This is my entry for my blog friend, Tucker the Great Dane’s Staycation Contest – Tucker lives in a beautiful place called Maine, in the faraway place called America and he realised that although lots of people come specially to his home town for their holidays, he never thinks about it himself – he always goes away! So he thought it would be nice if we could all do ‘daytrips’ to find out more about our own home towns and tell each other about it. The main rule is that you have to go there and back in a day – and it must be somewhere totally new that you and your humans have never been before.
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A couple of weekends ago, my humans took me to a really cool place – it is called Bribie Island and it is a little island in the sea, just a bit higher up the Queensland coast from Brisbane.
My humans had heard that there is a very good dog beach there – where you can walk for miles and miles and it is not crowded and full of other people and doggies, so I can run and play properly. So they decided to take me to check it out.
Bribie Island is special because it is connected to the main part of Australia by a long bridge and so you don’t have to go there by boat – you can just get there in the car machine! It is about 1 & half hour’s drive from Brisbane (if you live north of the river – longer if you live in the south).
The part of the water where the bridge crosses is very beautiful – it is called the Pumicestone Passage Marine Park and there are lots of fisherman and white boats called yachts there. There is also a wonderful view north to the Glasshouse Mountains.
It was quite exciting when we finlly drove off the long, long bridge and onto Bribie Island! We drove first through a little village which my humans said was very “quaint with a seaside resort atmosphere”. There are actually 5 little villages around the island and lots & lots of beaches! (although doggies are only allowed on one of them).
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* Unfortunately, it was very grey and even a bit rainy on the day we went so none of our photos came out very nice. My humans say the photos don’t do justice to how lovely Bribie Island really is – but you know a place is really beautiful when you enjoy it even when it is grey and rainy!
Here is a picture of Bribie Island from the Travelpod website:
A lot of the island is covered by Bribie Island National Park and it is a great place if you like to watch birds. You can also go biking and walking through the bush – or on the long, empty beaches. Because it is not as popular and well-known as the other parts of Queensland (like the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast), the tourist websites say it is a “hidden gem” and there are a lot less people going there – and my humans really liked that. They said it reminded them much more of NZ where the view is much more natural and wild and unspoilt by man-made things and it wasn’t full of noisy people and car machines.
Of course, we headed straight for the dog beach! This starts at Red Beach on the west side of the island and runs all along the bottom of the island, around to Woody Bay on the east side of the island. It can be a bit hard to find because you have to drive to the end of Welsby Parade, into South Esplanade and then turn into a dirt road leading into the trees, called Renton Lane – this will take you to Spowers St and then follow the signs for “Red Beach”.
We finally came to a little carpark in the forest covered in sand and saw this sign – we knew we had found it!
Come on, slow humans!
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Ooh! There were lots of interesting things on the beach to sniff and explore. Floaty sticks, stinky seaweed, pretty shells…even a strange squashy thing that my humans said was a real ‘natural sponge’ washed up from the sea!
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* By the way, see that beautiful bright pink bandana I’m wearing? That was a present from my blog friends, Max & JD the Schnauzer Brothers – their humans got it for me when they were on holiday to Egypt. You can’t see it in the photos but it even has my name “Honey” embroidered in a strange ancient writing called hieroglyphics – isn’t that cool? Thanks so much again, boys – you’ve made me the most stylish doggie on the beach!
We kept walking and walking – the beach went on for miles and miles! We met a few other doggies walking with their humans but lots of times, there was nobody else we could see – it was almost like our own private beach!
There was also a really interesting forest on the other side of the sand from the sea – it was like a forest from the time of the dinosaurs, with huge old trees reaching for the sky – and some that had fallen down and were lying on their sides, all dry and twisty, like giant monsters washed up from the sea and frozen on the sand…
I loved running through them and climbing and exploring them!
The beach kept going on but we decided we’d better start heading back as our lunch was still back in the car machine! Since my humans didn’t know if there would be any dog-friendly cafes on Bribie Island, they had decided to pack a picnic lunch for us to have on the beach together.
We found a nice spot just beside a big fallen tree and made ourselves comfortable…I was really thirsting from all my exploring so I spent a long time slurping water…
…Paul had even brought his little magic stick which swallows music from the computer and then when he attaches a special “speaker” mouth to it, it vomits all the music back out again!
Hsin-Yi had found a very cool little speaker mouth which was so small it could fit in your hand. But she wished Paul hadn’t brought his magic music stick because she doesn’t like the music he listens to. Paul likes music from people like Coldplay and Pink… Hsin-Yi only likes music from the 80′s and 90′s or the soundtrack of ‘Dirty Dancing’ – and she thinks all the music on the radio now is rubbish (Paul says this is a sign she is getting old) – anyway, my humans always argue a lot when they put music on!
I don’t like any music really (except the kind which makes Hsin-Yi jump around and dance with me) – I think it is very noisy and it’s so much nicer to listen to the birds singing or the waves whispering or even just nothing at all. I think quietness sounds really nice. But I have noticed that humans don’t like it when it is quiet – they are really very noisy creatures.
Anyway, my humans finally found a NZ singer called Brooke Fraser who they both agreed sounds nice and we finally sat down to lunch on the beach!
Well, actually – the humans had lunch – I had to do a Down Stay on the blanket next to them and drool politely … er, wait politely until they had finished, to see if I could get any leftovers. So unfair! Still, both Hsin-Yi and Paul did save me some of their bread – you know bread is my most favouritist, favouritist treat in the world – better than liver or chicken or sausage – I’ll do ANYTHING for bread!
Oh! But before my humans had even finished their lunch, we had unexpected guests at our picnic! Two cheeky black & white birds suddenly appeared out of nowhere and sat on the fallen tree next to us, watching my humans eat.
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I didn’t trust them at all – I knew their beady little eyes were watching the leftover bread that was supposed to be for ME.
SHOO!
But then – oh, shock horror! – Hsin-Yi started saying how cute they were and then she started feeding them a bit of the leftover bread that was supposed to be for ME!!! Oh, how could she? After I had been such a good girl, doing such a good Down Stay for so long and waiting so politely – and those piggy birds weren’t cute at all – they were UGLY! Humph!
Well, my humans did finally give me the rest of the leftover bread but I was still feeling very grumpy with them. In fact, I was feeling so grumpy, I refused to look at the camera machine when we were taking a family photo later – so there!
It had started to rain even more now so my humans decided it was time to go home. We packed up everything to walk back to the car machine. It had been a really lovely day (OK, yes, even with the stupid birds eating my bread!) and we were all very sad that Bribie Island is so far from home. My humans said they would like to take me to that beach every week! But it’s so far away that it’s not really practical, they say. (Oh, why oh why aren’t there nice, beautiful, big, uncrowded places where doggies can go off-leash in Brisbane? It is such an UN-dog-friendly city! )
Anyway, I do hope we get to go back to Bribie Island again some day – I had a fantastic time!
Well, at the beginning of this post was a little movie of my day on Bribie Island…you can see me doing zoomies with Hsin-Yi and rescuing sticks from the sea and yes, the camera even caught Hsin-Yi feeding MY leftover bread to those ugly birds – what do you think – don’t you agree that it was SO unfair?! (by the way, my humans didn’t really allow me to do zoomies after eating – that was actually before our lunch but Hsin-Yi sometimes changes things around when she edits movies because she thinks they look better that way – she says it is called ‘artistic licence’! )
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Why don’t you enter Tucker’s Staycation Contest too? It’s a great excuse to have a fun adventure with your humans and discover someplace new in your home town! Here are the rules from Tucker’s site:
* Deadline September 6, 2010 (the un-official end to Summer in the States)
* The staycation must be a fairly local day trip that hoomans and doggies do together.
* The location can be anything but it needs to be NEW to both the hooman and the doggie.
* You must take pictures and do a blog post to share your great adventure!
* Please email me (tuckergreatdaneATgmail.com) with a link to your adventure post
* 1 entry per household
* I’ll pick the winner randomly from all the entries.
Some ideas could be a State / National Park, a Festival, or a Mountain Hike. The winner will receive a package full of Hooman and Doggie Maine Made Touristy Treats.
Last weekend – as a special treat for Paul’s birthday – my humans took me to a wonderful place! It is called Byron Bayand you have to drive south from Brisbane for 2 hours in the car machine to get there. In fact, it is actually in another part of Australia called New South Wales:
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So last Friday evening, instead of taking me for my usual walk, my humans started rushing around the house as soon as Paul came home – putting lots of things in bags and then putting lots of bags in the car machine!
I was bit a worried that they would forget my Giant Beanbag Bed – I just can’t get comfortable sleeping on anything else! – but thank goodness, my humans remembered to put that in the car machine too. The only problem was…would it fit?
Push, Hsin-Yi! PUSH!
It was so puffy that it took up all the space in the back seat and nearly didn’t leave any room for anything else!
Look – by the time I got in the car machine too (and lay down like I always do), you could barely even see me – hee! hee!
Anyway, after a lot of huffing and puffing (and grumbling from Hsin-Yi about getting a Chihuahua next time…) we finally set off! It was already dark so I couldn’t see anything out the windows but it seemed a long way away ‘coz we just kept on driving and driving…but then finally, we arrived!
