[Debbie]

Hi all you dog owners in NZ,
Following on from the NO DOG sign in those great Wattle Cove pics I was just wandering, what is NZ and the kiwi's perception of man's and this woman's best friend?. Are there plenty of beaches that allow dogs and doggy fasilities, parks, walks ect or is everywhere resticted. We have taken my lad to France every yr and have never failed to be impressed by how accomidating everyone and everywhere is to the fact we have the dog in tow. Yet I can't take my dog to large areas of the Kent coast May-Sept. Such a shame, I appreciate that they make a mess but responcible humans tidy up after them, or at least they should.
Especially interested in Auckland area.
Thanks Debbie

[catjlin]

Can't help with Aukland, but around Christchurch and the beaches in particular, there are heaps of spots to walk your 4 legged friends. Most of the beaches around here are dog friendly all day during the winter and dog friendly in the evenings during day light savings time. You can take them on most of the trails (with leashes) and into most of the parks. We run ours on the community rugby field almost every evening here. Everyone seems to love their dogs here, though I don't see as many of the larger breeds as in the States. Our Newfie and Rottie really tend to stick out at times.

Cat

[jubjub]

You can take them most places, but there are certain regulations, they are listed on the council websites, as catjlin said, they are more restricted in summer.

Heres a couple of links for Auckland councils, to give you an idea of what you can and cant do.

http://www.waitakere.govt.nz/cnlser/aw/dogs.asp#exerciseareas

http://www.manukau.govt.nz/dogs/exercise.htm

[Debbie]

Thanks for the replies.
Great links , looks like we have to look into getting a dog licence for my boy.
Debbie

[jubjub]

Yup, you get 14 days from import date to get the licence sorted, it should give you prices on the website, it does differ from council to council, ie waitakere was 68 for a neutered dog, whereas manukau was 80, but this is only if you pay early, if you dont pay till after 1st August it nearly doubles, but not sure if they pro-rata it if you only need a licence halfway through the year.

[Singel]

Hello Debbie

I wish to clarify about Wattle Cove.......
The Recreation Lake is the only place that is out-of-bound for dogs.
You could walk your dog on the other 5 lakes, beaches and the coastal path.

:cheers

[Singel]

At the coast of Wattle Cove, you will see sign like that.......

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/Singel8/20050724-143200.jpg

:cheers

[Singel]

Hello Debbie

I wish to clarify about Wattle Cove.......
The Recreation Lake is the only place that is out-of-bound for dogs.
You could walk your dog on the other 5 lakes, beaches and the coastal path.

:cheers

[veronica]

There are a lot of areas in the national parks and DOC areas that quite rightly won't welcome dogs. Main reason being dogs will go for and catch a lot of the flightless birds that are native to these areas. We've got 2 dogs ourselves that we have brought over from the UK and have found masses of places to walk them, they are fairly well behaved but there is no way I would take them anywhere like the DOC areas, one of them has grehound in him and he is oblivious to everything once he sees 'prey'. Dogs and cats that have either gone feral or are not under control and accompany people to these sort of areas are a menace to the local wildlife. But there are masses of places you can take them to off of the lead though.

[Mildred]

Yet I can't take my dog to large areas of the Kent coast May-Sept.

Debbie,

Dogs are allowed on Joss Bay all year round. It's only a 10 minute walk from my house and we walk our dog there twice a day. One bay up is the Captain Digby which has an excellent old flint pub with brilliant food and good play area.

Just come back from the beach and noticed it's now got a website

www.jossbay.co.uk

Let us know if you plan on coming down.

Incidentally, a fighter jet kept flying over whilst we were down there. Always makes me feel nervous when we see more military activity :( Perhaps now EUjet aren't flying out of Manston they are just making more use of the runway. Hope so.

[Moorf]

Hey Cat, I don't take Summer (our Pointer cross) into work anymore but I'd love to meet you and your dogs - pop into Urban Surf sometime - we're all dog owners and dog-nuts there!! :nice1

As others have said - lots of places to walk / exercise dogs here. :nice1

Maybe I should go with my idea of having a dog hotel ;) all these lovely pups coming over :nice1