* Also – don’t forget voting for Tucker’s Sit-Stay competition - I’m entry #18! Voting closes 6th Feb!

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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)

Kedron Brook Dog Off-leash Area Map

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