We were staying in a lovely place called Gillies Cottage, in a small town called Bangalow, up in the mountains of the Byron Bay Hinterlands. My humans had searched and searched for a dog-friendly holiday place where I was allowed INSIDE the house (‘coz a lot of places that say they are “dog-friendly” actually only allow doggies to stay in the garden or on the deck!) – and they were so happy with the place they found! They kept walking around the cottage oohing and aahing, saying how pretty it was. Hsin-Yi said it was “full of character” – hmm…who cares about that – I was just worried that I wasn’t “full of DINNER”!! When were they going to feed me??
Ah! Finally, Paul got the hint and took out my food bowl. As you know, I’m on the Raw Diet and normally, I get mostly different raw meaty bones like chicken wings and lamb brisket, with a bit of commercial raw mixture in the evenings - but when we go away on holiday, my humans just take my commercial raw mixture because it is easier.
Make sure you scrape out every last bit, Paul!
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Now, I have to confess a little embarrassing secret to you: I know there are some doggies that get a bit stressy when humans come near their food – it is called “resource guarding” and it’s not really a good habit to have ‘coz it can make doggies grumpy and even bite humans – so it’s important for you to get help if you have this problem.
For those interested, there is a very good little book written by a famous dog behaviourist in the USA called Jean Donaldson, to help you overcome this problem: Mine! by Jean Donaldson
Also, here are a few articles on resource guarding from Dog Star Daily, Dr Ian Dunbar’s fantastic website full of info on dog training and behaviour:
Well, for me – I hate to say this – but I have the opposite problem. See, I get a bit scared when my bowl knocks against something and makes a scary clangy noise.
My special feeding table
Back in Auckland, I had a special feeding table outside in the garden which had holes exactly the same size as my food bowls and so they wouldn’t move around - but sometimes if it was raining, I would have to eat inside the house and then my humans put my bowl on a chair…and then if I push it around when I’m trying to lick all the food up, sometimes it suddenly BANGS! and CLANGS! and Oh! It’s so scary! Once it even fell off the chair and went SPLAT on the floor with a HUGE CLANG! And it looked different – it was sort of upside-down and all my food was stuck under it – so I jumped back and started barking and barking at this scary Bowl Monster…until my humans came to see what the fuss was and started laughing at me. But I refused to eat again unless they held my bowl for me so that it wouldn’t bang around and turn into a Bowl Monster again.
So ever since then, if my humans are feeding me on a chair, they have to hold my food bowl for me otherwise I am too scared to eat. Hey – don’t call me a big baby – you don’t know how scary it is to have an Upside-down Food Bowl until you have experienced it!
Well, now that my tummy was full, it was time for bed! The cottage had 2 lovely bedrooms but my humans told me that doggies are not allowed in the bedrooms so I only had a peek from the doorway…
…but that’s OK because I have always slept in the living room and I’m used to that. As long as I have my Giant Beanbag Bed, I’m happy!
And the next morning when I woke up, I couldn’t wait to get exploring! Now that it was bright and sunny, I could see the cottage properly at last and my humans were right – it was so pretty, with a lovely little garden outside I could run around in!
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But wait! What’s that I smell? Mmmm…it smells like fresh bread toasting! BREAD!!!!!! My favourite!! Quick – must head back to the kitchen…
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Hsin-Yi had said that because this was not our usual home, I didn’t have to follow the Out-Of-Kitchen rule here…
…but to be honest with you, once I’d done a bit of sniffing, I just stayed out of the kitchen by myself. I felt a bit weird being in the kitchen – it’s like the sofa – if we’ve never been allowed something, then us doggies just get used to it and that becomes what’s “normal”.
Besides, I could see that Paul had yummies that he was keeping all to himself on the kitchen bench! Mmm…I smell toast and marmalade! Can I have some?
My humans kept ignoring me – then I realised! Oh! I’d forgotten my manners! Of course, if any doggie wants anything – especially a yummy – we always have to say “Please” and everybody knows the doggie equivalent of ‘Please’ is a “SIT”!
NOW can I have some? Please?
Yay! As soon as I sat and waited nicely, my humans gave me some of that marmalade bread. And I can tell you – it was YUMMY!
Well, I had barely had time after breakfast to settle down for my mid-morning nap when my humans called me out to the car machine…we were going on an adventure!
First, we went driving around the other pretty little towns in the mountains of the Byron Bay Hinterlands and even had a little trek through the bush…
(can you see me leaning on Hsin-Yi in the collage? Hee! Hee! That’s one of the things us Danes are famous for – we are great leaners and can never prop our own weight up if there is a convenient human nearby to help prop us up instead!)
…and then just before lunch, we drove to the town of Byron Bay itself. It is right beside the beach and has lots of pretty shops selling cute and interesting things.
My humans say it is very “alternative” with lots of candles and massage oils and natural therapies and Arty Humans making strange but beautiful things and people doing that strange upside-down stretching called Yoga…
It also has lots of Surfer Humans because of the big waves on the beach. In fact, lots of people like to come here on holiday with their families because it has such a nice, relaxed feeling and such beautiful beaches and cafes with yummy food!
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Of course, the first thing we did when we arrived was to head for the beach! A lot of beaches in Australia don’t allow doggies – especially the nicer ones - but we were very lucky because there are quite a few beaches around Byron Bay that let doggies run free on them all the time and there are always clear signs telling you where to go:
The closest dog-friendly beach to Byron Bay town is Belongil Beach, which you can get to from the Main Beach Carpark.
I couldn’t wait to get on the sand – come on, humans! Why are you so slow?
Belongil Beach was quite busy with lots of doggies and their humans running and playing…
…I met lots of new doggie friends!
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I even met a Ridgeback like my blog friend, Nala, although this doggie wasn’t so friendly…in fact, she seemed a bit scared of me!
But the next moment, I didn’t mind because guess what? I found a stick!! Now, normally my humans don’t let me play with sticks because they can break and get stuck in our throats or poke us in the eye – sticks can be really dangerous! But my humans make an exception on the beach if I find a nice fat wet stick that has been in the sea for a long time and is very thick and heavy with water, so it doesn’t break easily. And they only throw it in the water so that it doesn’t hit something hard and bounce back in my face…
…and then I get a great game! Yay!
Sadly, I finally lost the stick. It fell into the sea and I couldn’t rescue it before it drowned.
But never mind – there was still lots of beach to explore!
As we kept on walking up the beach, I saw some cliffs by the side of the sand so off I went to climb and explore…
Hah! Who says I’m a “senior doggie”? There’s lots of flexibility and agility in these limbs yet! Look at me!
And then Hsin-Yi decided that it would be a good place to prop the camera machine so we could get a self-timer family photo…
Hsin-Yi really likes the self-timer because otherwise we never get photos of us together as a whole family. And it’s hard to always find somebody to take a photo for you – besides, sometimes people don’t have any idea how to take a good photo, like they cut off your head or they put you right in front of the thing you want to take a picture with, so you’re blocking it or they make you really small in the corner, with lots of empty concrete ground in front! Hsin-Yi says lots of people don’t think when they are “framing” a photo but she feels it’s rude being bossy to tell them what to do – so it is much easier to just use a self-timer so she can set up the picture exactly how she likes…well – as long as there is something convenient to prop the camera machine on! Sometimes it’s hard finding something at the right height and angle…especially when you’re in the middle of a big, wide beach!
This time, Hsin-Yi had to climb halfway up the cliffs, prop the camera in a crack in the rocks, hit the button and then come scurrying back down to sit next to me and Paul just in time before the shutter clicked!
And here’s the result - it’s not the best picture taken with self-timer but it’s not bad – considering!
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Of course, it can’t beat a photo taken by someone, that is framed properly with the right angle and perspective!
Anyway, Hsin-Yi said it was the worst time to take pictures by now because it was just past lunchtime and the sun was really strong and really high in the sky, so it puts dark shadows on everything, especially if you’re facing into the sun. (The best time for photos is late afternoon when the sun is low in the sky and the light is soft and warm – everyone always looks best in that light!)
Still, Hsin-Yi did manage to get some interesting photos even with the bright sun and shadows:
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And while she was busy doing that, guess what I found? Half of a HUGE fish lying in the sand!
It must have been lying there for a very long time because it was all dry and didn’t even smell stinky anymore. Shame. I could have had a good roll in it. But since my humans told me to “Leave It”, I left it alone.
Anyway, by now everybody’s tummies were rumbling so we decided to head back towards the carpark and start thinking about lunch…
But wait! What’s this? My goodness, they’re even doing that strange Yoga thing on the beach!
Back at the carpark, my humans were a bit worried about what to do for lunch. They really wanted to take me with them to a cafe but you know, taking a Dane anywhere into town is like planning a military operation. They would need to find a dog-friendly cafe with LOTS of space around the tables for me and far enough away from the other tables – especially if there are other people there who might not like doggies.
