Some People Should Not Own Dogs

[Staffyluv]

I dream of a world in which there are private dog parks where you can book time and have space to yourself.

Or maybe I should just use a padlock.

That would be heaven..

Z at the leash free park this morning

2014.2.1 Zig by jamoore photos, on Flickr

Edited February 1, 2014 by Staffyluv

[Little Gifts]

Staffyluv does your park have plastic pools for cooling off or was that BYO? What a fantastic idea! Most of our local ones have natural water courses and lots of water fowl/lizards and the like. The water is always muddy and smelly so we endeavour to restrict swims but it does give the dogs a little something extra (mmmm, duck poo!).

[Staffyluv]

There is no natural water up there, so the people that come to the park bring them up.

I bought one and took it up and the one Zig is in (above) is chained to the fence..

Sad that we have to chain them to the fence so they don't get stolen - over the last couple of years the locals have bought up about 8 pools.

However, since chaining them we haven't lost one :)

The park has very little grass and the trees are all new, so not much shade - but it is leash free and fully fenced. With 2 yards - one for smaller, older and pups and the other bigger yard for all other dogs.

I'm sure over time, the trees will grow (and hopefully so will the grass) and it will be a much nicer place. We are thankful that we have an area like this.

There are a couple of other areas that are leash free but they are not fenced and reasonably close to roads.

I think one of the best parks in the area is the one in Yarralumla - such a beautiful, fenced area for offlead play.

[kdf]

All this talk of off leash areas, fenced our unfenced, has me jealous. Technically my town doesn't have any. They're now in the planning stages of a dog park, with one councillor quoted as saying he couldn't justify the costs and that it should be up to the dog obedience club to organise.

talking about the same topic.I have to rant a little bit as I am so mad right now... I found a cute medium dog wandering around nearby and wanting to cross the big road with cars zooming pass fast.. So we called him over and he was wagging his tail running happily over to us. I reckon he has a woman owner as he seems more attentive towards me then hubby. Healthy, well groomed. Not too dirty. So it seems he has just gotten out.So, checked the tags, found council tag number. No name or phone number. I gave a call and got them to call the owner. Got a call from owner 30 minutes later and we exchange our locations, also asking if she can come and pick up her dog (it would be 5 minutes drive). I couldn't as just so happened our car is sent for servicing today. Then she explained that it might take her quite awhile to get there as she is on wheelchair. Alright, I took pity of her and said I can bring the dog over to her place. We have to wait till we get the car back. Then we did, and we sent him over... 2 ladies came out and got back their doggy. I felt cheated somehow. One of them lied to me that she is on the wheel chair just to avoid walking all the way to claim back her dog? I might heard wrongly but am pretty sure the whole sentence end with a wheelchair. I would have rush through the door to pick my own dog up if this happened to me! I bet, it happened few times already and maybe they are not too worried as their dog might just come back home to them!

Similar thing happen to me. Found a dog but it did have id. We called the owner who said she'd come and pick it up. I had my own dogs in the car with the ac running. I sat outside with the dog for about 15 minutes and she never arrived. Called her again and she said she was actually at a party and would be a while. I told her if she wasn't there in 5 minutes I was calling the council and when she still didn't arrive I then did exactly that. By the time the council arrived my dogs had been stuck in my car on the side of the road for nearly an hour! Council guy was shocked at the woman's behavior. She finally turned up about 10 minutes after the council did. The dog was already in his vehicle. I got daggers shot at me by the owner.

I really REALLY hope he fined her.

[Red Fox]

All this talk of off leash areas, fenced our unfenced, has me jealous. Technically my town doesn't have any. They're now in the planning stages of a dog park, with one councillor quoted as saying he couldn't justify the costs and that it should be up to the dog obedience club to organise.

As a rate payer in the area I can't see how the council can justify spending $30,000 on a dog park either. For that cost I'd rather see bag dispensers installed along the river, walking trials and skate park area (and therefore people having no excuse for not picking up after their dogs), existing leash laws actively policed (and repeat offenders actually fined for a change) and an area such as lock 5 opened up for leash free use during suitable hours.

[kdf]

All this talk of off leash areas, fenced our unfenced, has me jealous. Technically my town doesn't have any. They're now in the planning stages of a dog park, with one councillor quoted as saying he couldn't justify the costs and that it should be up to the dog obedience club to organise.

As a rate payer in the area I can't see how the council can justify spending $30,000 on a dog park either. For that cost I'd rather see bag dispensers installed along the river, walking trials and skate park area (and therefore people having no excuse for not picking up after their dogs), existing leash laws actively policed (and repeat offenders actually fined for a change) and an area such as lock 5 opened up for leash free use during suitable hours.

I'm with ya :) I'd like them to do anything at all for those of us with dogs. We pay rates and dog registrations every year too and so far the only dog related things I see are signs warning people to not take their dogs on the sporting ovals.

But it is the law, there is supposed to be somewhere that people can legally take their dogs for a run.

Unfortunately bag dispensers don't always work either. Most dog parks have bag dispensers and they are filled with crap that people are too lazy to pick up. An obedience club I went to held classes in a fenced dog park. The 15 minutes before class was always poop patrol.

eta And if the park is anything like the one in the next town over they might as well save their money. The one time I went there a large male kelpie was able to duck right under the fence with no problem at all. The fence was all but useless for anything smaller than a great dane! Hopefully they've fixed it.

Edited February 1, 2014 by kdf

[Red Fox]

All this talk of off leash areas, fenced our unfenced, has me jealous. Technically my town doesn't have any. They're now in the planning stages of a dog park, with one councillor quoted as saying he couldn't justify the costs and that it should be up to the dog obedience club to organise.

As a rate payer in the area I can't see how the council can justify spending $30,000 on a dog park either. For that cost I'd rather see bag dispensers installed along the river, walking trials and skate park area (and therefore people having no excuse for not picking up after their dogs), existing leash laws actively policed (and repeat offenders actually fined for a change) and an area such as lock 5 opened up for leash free use during suitable hours.

I'm with ya :) I'd like them to do anything at all for those of us with dogs. We pay rates and dog registrations every year too and so far the only dog related things I see are signs warning people to not take their dogs on the sporting ovals.

But it is the law, there is supposed to be somewhere that people can legally take their dogs for a run.

Unfortunately bag dispensers don't always work either. Most dog parks have bag dispensers and they are filled with crap that people are too lazy to pick up. An obedience club I went to held classes in a fenced dog park. The 15 minutes before class was always poop patrol.

eta And if the park is anything like the one in the next town over they might as well save their money. The one time I went there a large male kelpie was able to duck right under the fence with no problem at all. The fence was all but useless for anything smaller than a great dane! Hopefully they've fixed it.

We drove past that park the other week as I'd never seen it before. I was shocked at the small size and inadequate fencing. Not somewhere I would take my dogs at all!

I am planning on writing a submission to the council regarding the planned park and offering some suggestions for an alternate areas. Happy for you to PM me if you have any ideas or would like to offer some input