Dexters as

Family Pet and Companion

Dexter breeders can come to develop a close relationship with their cattle. There are a number of reasons for this. The first reason is that most Dexter breeders are smallholders so they have few cattle and get to know each of them individually. Secondly, Dexters themselves often seem to be friendly and can even become attached to a person. Thirdly, many Dexter breeders show their cattle at fairs and shows, and spend a lot of time training them to lead, grooming them and getting them to be comfortable when in close contact with people. Fourthly, some Dexter breeders start off as new to farming - perhaps they are city folks who buy a smallholding and decide to raise Dexters - and so they don't start off with traditional agricultural ideas about farm livestock being just animals to raise for profit. Their Dexters become their pets, companions and even friends.

The vast majority of Dexter breeders breed cattle that are suitable for smallholdings. They tend to cull aggressive individuals. Dexters have consequently developed a reputation for having a friendly character and being easy to handle.  These qualities, along with their smallness, led a German farmer who belonged to the Rudolf Steiner Society to import Dexters - he worked on his farm with mentally handicapped people, and Dexters were the perfect cattle for this situation (as reported in the Australian magazine The International Dexter, Issue 1, September 2002, page 26).

NOTE: Some Dexters may also have a healthy streak of mischief or even stubbornness. Individuals Dexters may become hard to handle because of lack of contact with people, poor handling, or bad experiences with humans.

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