My humans also like to sit in a quiet corner if possible so that people can’t see me easily – otherwise they will never be able to eat their lunch in peace because there would be hundreds of people constantly stopping to ask questions about me and pat me. And since it was the weekend and so busy-busy with lots of people in Byron Bay, they didn’t think they would be able to find anywhere to meet so many conditions…
But then they saw a cafe that was just perfect! It was called Freshand it was right on the main Jonston St (beach end) but also on the corner with a side street…which meant that we could sit at the table at the very end, down the side street, without getting in anybody’s way and where most people couldn’t see me.
Can you see me?
There - can you see me now?
Hmm...good views...
Mmm…soon the food started arriving and it looked DELICIOUS!!
Hsin-Yi had a big plate of pasta with garlic prawns, cherry tomatoes, rocket leaves and chilli - while Paul had a healthy roast pumpkin salad….
My humans (well, Hsin-Yi actually) also ordered a big bowl of chips with aioli…and because I was being very polite, lying down and drooling…er, I mean waiting nicely beside the table, they let me have some…mmm…YUMMY!
And then we asked our lovely waitress to take a photo for us!
Are you going to eat that? Coz if not, I can make a start for you...
(By the way, there were STILL tons of people that saw me and came up to pat me and ask questions! But at least it was fewer than it would have been if we were sitting right on the main street so at least my humans ate most of their lunch in peace! )
After lunch, we had a little walk around the streets of Byron Bay. My humans were surprised at how relaxed & dog-friendly everyone’s attitudes were – even though it was very crowded with lots of families and human pups and surfers and tourists in the streets, there were also lots of people with their doggies walking in the streets and nobody seemed to mind or give us doggies dirty looks, like they do in some other places. (NSW seems much more relaxed and dog-friendly than Queensland?)
To be honest, I wasn’t really that interested in exploring the town – all I wanted to do now was have a big sleep – after all the adventures…and exploring…and running…and fresh air…and chips! It was late afternoon by now and cooling down, so my humans left me in the car machine in the shade, with the windows open, and went for a ‘mooch’ by themselves around Byon Bay.
Hsin-Yi bought a little souvenir from one of the pretty shops – well, 3 souvenirs really: 3 little painted wooden kitties with long, long tails – aren’t they cute?
I was also a bit jealous to hear that my humans went and got themselves gelato! But at least they both saved a bit for me to lick when they came back to the car…mmm…coffee gelato from Paul and strawberry gelato from Hsin-Yi!
And then finally, it was time to go back to our cottage! It was dark by now and with the sun gone, it was starting to get very cold, especially up in the mountains! But the cottage was lovely and warm, with very good heater machines, so we were snug and cosy.
I curled up on my bed in the living room and watched the TV box with Paul. In the TV box, lots of men were running around, kicking a football to each other, just so they could win a big food bowl, even though it had no food in it (humans are so strange sometimes!) – and there were lots of people inside the TV box watching them too. I couldn’t work out if it was a happy game or a sad game because sometimes the people would shout in grumpy ways and sometimes they would cry and sometimes they would jump up screaming and hug each other!
My humans had originally planned to go out again for dinner but decided since it was so cold and dark, they couldn’t sit outside at a table with me (and doggies aren’t allowed to be left in Gillies Cottage alone) so in the end, Paul just went to get Thai takeaway. Anyway, my humans were very happy because the Postman had just brough a present for them from Amazon, before we left Brisbane : the X-Files Season 1 DVD set – so we all curled up in the living room and watched a movie about creepy alien worms…
…it had been a BIG day…zzzZZZzzz…
I could barely get up the next morning – Sunday – I was so exhausted from all my adventures the day before, I could have slept for another week!
While my humans were having their breakfast…
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…I took my Ducky for a tour around the cottage to say goodbye:
Now that the sun was back again, it was lovely and warm. In fact, I’d just found myself a nice patch of sunshine to snooze in when my humans said it was time to pack up and leave!
Aw...do I have to? But I'm so comfy!
But they said they were taking me to another beach before we headed back to Brisbane…yay!
This time we drove a bit further away, south of Byron Bay, to a place called Lake Ainsworth beside Lennox Head. And there we found a FANTASTIC dog-friendly beach called Seven Mile Beach.
My humans loved it because it was much more like the beaches we’re used to back in New Zealand (and which we really miss) - much more wild and empty, with miles of space that goes on and on and reaches the sky! A lot of the beaches we have been to here in Australia seem a bit crowded compared to what we were used to. My humans don’t mind it if there isn’t white sand and sunshine and blue skies like a postcard, because usually those beaches have tons of people as well – they like wild, lonely beaches much better. So do I!
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But “wild & lonely” doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun…
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…or meet new doggie friends either!
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Look – I even met a Labrador doggie like my blog friend, Dexter! He was just as bouncy ‘cracker dog’ too – this must be his Aussie cousin!
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And then I found something even more exciting than doggie friends – a GIANT STICK!
But the excitement wasn’t over. A bit further down the beach, I came across this…! Hmm….I think this sandcastle needs a bit of help…
Come on, Hsin-Yi, come and help me!
Hsin-Yi has taught me to Dig on command – even though I’m not allowed to dig in the gardens at home but my humans say I can dig all I want when we go to the beach!
Yay! Dig…dig…dig…
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…hang on…wait! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??
My human was trying to bury me alive!
Hsin-Yi said she was making me into a “Sand Dog” and I couldn’t even move because I was in a “Down Stay”…Huh! So THIS is the real reason why humans teach us doggies ‘bomb-proof Down Stays’ – just so they can publicly humiliate us!
Really – the things that humans find amusing – and they call ME simple…!
Well, it was getting near lunchtime so it was time we were heading off – but before we left, Hsin-Yi wanted to get a photo of me & her standing together on a log. I was facing the wrong way with my bum to the camera – then I used the new pivoting trick that I’d learnt recently to swing my bum around so that I was facing the camera, without taking my front paws off the log - Hsin-Yi was very proud of me! She says it’s great when my training comes in handy for “everyday life”! (can you see my 2 trails of slobber hanging down from my jowls and flapping in the wind, in the photo? Haven’t learnt any trick to deal with that yet! Hee! Hee!)
Last thing, we got another self-timer family photo. Hsin-Yi decided to do an “action shot” this time so she propped the camera up on a fence and made me and Paul walk with her, past it many times, grinning like idiots.
Poor Paul was very embarrassed – he thought all the people on the beach must have been thinking that we were mad (thank goodness it was such a “wild & lonely” beach with not many people about!) – but after being married to Hsin-Yi for nearly 13 years now, he is well-trained by now. Anyway, it’s easier to just give in to her because otherwise she will keep pestering you until you pose for her – and I have to admit, the pictures do come out very nice!
OK! Time for some lunch now!
And we struck lucky again because we found another great dog-friendly cafe! It’s called Treehouse on Belongil and it’s in a small side street near the other end of Belongil Beach, back in Byron Bay. And it really did look like a treehouse!
It was very interesting – all the tables & chairs were different shapes and kinds and sizes, some with soft cushions, even some beanbags! and on different levels…there were trees growing through the restaurant everywhere…and you could see into the kitchen where a man was making pizza next to a big wood fire! There was even a place where people come to play music at night.
I saw quite a few other doggies there…you know, even doggies at Byron Bay are trendy and “alternative” – look, they don’t even use leashes to keep hold of their humans – they use fancy tie-dyed scarves!
Of course, the moment I was really waiting for was when the FOOD arrived!
Mmm, I wonder what yummies I would get to taste this time?
I was STARVING! All that running and swimming on the beach had given me a HUGE appetite!
For their Starters, my humans had ordered potato wedges and spicy chicken wings… ooh, they looked good!
I know most doggies don’t like spicy foods but I actually really like it because Hsin-Yi eats LOTS of spicy stuff (sheputs chillis in EVERYTHING!) and she’s always let me taste a bit of everything ever since I was a puppy so I guess I’ve sort of developed a taste for chilli! Hee! Hee!
For their main course, Paul had ordered a healthy roast turkey foccacia sandwich but Hsin-Yi had ordered a GINORMOUS pizza all for herself. It was so huge that even Hsin-Yi couldn’t finish it…so since I had been lying so politely by the table – and as a special treat because we’re on holiday – Hsin-Yi said I could help her finish the pizza. In fact, she didn’t just give me the measly crust like she usually does – she gave me a WHOLE slice all for myself!!
OK, I know a lot of you must be horrified by now, wondering how I could be allowed to eat so much “junk food” when I’m supposed to be on the healthy Raw Diet. Well, my humans believe that it is better to eat a natural, fresh, healthy raw diet with no chemicals for your every day life and then it’s OK to have some junk food once in a long while for special occasions – rather than eating a dogfood full of additives and preservatives and poor quality nutrition every day, which would give you bad health, even if you never ate any “human junkfood”!
Also a lot of humans believe that you should never let us doggies taste anything other than our own dog food because otherwise this will teach us to beg at the table and steal food…
Actually, it is good training that teaches us not to beg or snatch or steal food. Even doggies that have never tasted any “junkfood” will beg and steal if they don’t get the right training – and lots of doggies (including me) get “human treats” all the time but never beg or steal food. We always wait politely and only come near the table when we have permission. But that is because my humans have taught me good manners and are very consistent with their ‘food manners’ rules.
