When I anticipated moving from the inner-northern suburbs of Melbourne to Sydney’s east, I imagined the obvious adjustments: Needing to invest in matching athleisure wear ensembles, punitively priced cocktails, shaving my legs more frequently and falling in love with jacarandas. I knew that by 9pm, the streets would be sequestered and mute.

This, I was ready for. My dog becoming a celebrity, though, I was not.

Madison Griffiths with her dog, Fil.

At eight years old, my Scottish deerhound Fil (pronounced Phil) endured many chilly Melbourne winters at my side, spending crisp mornings galloping about in Northcote’s All Nations Park alongside a faithful rotation of rescue greyhounds dressed in polar fleeces. In that area, there was a fair few hounds with bristly coats like Fil. During our nine-hour drive north along the Hume, I imagined he’d find his new harbourside life and the sand beneath his paws a welcome change.

In the six months since I moved to Elizabeth Bay, Fil has become an overnight celebrity. Because among an abounding sea of cavoodles and chihuahuas, my gigantic hound........

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