personal best?
Peter: She’s just the best dog.
Is there more?
The best thing is that she will not stop barking when someone arrives — for security — she won’t stop, which distracts me from what I’m doing.
If I’m working somewhere and she starts, you know something’s up. It’s the best thing she does.
Does she contribute to life around the home?
She loves it when you’re at home.
She’s never far from you, wherever you are, always within five to 10 metres.
But she’s an outside dog because she leaves too much hair around and she does get a bit smelly, this one, gets into the water a lot, knows how to find food.
(Sunny stares at us intently and Peter agrees that she loves the attention.)
She knows she’s getting talked about.
More of an outside dog?
Yes, she is.
How is her behaviour around the cattle?
She has no dramas with stock.
She’s only chased a cow once and got in trouble for it and has never done it again.
How would you sum her up? A brief description that encapsulates it all, your elevator pitch, your sales pitch.
I would never sell her.
What I meant was ...
How would I sum her up?
I would never sell her.
Oh.
She’s just a bloody good dog for security and companionship, she’s beautiful with young kids and is top dog all round.
Closest to the best dog I ever had, and I’ve had three or four in my time, and she’s very close to the top dog.
I will never take her off the farm, this is her domain, and she is very protective of that.
(The remainder of this story may be distressing for lovers of cavoodles.)
And who’s this little fella trotting around so inquisitive?
That dog there, Ziggy, is a pain in the arse to me because me and it don’t get along.
It’s the friendliest dog in the neighbourhood, but it lives inside, sleeps on my bed, but it doesn’t come near me as my son and my wife are its two best friends.
But I tend to always torment it, so me and it have that love-hate relationship.
Who loves, and who hates, whom?
(Peter laughs, but there’s no answer to the question.)
Sometimes I think it understands everything I am saying; it’s a very, very smart dog.
Coming on three years.
Does Ziggy have a gender?
It’s a he.
(Both Peter and Ziggy refused to pose for a photograph together. Peter assured me his wife has a sense of humour.)