Still, my humans think I must have a pretty tough tummy. Hsin-Yi says most doggies who had eaten all the “junk” I had would probably get an upset tummy and bad diarrhoea! (Do you know, in just this weekend, I had: pizza, potato wedges, spicy chicken wings, pasta, prawn, chips with aioli, gelato, marmalade, bread, watermelon, cookies…) Maybe I’m just lucky – or maybe it’s because Hsin-Yi always let me taste small bits of lots of different things ever since I was a puppy, so maybe my tummy was trained to get used to lots of different things! Hsin-Yi says human pups are like that too – and if humans only ever eat one kind of food then when they go to another country, they get upset tummies over the strange food – even if the strange food isn’t actually bad.
Well, my humans said if I got diarrhoea after all that, I would deserve it! – but don’t worry – I was fine and didn’t even have a hiccup!
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I was very sad after our lunch was over because it was time to drive back to Brisbane. I had had such a wonderful time in Byron Bay, I wanted to stay longer!
To finish off – here is a very short movie of me playing on Seven Mile Beach. My humans didn’t take much video this time so I couldn’t make a proper holiday movie like I did last year for my holiday in Rotorua - but I wanted to show you this so you could see how big and strong the waves were on Seven Mile Beach! Wasn’t I a brave girl? It took me until I was 5 years old to get me to wade out into the sea – but there’s no stopping me now! Not even sharks!!
(Actually, humans got a fright because after they threw my ball into the water, they suddenly remembered that other dog owners had warned them about sharks swimming up and down the beach, waiting to snatch doggies that go too far out into the sea! )
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If you would like to follow in my pawsteps…
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…here are some links my humans used to plan our trip:
My friend, Loki the Great Dane, had a really cool idea: since we aren’t allowed to have playdates yet while I’m still on my “2 weeks gentle exercise” for my back ouchie – she suggested that we meet up for brunch instead!
Yup – she said that Roma St Parklands,which is a pretty park in the city, has a cafe where there are nice tables outside and lots of space for giant doggies like us to stretch out – and lots of yummies on the menu!
So we dragged our humans out of bed on the weekend (silly humans grumbling about their lie-ins…who needs lie-ins when you can have a brisk morning walk instead?! ) to meet up in the park…
We decided to do a big walk around the park first to work up an appetite before hitting the cafe!
Meeting a scaly friend in Roma St Parklands back in summer a few months ago (see me wearing my cool coat?)
Unfortunately, Roma St Parklands is not an off-leash park but it still has lots of lovely places to explore and things to sniff (my favourite are the giant lizards!) …
…besides, Hsin-Yi says it’s important to do leashed walks sometimes – and not just have a ‘free-for-all’ in the dog park every day – so that us doggies don’t forget our leash manners.
I always get a mixture of leashed walks and off-leash romps every week and my human rotates the places we go to – from parks to city streets – so that I practise my manners in different settings with different distractions. And it’s good for keeping up my socialisation too coz I’m always encountering new things!
Since we are going into winter now here in Australia, the weather is much cooler and there isn’t anymore of that yucky, sticky humidity in the air – so it’s much nicer for walks!
It was just perfect as we set off – with the cool air but sunny blue skies…
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We started in the section of the park called Fern Gully, which has got lots of trees and bushes and a little stream running through it – and is like a mysterious little forest…
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…and it’s the best place to spot lizards so I was on ‘high alert’!
Actually, I was being a bit naughty because Paul was walking me and I know he is much more soft-hearted and less strict than Hsin-Yi, so I always “forget” my manners a bit when I’m with him… Hee! Hee!
Some of you may remember that I have been taught 2 ways of walking when I am on the leash. Usually, my default command is “Close” which means that I can walk where I like: in front, behind, left or right – as long as I keep the leash loose. I can also stop to sniff things and pee, etc.
This is me walking in "Close"
But then sometimes – if we’re passing something stressy like another doggie lunging on his lead or a cat or a child holding an ice-cream at perfect nose height (hey – that’s not stressy! That’s an ‘opportunity’! ) or just walking in a very crowded, exciting place – then my humans tell me to “Heel” which means that I must walk on their left side, with my shoulder next to their leg, and totally ignore everything around me and just follow their pace, wherever they are going. I have to keep doing this until my humans ask me to Sit and give me my release word (“OK!”) and then back into “Close”.
This is me walking in "Heel"
When us doggies are doing Heeling properly, we have to concentrate really hard to ignore all distractions and only focus on our humans, so it’s awfully tiring and we can’t do it for long.
(Back in Auckland, we once met a human who boasted that her doggies could Heel for the whole 1hr walk – but if you watched them, they weren’t really Heeling properly – they kept trying to surge forward all the time and their human had to constantly yank them back and they were sneaking sniffs or lunging towards things….)
My humans believe it’s much better for us doggies to Heel very well for short periods, when it’s really necessary- rather than to do a sloppy ‘kind-of-Heeling-but-actually-pulling’ for the whole walk, which is pointless and not relaxing for the humans to walk us at all! Quality over quantity! So my humans only use “Heel” for short sections of the walk, when I need to pass distractions calmly. The rest of the time, I am just walking in “Close” – a much more relaxed, casual walking mode which lets me enjoy myself as long as I still remember my manners and don’t pull!
But you know, us doggies are very clever at quickly working out which humans are ’serious bosses’ and must have R-E-S-P-E-C-T (!) and which humans are softies who might let us get away with things if we just act cute or play up a little bit…this is why we are sometimes obedient angels with some humans and naughty devils with others! Hee! Hee!
So whenever Paul is walking me and I get a bit excited, I start running around and even (gasp!) pulling a bit on the leash…!
Oooh! Is that a lizard?!
And what's that over there?
Hsin-Yi gets very grumpy if I don’t have good manners on the leash – and then she was getting grumpy at Paul for not controlling me properly…so then she got the Scary Look on her face and I got a Big Telling-Off !
After that, I walked very politely…!
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The park was so lovely with so many beautiful colours and shapes of different trees and bushes and flowers…
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We roamed all over, from the sweeping hills at the the top of the parklands…
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…to the palm tree groves and lake front at the lower ends…
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…and we even went onto a big bridge running right across the top of the parklands with great views of the city!
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…and of course, we always meet lots of people who are fascinated by giant doggies!
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But finally, it was time to hit the cafe – yay!
Our humans had thoughtfully brought beds for us so that we could be comfortable while they were eating.
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The Melange Cafeis very dog-friendly – after we settled in at one of the big roomy outdoor tables, they even brought a bowl of fresh water out for us doggies!
Of course, I offered to help the humans choose yummies from the menu but I have to say, they were not very appreciative!
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Still, they didn’t make too bad choices on their own…
I offered to help them eat it too – especially Hsin-Yi’s French Toast (with bacon!) but sadly, they all declined my offer.
So I decided to catch up on my snoozing instead…my humans had put my bed in the perfect sunny spot!
Here is Loki relaxing too…
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It was a bit hard to snooze, though, because people kept pointing and staring at us…
My humans say that this is one of the things that would put them off having a Great Dane again. Although they are very thankful that people like me so much and are very honoured by all the attention, they would really like to be able to go out sometimes and not have people constantly coming up to ask questions or want to pat me (sometimes there’s a queue!) and especially if there are children, Hsin-Yi has to supervise and so can’t just relax.
(If there are any humans reading this who are thinking of getting a Dane, make sure you won’t mind being the centre of attention all the time – every time you go out, every walk, even after the novelty has worn off! – and that you make time to socialise your Dane pup well so that he/she will be able to cope with all that constant attention!)
Still, it wasn’t actually wasn’t too bad this time – maybe because the tables were set a bit away from the path and so although people were pointing and staring and talking about us, they didn’t actually come up to our table.
If you remember, Loki is a bit shy but since we have been seeing more of each other, she is getting less shy of me…look, here I am inviting her to play and she seemed quite interested!
But unfortunately, our humans said it was time to go home…
Check out Loki’s car machine – isn’t it an awesome ‘Dane-mobile’?
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I had such a wonderful morning and my humans said that now that they have found a nice dog-friendly cafe, we can go there again often!
* Thank you to everyone for your lovely support & concern about Honey’s health in the last post – I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it! Now here’s a post to hopefully return Honey’s blog to its usual more light-hearted tone! ~ Hsin-Yi
I was very excited last Friday because my friend, Lupe the blue Dane, invited me to join him on his evening walk along the Brisbane river to South Bank Parklands- with a visit to the famous South Bank Weekend Marketsafterwards and some fish ‘n’ chips for dinner…that Lupe sure knows how to show a girl a good time!
My humans had been to the South Bank Parklands before – when they first arrived in Brisbane and were doing this thing called “being tourists”…
They loved South Bank Parklands – it is so pretty and clean – they think the Brisbane people are very lucky to have a city which makes such a lovely place for them.
And it does not cost any money paper too! (well, except for parking the car machine in the daytime – that cost so much money paper that my humans nearly had a heart attack…it was $48 for 3 hrs parking!)
The most amazing thing at South Bank Parklands is the Streets Beach- a beach in the middle of the city, completely made by humans!
This is so human pups and their families can enjoy a nice swim in the water without worrying about sharks or jellyfish or other nasties in the sea.
