We are lucky enough to have a very large salt water lake within 10 min drive. Today Bear is being desexed (I have read all the information on when to do it and am probably more confused than before I started, but with a new puppy coming in a month, my vet said now was the right time, he is 8 1/2 months old). Anyway feeling a little guilty and knowing Bear can't exercise for 10 days, we took Bear to the lake with his favorite floating toy. Here is a short video and some pictures (he really did have fun). The only confusing part was the time when he jumped on the ring (with his front foot going through it) and then spent several minutes trying to work out why he couldn't pick it up, and when he would give up and start to walk away the ring would come with him. It is currently 2pm and I am supposed to pick Bear up at 5pm, nervously waiting to hear he has come out of anesthesia and everything is OK
Ah looks like he had a lovely time before his op.I hope he is ok when you collect him,Dexter was still like a tsunami of energy when I picked him up x
What a lovely place! You're in Australia I think? Where abouts? Xena was a dopey mess the evening of her spay. She was back to normal by mid-morning the next day. 2.5 weeks of leash walks, it was actually fine, she coped like a gem. Hopefully Bear's recovery is just as easy
Bear is back home, a little groggy, but seems unphased by the surgery. Yes Australia, East Coast NSW. The lake is Lake Macquarie, the pictures don't really show the scale of it, as Lake Maquarie is twice the size of Sydney Harbour.
Bear is nearly back to his old self. He has been licking the area which was a concern, the vet gave me an antiseptic spray with a bitter taste to discourage him. I don't think Bear quite gets it, when he sees the bottle he is like "don't spray that on me, I have to lick there later".
Glad bear had a good time. Why is he on a line? Is that to comply with leash laws etc.? Or perhaps there were loads of distractions around!
Yes this is not an off leash area. There are designated off leash areas, and otherwise dogs should be walked on lead. To be honest I doubt it is well regulated (I see a lot of dogs off lead dogs), but it is also 100 metre's from a busy road (90km per hour zone), so although Bears recall is OK, puppies can forget, and I would never forgive myself. I have this lunge line, so he has 20 feet of freedom. There are areas I would like Bear off lead, but can't legally, but I don't completely disagree with the laws. The toy is on a lead too, but that's not due to Australian regulations or road safety
I have the same issue in Wellington - this is a city and suburbs built along a coast line, so all the beaches are very close to busy roads. I had one terrifying moment when Xena was barely 14 weeks. The weather was awful, we were on an empty beach, when a GSP ran down to the beach (from the footpath!) to play with Xena, who promptly freaked out and ran up beach path onto the footpath where she froze, terrified. How she didn't run onto the road to get hit by a car I'll never know, but the great dog in the sky must have been watching over her that day. I have her on a long line now anyway, but that was a lesson in why suburban beaches are potentially very dangerous. We have to go outside the city to find beaches that are far from a road.
I'm never far from roads in London - 100m is miles and miles away for me! That's just how London is though. Lots of people have their dogs off lead on the pavements here, alongside busy roads (I really don't do that!). The only time I've ever had a close shave with traffic has been in the country in the middle of nowhere!
We drove through Wellington in a camper van (that's one of the ports for the island ferry if I'm correct). I really liked NZ, probably the best part was if it was raining on one side, it was generally sunny on the other (we only had 1 day on a 3 week holiday that we weren't able to get sunshine). I was also lucky enough to go to London about 10 years back after a Europe tour (only managed 3 days in London though), I remember seeing lots of dogs in the parks (and some pretty big breeds), London has some really nice parks. The other thing that was great was the public transport, I chuckled watching people run to the train when there was another one coming in a few minutes (but I am guessing they had to make an out of city connection). It also took a bit to get used to the idea of just jumping on the next red bus (and just getting off if we took the wrong one, we had a day ticket within the city). We are a bit lucky I think with places for dogs (we can get away from traffic if we want to, but this Lake spot has lots of sand and shallow area) in that we are 10 min to lake, 15 min to forest, 30min to the beach. My inlaws are 15 min away and they have a 10 acre property with creek frontage and dams, so he gets his fair share of off lead.
I'm a Londoner, and sometimes we forget to appreciate our good things! I now live an hour out surrounded by fields, woods and good walks along the Thames. A bit far to the sea for my liking (90 minutes drive) but a good spot nonetheless. When I'm yearning for Aus (very regularly, it has an overwhelming place in my heart) I should remember the good things at home! Just with more sunshine please