There were lots of strange big white birds with bald heads at South Bank Parklands – I think they are called ibis…
…and they were not scared of anyone at all – going cheekily up to all the tables at the outdoor cafes to see if any humans would give them some food! (or helping themselves after the humans left!)
But I didn’t see any of these big birds when I went, because we went late in the afternoon. Paul doesn’t finish his Work Thing until very late so Hsin-Yi took me to meet Lupe & his humans first – but I hoped that Paul could come and join us later because it is always nicer when he is there!
Posing with Lupe & his humans for a photo before we set off...
The sun was just going down as we started out…
…and we followed a lovely path by the river…
There were some great views along the way…
There was a really cool place halfway along our walk called Riverlife Adventure Centrewhere humans can get little boats to go on the river.
We walked until Thornton St and then turned back – it was starting to get dark now but the views were still so pretty…
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And then when we got back to the carpark by Lower River Terrace, I was so happy because Paul was there! Yay! He had finished his work and come straight from the hospital to join us!
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Just a quick drink at the doggie bar…(Brisbane is great – there are lots of these everywhere for hot, thirsty doggies!)
The Streets Beach pool was looking very pretty at night…
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Doggies are not allowed on the ‘beach’ and in the pool (not fair!) but we can walk around in the parklands around it…
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Then we got very excited because we saw these big tents and lots of lights and smells and people! It was the South Bank Weekend Lifestyle Market!
Us doggies had a rest while the humans went to buy some special yummies called “churros” – which are hot Spanish doughnut sticks covered in cinnamon & sugar - and sooooooo yummy!
Hsin-Yi said I had to wait until she finished and she might give me a leftover bit but don’t worry – Paul gave me half of his when Hsin-Yi wasn’t looking! Hee! Hee! Thank goodness I live with Paul who has a marshmallow heart and feels sorry for me when I show him my “most abused doggie” face – if I just lived with mean, heart-of-stone Hsin-Yi, I’m sure I would starve to death!
Well, after our yummy treat, we all had a little walk through the markets.
Oooh! It was so exciting! I had never been in a night market before and I had to work really hard not to pull on my leash and walk nicely next to Hsin-Yi! There were just so many interesting things to see and smell!
Hsin-Yi says this would be a great place to socialise a puppy – or even adult doggies; for example, I have been socialised lots and lots but I had never been to a night market before so this was a new experience for me!
There were so many people in the markets that it was a bit difficult to walk through, especially ‘coz I take up so much pavement – hee! hee! And everybody wanted to stop and pat me & Lupe and take pictures with us…
Our humans said that me & Lupe should put a hat down next to us – we could get lots of money paper! Hee! Hee!
Here is a little video of my adventure in the markets…
Then came the best part! Our humans took us to one of the outdoor cafes and got some yummy fish ‘n’ chips!!
But so unfair! How come Lupe got to sit on his human’s lap because he doesn’t like to lie down on hard places - but Hsin-Yi said I had to do a Down Stay. No excuses. Humph! I told you mean Hsin-Yi has a heart-of-stone!
And she said I had to wait until the humans finished before I could get some of the yummy food. I was so good and waited so long – I slobbered a river down my front!
But I did get lots of yummy chips and even some cripsy calamari at the end! Mmm-mmm! Worth waiting for!
(Group photo by self-timer...not bad, eh? Just need a camera that makes a squeaky noise so us doggies would look at it!)
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By this time, it was really late – (I’d never been out this late before!) - and time to walk back to our car machines…
Me & Lupe were both walking slowly now ‘coz we were both exhausted from all the excitement of the markets and dinner and everything!
I had such a wonderful time – I hope we get to go there again soon!
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Here is a map of our walk, in case any other doggies in Brisbane would like to do it too:
I have always been very envious of all my Great Dane blog friends who live in that faraway place called America because they always get to go to “Great Dane meet-ups” where they can play with lots of other Great Danes.
When we were living in Auckland, I hardly ever met another pet Dane like me and didn’t have many Dane friends to play with at all…but since we have moved to Australia, I have made lots of Dane friends and last weekend, I got to go to my very first ‘Great Dane meet-up’!
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My humans took me to Nudgee Beachagain where we met up with Lupe the blue Dane and his humans…
…my other friend, Loki the merle Dane and her humans -
…and another black Dane called Nigella (who happens to be Loki’s sister) and her humans…
Our humans told us that we had to wait until a special time called “low tide” when the waves would go away from the beach and then there would be lots of space to run and play! Lucky for us, last weekend that special time was on Sunday morning when our humans were not doing their Work Thing!
Here we are just waiting to go onto the beach…wow, look how far the waves have gone away!
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First, a bit of sniffing…
…and modelling…
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OK – time to get down to the serious business of playing!
Well, I hate to admit it but it was pretty hard work keeping up with these young ones! I mean, at 6 & 1/2, I’m three times older than them – but that didn’t stop me from trying!
The only thing was, my front leg which got sore after that playdate with Lupe, started hurting a bit again and made me walk a bit funny. Hsin-Yi called me over and made me do a Down Stay to give my leg a rest but it was really hard staying still when the others were still running around and playing!
(Thanks to Loki's human for this great photo!)
After I rested a bit, I felt much better again and so when Hsin-Yi was busy chatting with the other humans and not watching me, I quickly jumped up and ran off to join the others again!
Even better, I found my football which my humans had brought for me!
Then my leg started hurting again and this time, I was really limping so Hsin-Yi got strict and said I HAD to remain a Down Stay and let it rest – no more running around!
But at least I wasn’t lonely. There were lots of other doggies out enjoying the beach and lots of them came running up to say hello to me – my favourite was a friendly little Pug!
(I like Pugs a lot and have had lots of Pug friends – my best Pug friend was Bertie, who used to like to give me head massages! )
Hsin-Yi thinks that Pugs are the cutest thing and if she was ever going to have a Toy breed, that’s what she would get – because they have wrinkly foreheads too (and she just LOVES LOVES LOVES wrinkled foreheads! )
After a bit, I felt better again but Hsin-Yi said definitely no more running for me (sob!) so I had to make do with some massages from the other humans…
And then Hsin-Yi wanted to get a photo of us Danes altogether…well, us girls all got lined up with our best angles to the camera and we just needed Lupe to get in the shot…hmm…well, what do you expect from a boy??!!
The other Danes don’t have to live with a crazy camera human like me so they haven’t had as much practice posing for the camera machine and all sitting still at the same time – so we didn’t get a very good photo in the end but it wasn’t bad!
After that, the humans said it was time to go home…
We were really sad to leave but we made lots of plans for the next playdate!
(Thanks to Loki's human for this photo!)
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Time for a quick family photo before we left!
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I had such a great time – I can’t wait to go to Nudgee Beach again!
Click herefor more information on the dog off-leash areas of Nudgee Beach
* My leg was still sore when I got home so my humans decided to take me to the vet. Hsin-Yi was worried that it might be the ‘arthritis sickie’ which lots of us giant doggies can get, especially as we get older…stay tuned for the next post to find out what happened at the vet!
This is a long post so if you just want to watch the highlights, here is the video!
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A few weeks ago, back at the end of January, my human, Hsin-Yi, and I went along to our first ‘doggie dancing’ camp!
The camp was at a great place called Camp Tailwaggerswhich is near Coolangatta on the Gold Coast, just over the border in NSW.
It is high up in the mountains, on a huge land with rainforests and open fields, where dogs can run free, and with lovely views of the sea from the top of the hills.
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There are cabins where you can stay INSIDE with your humans. Not only that, they even provide beds, bowls and towels for us doggies…
…and every cabin comes with its own fenced garden and even a doggie door for dogs to come and go as they please! (well, only for smaller dogs – I could only fit my head through the doggie door)
Some people go there just for a holiday – and us doggies can stay at the cabins or in the doggie daycare if our humans want to go to places that don’t allow dogs, like Seaworld and Dreamworld and all the other big parks with scary machines that humans like to sit in. (There is a also a pet motel if doggies just want to come for a holiday by themselves, while their humans are busy doing other things).
But many times a year, Camp Tailwaggers also has special training camps for different doggie activities, like Agility and Obedience and ‘doggie dancing’ [a.k.a. Canine Freestyle/Heelwork to Music - in Australia, they call it "Dances with Dogs" (DWD) ] – and they invite famous dog trainers from faraway places like the UK and USA to come and do workshops.
There is a big open-air but covered training area to do all this fun stuff and then we can stay in the cabins too (or camp around in the park, if you like).
So that is what me and Hsin-Yi went to! Except this time it was a “self-help” camp which means that there was no trainer coming from another country – instead, different members of the DWD Queensland Club gave different workshops about different things and we all helped each other.
Paul couldn’t come because he was “on-call” and he had to stay near the hospital in case they needed him to go and look at sick humans – so only me and Hsin-Yi went. We left on a Fri just after lunch and had to drive for 2hrs in the car machine, down the coast and then up into the mountains…
It was really high up and there were wonderful views but Hsin-Yi was feeling stressy about driving on strange roads (she is a bit of a chicken driver) so she didn’t stop to take any photos – so I don’t have any to show you! Humph! But anyway, you have to believe me that it was really lovely and so wonderful and cool after the horrible, sticky hotness in Brisbane!
I supervised Hsin-Yi unloading all our bags into our cabin and then I went over to say hello to my neighbours!
They were 2 lovely Golden Retrievers called Gemma and Piper and a young Kelpie pup called Talli. There were also lots of other doggies in the other cabin gardens - we were all so excited to see each other and there was lots of barking (well, not from me – am a very quiet dog! )
The cabin was very nice and comfy but I was feeling a bit stressy because I didn’t like being in a ‘new home’ again! I had only just got used to my new home in Brisbane and now we were in a new place again! So I paced around a lot and followed Hsin-Yi everywhere because I was worried she would leave me in this strange new place…although she did bring my big beanbag bed which is my favouritist thing in the world and always makes me feel safe and secure. So when she had to leave me alone in the cabin while she went to register and meet all the other humans and have her dinner, I quickly curled up on my bed to stay safe.
When Hsin-Yi came back, she told me that there was going to be a “cabaret” and we all had to perform our routines to show each other! Eeeek! But we hadn’t practised for AGES! Not since before we left Auckland back in early Dec and besides, I was still feeling a bit stressy about this strange, new place…but Hsin-Yi said it would be rude not to take part, so we had to just do our best.
I could feel that Hsin-Yi was very stressy and nervous while we were waiting for our turn, because they made a big fuss about us being ”special guests from NZ” and everybody was waiting to see what we could do – so there was a lot of pressure! The other doggies from the Queensland DWD Club all danced so well and their humans wore fantastic glittery costumes!
Then it was our turn: we started off OK but then I started getting scared of the big black darkness around us, just outside the training area…I could hear lots of strange noises from night creatures in the mountains and it made me feel very spooky so I didn’t dare take my eyes off the blackness – even though I could hear Hsin-Yi calling and calling my name!
Honey? Honey? HONEY!
So we did really badly – I could barely dance at all – and we were completely out of time and I hardly did any of my tricks. I felt very ashamed because I was supposed to be showing how good NZ dancing doggies can be and I was terrible! Hsin-Yi was very upset too but then she laughed and said it’s important not to take things too seriously when doing things with us doggies.
Also, we learnt an important lesson – all the other doggies were doing “dress rehearsals” before but we didn’t do that so I didn’t get a chance to practice focusing on Hsin-Yi in this strange new place with the strange noises. After the cabaret was over, we tried it again and I did my routine perfectly…because by then I had already done it once in that strange place and it wasn’t so spooky anymore and I found it much easier to keep my attention on Hsin-Yi. So practising in strange environments is the secret to success! We will just have to slink off with our tail between our legs…but try to do better next time!
The next morning, we got up early and Hsin-Yi took me for a nice long walk in the forests around the camp, before we started the workshops.
Then it was time to cha-cha!
We had so many fun workshops throughout the day – from showing each other the first tricks we had learnt, to practising exercises to help with our attention and motivation…
The only thing I didn’t like was that they said I had to be put in a pen!! See, all the other doggies were staying in their crates when they were not dancing but there wasn’t a crate big enough for me (and my humans never used a crate with me so they don’t carry one around – it would be too big anyway!), so they said Hsin-Yi could put me in a puppy pen:
I didn’t like it – and Hsin-Yi didn’t like it either because having the barrier there made me more likely to be grumpy when another dog walked past. If I am just lying on my bed and another dog walks past me, I am fine but the minute there is a barrier between me and the other dog (or person), it makes me feel much more grumpy and makes me jump up and bark at them when they pass – and Hsin-Yi hates that behaviour.
It was also silly because I have very reliable Stay & Bed commands – I always go to my bed when I am told and I always remain on it until I am released, without needing to be tied up or put in a crate like other doggies. ‘Stay’ is something that Hsin-Yi has practised with me over and over again, in lots and lots of different places, with lots of different kinds of distractions and so I am very good at it. (Plus, of course, because am a placid giant breed, I like the training exercises where I am expected to do nothing! Once I go down, I just don’t want to get up again! Much easier than those training exercises where I have to actually DO something – and quickly – ugh! What an effort! Lying down and staying in one place – especially a soft bed – is easy! )
When we used to go to doggie dancing club nights back in Auckland, I always just stayed on my blanket when I wasn’t dancing – nobody ever said I had to be put in a jail! So Hsin-Yi prefers to just have me stay on my bed using my commands, rather than put me inside something which might make me more grumpy (and anyway, this pen was silly because I could have easily stepped out of it anyway!). But we had to follow the rules so I had to stay in that silly pen…
Anyway, the good thing was when the humans were having their lunchtimes and tea-breaks, Hsin-Yi would take me back to the cabin so I could stretch my legs a bit and really relax, rather than be cooped up in that stupid pen!
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At the end of the day, Hsin-Yi took me for another nice walk…
…before heading back to the cabin for dinner & bed. I was so exhausted – just staying awakeall day is a big effort for me, never mind having to concentrate and do training!
It was very strange sleeping in the mountains – there were lots of spooky noises and lots of bugs everywhere! Hsin-Yi had to spray a special stinky perfume called “repellent” on herself to keep the bugs from biting her…
…and look what she found on her bed!
Don’t worry – it was not a very big spider and besides, Hsin-Yi loves spiders so she just caught it and put it outside.
The next morning – Sunday – was our last day at the camp. I had a great morning walk again…
…and then got down to some serious dancing! We had different workshops to help us practise different types of tricks, like “paw work” and targeting and twists & spins…
We also all learnt a new trick called “Paws Up” – which means we have to sit and then put our front paws up on something, like a chair. (This can then be the 1st step for learning other tricks, like putting our head between our paws to “Say our prayers” or bashing our paws up & down, for “Playing piano”…)
First one of the humans showed us how to learn the trick using clicker training…
…and then we all had a go. Hsin-Yi was really proud of me because I picked up the trick really quickly! (you can see this in the video! )
It was a really cool trick and lots of doggies looked so cute doing it!
Finally, it was time for us doggies to have a break and the humans’ turn to do some dancing! They did a workshop to help them with music & rhythm and choreography. You can check out their moves in the video above!
Well, finally it was time to go home. Just time for one last walk!
And then I helped Hsin-Yi pack all my stuffies, slobber towels, food, training treats, toys, clickers, ‘cool coat’, etc, etc…into the car (with Hsin-Yi grumbling that I had to have 3 bags for my stuff while she only had 1 and that she needed to carry more junk for me than a human pup!)
Don't forget to pack my stuffie!
We had a fantastic time at the camp and learnt lots of interesting things, as well as making lots of new friends!
Hsin-Yi says we will be going back to Camp Tailwaggers in April when a famous doggie dancing trainer called Richard Curtiswill be coming from the UK to give a workshop…I can’ t wait!
I’m so sorry – we’re behind with visiting all your blogs again! When Hsin-Yi came back from the Ian Dunbar seminar in Auckland, our Google Reader was on 241 and she just wanted to stick her head in the sand like an ostrich and pretend that it didn’t exist!
Anyway, we are trying our best to get around to visit you all as soon as we can but Hsin-Yi has to catch up on her work too (as well as my posts – we’re still a couple of weeks behind on my adventures!) so please bear with us!
There seem to be a lot more doggies like me in Australia. When I was living back in Auckland, we hardly ever saw or heard about another Great Dane when my humans took me out walking. My humans thought maybe this was because we lived in an “inner city suburb” and most Danes lived with families on big lands far away from the city? We would usually only meet another Dane about 2 -3 times a year.
But since we moved to Brisbane, we have seen lots of Danes when out walking and often meet other humans who say they know someone who has a Dane. We have already met or heard about 6 other Great Danes and we have only been in Brisbane for about 2 months!
One new Dane friend I met - last time my humans took me to the Kedron Brook Off-leash Area - is a lovely merle Great Dane girl named Loki.
I didn’t get to play with Loki ‘coz she was a bit shy and I think she found me a bit scary…!
…but we did do some little sniffs while our humans were chatting…
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And I guess she must have liked me because a few days later, she invited me to meet up for breakast & coffee!
We went to a place called Cafe Treacle because the owner has Great Danes (see? again!) and welcomes dogs at the outside tables – unlike many other places in Brisbane which don’t allow dogs at all. They even bring water bowls out for us!
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And there is lots of space around the tables for a giant-sized doggie to stretch out!
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Hsin-Yi loved their French Toast…mmm…YUMMY!
Of course, Paul ordered the healthy muesli and yoghurt!
Me and Loki were very good – we just lay quietly while our humans were stuffing their faces! See, although we are very big dogs, us Danes are often very placid and calm so that we are very “easy” dogs to live with.
I must say, though, I felt a bit grumpy that Hsin-Yi didn’t even save a piece of bacon for me as a reward for all that good behaviour! Can you believe that? She said it was so crispy and yummy, she was just busy putting it in her tummy as fast as possible and forgot all about me…humph! What a pig!
Here’s a picture of all of us together:
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Now, I must tell you about my new ‘Cool Coat’ which is – er, well, really cool!
See, us giant doggies overheat really easily and when it is hot, we suffer much more than smaller dogs (except for the squashed-nose breeds which suffer even more than us!) It is so hot and humid here in Brisbane – even at 7am in the morning, the sun is really strong and hot! – that I feel terrible anytime I go out in the day and I have to keep panting a lot and don’t feel like doing anything at all.
So my humans have been very worried about me and trying to find ways to keep me cool when I have to go outside in the daytime, like during my Brisbane RSPCA training classes. They got me a ‘cooling bandana’ but it was too small to make much difference, and they even tried putting a big wet towel on me – which did help but made me look very silly!
Then Hsin-Yi found a company that makes things to keep doggies cool, called Silver Eagle Outfitters Australia - and they make special mats and coats which help to keep dogs cool.
So she got me a special ‘cool coat’ ! The company is very good and actually does have proper XXXL sizes for giant doggies like me. A lot of companies only make things for little dogs and what they call “Xtra-Large” would only fit a Golden Retriever!!
So here’s my coat – I got it in a ‘hot pink’ – what do you think? I think I’m almost as fashionable as my blog friend, Lorenza!
You make the coat wet and then it stays wet for hours and hours (although not dripping) and keeps me cool as the water slowly evaporates. I’ve already tried it out (I took it with me to the doggie dancing camp a few weeks ago) and it works very well. Unlike some other cooling things they make for dogs, this does not have any ‘gels’ inside which may be poisonous if you are a chewy dog – it is just made of a special fabric which stays cool and wet for a long time.
OK, last thing – I must say thank you to my blog friends who sent me lovely Valentine cards! First Miss Kylie…
My new home, Brisbane, is a nice city but it is not as dog-friendly as Auckland. There are lots of places where dogs are not allowed or not welcome, and what’s more, can you believe that “dog parks” here are just small, fenced areas in the corners of the main park?!
What? You call that a dog park?? That’s like a dog prison yard! There’s hardly any space to stretch your legs – especially for a big dog like me – one gallop and I’m practically crashing into the fence on the other side!
Besides, in all the parks we visited, we saw hardly anybody using the rest of the park around us – it was all empty – which made it seem even MORE unfair that us doggies are squished into these small corners…
Back in New Zealand, if a park was a “dog park”, that meant we doggies could run free in the WHOLE park. If humans didn’t like being with dogs, there were lots of other parks which were not dog parks where they could jog or cycle or walk, without being bothered by dogs running around them.
See? Now THIS is what I call a dog park – all 20 hectares of it, with ponds to wade in, rabbit holes to sniff, woods to explore, hills to climp and lots of space to run free!
Me at Waiatarua Reserve, Auckland
We had about 5 parks like this within 10 minutes drive of our home – I guess we were really spoilt in Auckland and didn’t realise how lucky we were!
My human, Hsin-Yi, says that lots of other countries have these small, fenced dog parks like here in Brisbane, especially in the faraway place called America – but she really doesn’t like them. Not just because they are so small either. She did an article for one of her dog magazines on “dog parks” last year and she found lots of reasons why such small, fenced dog parks are a bad idea:
putting a lot of us doggies who are strangers into a confined area is just asking for trouble. Especially if our humans are just standing around, gossiping, because then we feel ‘braver’ with our pack behind us and so we are more likely to become bullies or pick a fight with other doggies.
humans in these fenced, small dog parks usually just stand around or sit around gossiping, which is unhealthy for both the humans and their doggies. We saw a LOT of fat dogs in these parks! (And fat humans!) It is much more natural – and safe – and healthy – for us to keep moving – walking, exploring, passing things – just like we would as a pack on a ‘hunt’ in the wild.
these parks are only really suitable for young playful doggies (usually under 2) who are still puppies really – most adult dogs do not like to be crowded into such small spaces with other strange dogs and again, it is not the natural way we would go for a walk.
even sociable puppies and dogs can have a bad experience in the dog park if another irresponsible human brings an aggressive, out-of-control dog and many pups have had their temperaments “ruined” because of an attack in a small dog park.
entering these small, enclosed parks is very stressful – again, it is not the natural way we would meet other strange doggies in a big open space, where we can decide what personal space we are comfortable with and curve around each other…oh no, Hsin-Yi was horrified when we tried to go into one dog park and the doggies already in it came rushing up to the fence, barking really aggressively (and their humans didn’t try to stop them!) and then we had to enter through a narrow gate where they all rushed up straight to my face and I was still restrained on my leash…it all made me feel very uncomfortable and wary, especially because I have been attacked twice before and had to go to the vet to get stitches. Really! The other owners should control their dogs and not let them rush up to new dogs coming in through the narrow gates but of course, lots of humans don’t understand dogs at all and think that we should all be instant best friends doing group hugs like in a Disney movie!
So anyway, my humans have been trying to find a real, proper dog park for me but we were getting very depressed because we went to SO many parks in Brisbane and they were all the same! All small, fenced things with badly-behaved doggies and ignorant owners!
And then finally we heard about a park which runs alongside a small river called Kedron Brook and we were so happy when we got there because we saw this!
Yay! A REAL, unfenced, PROPER dog park!! The Kedron Brook Dog Off-Leash Area runs for a long way next to the water (on one side of the brook only - north side) so us doggies can REALLY run and stretch our legs and sniff and explore.
It also means that everyone keeps walking – so we do meet other doggies as we pass each other and we may play a bit but then we hurry to keep up with our pack, so our encounters are short and sweet and safe!
And then when we have met several times, with good, short, positive experiences each time, then we can have a longer play together and everything will be fine because we know each other better now and trust each other. This is the correct way to introduce us doggies and let us make friends!
Because there aren’t any other dog parks like this in Brisbane, everyone wants to come here and lots of humans come from very far away to bring their doggies here – so it was a bit crowded!
Hsin-Yi says walking along the park was like walking on a dog multi-lane highway! We never saw this many doggies in a park back in Auckland because there were always so many nice, open reserves there to choose from that everybody didn’t have to all cram into the same park.
So I got to meet lots of new doggies and do lots of bum-sniffing…
There was a really big handsome boy who was a Ridgeback-Malamute-cross:
And a dainty little Italian Greyhound:
A friendly Staffie…
…a Lab playing hide-an-seek…
…and a cute little black Mini-Schnauzer who reminded me of my blog friends, Max & JD, Oskar, Sasha and most of all, Gus!
But my favourite new friend was a brown doggie who came racing up to me and jumped up, inviting me to play!
My humans were so happy to see us running around together because it is SOOOOO hard to find playmates for me. Because I am such a confident, big doggie, most other dogs seem to get really scared when they see me – a lot of them just roll over to show their tummies and freeze – and some of them even yelp and cry and run away if I try to do a play bow! Sheesh! I haven’t even touched you!
Plus I like to play REALLY rough too – galloping and wrestling everywhere. Sorry, that “gentle giant” label doesn’t really fit me! Ever since I was a puppy, my humans have been trying to teach me to play gently but this is the way I like to play! So I need a really confident, sociable doggie, who is not afraid of a bit of rough-housing, to play with me. (And it’s not always the size – my best playmate was my BFF Ombre the Schnauzer who was only 1/4 the size of me but he played REALLY rough and bounced off anything to come back for more! ) That’s why I hardly ever find a good playmate when I go to the dog park and this makes my humans very sad.
But that day, I did!
And we had a grrrrrrrrreat time!
Well, after all that running around, it was time for a cooling dip in the brook…
My humans tried to get me to swim (sheesh – they’re ALWAYS trying to get me to swim!) but even though I waded out, the water never really got deep enough for me because I am really tall and have very long legs…
Still, it was nice to cool off in the water…
And then to have the lovely cool breeze dry my coat afterwards…
What a great place and I’m so happy to have found a proper dog park at last!
Kedron Brook Dog Off-leash Area:
- on the north side of the brook, the area between Montrose St and Gympie/Lutwyche Rd (red shaded area)
Yay! My humans have found a dog-friendly house in Brisbane so I can go and join them!!
They have been running around like maniacs since arriving in Australia last week - looking, looking, looking all day at so many houses…
It was very difficult because they needed to find somewhere that was near Paul’s work place but that would let doggies live in it too – and also hopefully have special machines which makes cold air called ‘AC’ because Brisbane is a very hot place.
Lots of places were nice and in the right areas but would not allow doggies (it’s so sad - some people make their doggies stay outside in the garden all the time and never let them into the house to be with the family…) – others would allow doggies but be too far from Paul’s work or be huge, old houses (“Queenslanders”) which were really dirty and old and falling apart!
But – finally! – my humans found somewhere which was not too big or old and was near Paul’s work and was quite nice & clean…but the Landlord Human who owned the house did not want to let doggies live there! So my humans begged and explained that I was very well-trained and well-behaved (I would not be digging in the garden or barking or chewing up the floors!), that Hsin-Yi works from home so I would not be left alone in the house for long periods and that I sleep all day anyway…and finally, the Landlord Human agreed to let me stay. Whew!
It was a big relief because if my humans had not found somewhere this week, I would not be able to go on the Big Flying Machine until January because of the “Christmas shut-down” – but thankfully, I just made it! So I will be going on the Big Flying Machine tomorrow to join them in Brisbane – hooray!
By the way, some of you asked some questions about our ‘moving overseas’ thing so I thought I’d answer them here:
1) why did my humans do all the packing themselves?
Because they have had a lot of bad experiences with Movers, especially the first time when they moved from the faraway place called England, they let the Movers pack everything and were horrified at how things were being thrown anyhow into the boxes and even saw a couple of books being ripped and damaged in front of their eyes! Plus boxes were being sealed up half-empty which meant that they were paying for more space than they really needed and also things were rattling around in the boxes and getting damaged… And this was with a big company called Allied Pickfords too! So they told the Movers to go away and finished all the packing themselves – all night – until 5am in the morning. It was a horrible time and they promised themslves that they would never go through that again – so now they just do all the packing themselves, even if it takes a bit more time, so that they know that things are packed as carefully as possible and that all the space is used properly. Because Paul does not have a company which pays for “relocation” like many other humans and so my humans have to pay for everything themselves – so they always try to save money paper if they can! Anyway, Hsin-Yi says it’s a good way to make them sort through all their junk and throw lots of unnecessary things away! Hsin-Yi is a “hoarder” and never likes to throw anything away, and my humans have TONS of books – enough to open a book shop!
2) what happens to my Raw Diet when I go to stay at the pet hotel?
I usually eat a combination of: raw meaty bones (eg. whole chicken carcasses, chicken necks, lamb brisket, offal, whole fish) for my main meal in the mornings (500g) and a ready-made, frozen, raw BARF mixture in the evenings (200g) – total 700g daily, which is 1% of my bodyweight - which is how much us giant breeds should eat on a raw diet. (Smaller breeds eat more, like 2-4% of their body weight). Of course, when I go to kennels, it is not easy for me to have raw meaty bones – the Airport Pet Hotel are very good about trying to stick as close to my normal diet as possible and they even give me raw chicken carcasses from time to time. If I am going for a long time, my humans might take a bag of my frozen BARF mixture to the pet hotel for them to feed me but if I am going for just a short time, like a week, then they just let the pet hotel feed me whatever dry food they are giving the other doggies. Hsin-Yi doesn’t think this matters – she says this is like humans going on holiday and eating things different to their normal, everyday diet for a while. She thinks it is important to use common sense and be relaxed and realistic about doggie diets, not make it into a scary science – which is what all the pet food companies and marketing people are trying to do.
3) why aren’t my humans shipping my bed and old toys to Brisbane?
Australia is awfully strict about things coming into their country and so they check EVERYTHING – especially anything to do with animals - and if they think it is dirty and “contaminated” with any soil or dirt or bugs or anything that is a “biosecurity risk”, they will make you pay lots of money paper to “fumigate it” or they will take it away from you and destroy it. Some of my things (like my brand new birthday toys!), my humans cleaned really well and shipped but other things like my beds and older toys – they knew they could never clean it properly enough so it is better to throw them away and get new ones in Australia, than to pay a lot of money paper for shipping and then for checking and fumigation in Australia, when the things were very old anyway. Also, the Moving Company told my humans that the more things that had to be checked and fumigated, the longer they will keep everything – which means my humans won’t get their stuff for AGES!
The reason I can go in without quarantine is because NZ has the same kind of biosecurity rules as Australia and so anything from here is already “safe” – so any doggie who was born and has lived here all their life can go to Australia without quarantine.
Last weekend I danced at a big doggie event called Wag ‘n’ Walk, with the rest of my Canine Freestyle / Heelwork to Music doggie dancing team from ChoreDOGraphy Connection.
There were SO many people and doggies there!
Our humans had been worried because the weather forecast had said that it would rain on Saturday- but we were very lucky and although it started drizzling a little bit when we started dancing, it was not very much and it soon got sunny again.
In fact, I was really panting after a bit because it was very hot and the air felt very thick and sticky. Us giant doggies always overheat really easily and then we just don’t feel like doing much except lying down and resting to keep cool…so I have to say, doing my dance moves was a real effort! But I was a good girl and tried my best anyway.
My routine didn’t go too badly this time (not as bad as my slippery dancing disaster last weekend! ) although I did get stuck between Hsin-Yi’s legs at the end – and Hsin-Yi found it really difficult to balance on one leg when we were doing our weaves because the ground was very lumpy and bumpy and there were little holes in the grass everywhere…but anyway, I think we did OK!
(you can click on the collage to enlarge and see all my fancy moves! )
Afterwards, loads of people and human pups and other doggies came up to say hello to me…
Meeting my fans...
Nice to meet you!
I also met my friend, George the Bernese Mountain Dog (sorry, I didn’t get a picture!) and my new little puppy friend, Lexi - both of them had done the 3km Fun Walk around Milford earlier in the morning…
(How come Hsin-Yi always catches Lexi with her ears flying?!
And here I am with my dancing teacher, Jan Corles of ChoreDOGraphy Connection – when I first started dancing, everyone laughed at Hsin-Yi and said she could never teach a Great Dane to dance but Jan always believed in me and helped us lots…thank you, Jan!
I got some great video to show you of my dancing – and also my special treat afterwards (something I never had before!) – you can scroll to the bottom of the post if you want to watch it – but first, I wanted tell you about all the other exciting things I saw at Wag ‘n’ Walk:
After our performance, we had a little walk around to see the many doggie things on display there and meet some of the other canines…
There were so many different types of doggies there, it was almost like a dog show!
Big, glamorous doggies…
Little scruffy doggies…
Cute doggies…
Scary doggies….
Doggies looking for fame…
…and doggies looking for homes!
Some of the doggies really reminded me of my blog friends…such as this lovely smiling Beagle who reminded me of my friends, Cookie & Cinnamon…
…and who does this chap remind you of? The Relentlessly Huge, of course! Although I have to say, he was nowhere near as big as Mango – but what a gorgeous face, eh? (Hsin-Yi just LOVES wrinkly-faced dogs!!)
…not to mention this handsome guy who reminded me of Chef and Boxen & Bella…
…and of course, there were loads of lovely Golden Retrievers who reminded me of all my Golden Friends…
It was also a little bit sad to see a beautiful 3yr-old mantle Great Dane who reminded me of my lovely friend, Mr Darcy, who lost his battle after his big operation and went to the Bridge a week ago…
He had just been in the competition for the Tallest Dog and his owner was very surprised when we met because she had never seen a girl Dane as tall as me – we were almost the same size!
Here I am trying to say hello (see my flirty tail?! ) but he was a bit shy – he didn’t even really want to say hello to my humans. (Sometimes, some of us Danes can be a bit timid – that’s why it’s really important to only breed from those of us with stable temperaments and to socialise us a lot when we are puppies). He was a lovely boy, though, and might have got friendlier if we had a bit more time together!
There were still lots of competitions going on with people cheering and doggies going on stage…the one that was the most fun to watch was the Best Trick competition:
Each of the doggies had to go on stage and perform a trick – and then get scores from the judges…
But some of the doggies got stage fright and wouldn’t do their tricks or were naughty and ran off…Hsin-Yi said it made her realise just how good us dancing doggies really are because we have to do so much more complicated tricks and not just one but lots of them – one after the other – all in time to the music and ignore the crowds and other distractions to perform…
See, our humans forget – they start taking what we do for granted and get impatient when we don’t do our routines well- but when you see other doggies struggling to do just 1 simple trick, you realise what a big achievement it is for us dancing doggies! It’s not as easy as it looks and our humans should be very proud of us!
So anyway, here is the video of my exciting day at Wag ‘n’ Walk -
*Hsin-Yi: because it would get too long for YouTube’s 10min allowance, I have only put Honey’s routine in full and only included the highlights of the other dogs’s routines but I have uploaded their full routines separately so you can watch them too if you’re interested:
Check out my special treat after the show – I have never had one of those before! And then I got my belated breakfast of raw lamb brisket – yummy! What a packed morning!
ps. Hsin-Yi’s RSI is much better now so we are going to start catching up on visiting your blogs but there are so many that it may take us a while to get around to you all – so please bear with us!
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Lemon - Forever in our hearts... (Oct 2003 ~ Jan 2009)
A couple of weekends ago, my humans took me to a really cool place – it is called Bribie Island and it is a little island in the sea, just a bit higher up the Queensland coast from Brisbane.
Here is a picture of Bribie Island from the Travelpod website:
…Paul had even brought his little magic stick which swallows music from the computer and then when he attaches a special “speaker” mouth to it, it vomits all the music back out again!
Still, both Hsin-Yi and Paul did save me some of their bread – you know bread is my most favouritist, favouritist treat in the world – better than liver or chicken or sausage – I’ll do ANYTHING for bread! 
Oh, how could she? After I had been such a good girl, doing such a good Down Stay for so long and waiting so politely – and those piggy birds weren’t cute at all – they were UGLY! 
Why don’t you enter Tucker’s Staycation Contest too? It’s a great excuse to have a fun adventure with your humans and discover someplace new in your home town! Here are the rules from Tucker’s site:
) or just walking in a very crowded, exciting place – then my humans tell me to “Heel” which means that I must walk on their left side, with my shoulder next to their leg, and totally ignore everything around me and just follow their pace, wherever they are going. I have to keep doing this until my humans ask me to Sit and give me my release word (“OK!”) and then back into “Close”.
