Found Animals blog.

The Found Animals blog does just one thing — it carries photos of dogs or cats that have been spotted outdoors:

Contributions welcome, though we reserve the right to discriminate. Send to: 09videofactory@gmail.com  

A nice idea. Wish we’d thought of it.

Update: Dan tells me the blog is now finished, so no more submissions!

Here at Run Spot Run we’d love you to send in your photos of your own dogs outdoors having fun.

Wi-neera Drive Foreshore dog exercise area lies between to Wi-neera Drive and the sea in Porirua, New Zealand. It runs between Titahi Bay Road and Semple Street.

It’s a narrow strip of grass between the sea and the road.

Wi-neera Drive looking north.

Quick Info

• A narrow grassy strip
• Next to the road
• Parking is available all along the road

Access for wheelchairs, and pushchairs

• Ready access

Facilities

• Rubbish bins: several
• Toilets: at the mini golf links
• Seats: no.
• Street lights at night.

Description

Wi-neera Drive looking south.

This is a narrow grassy strip also used by motorcycles. It’s slightly ‘mounded’, although not hilly. There were quite a few rubbish bins around and lots of rubbish on the ground.

There are pleasant views across the water.

This area is listed on the Dog Exercise Areas page on the Porirua City Council website.

Terrain

• A mainly flat off-leash area
• Grassy
• Narrow
• Water: beside the sea, and mudflats.
• Beside a reasonably busy road.

Delights

• Views across the water.
• Pohutukawa and flax.

Dangers

• The road.
• Motorcycles travelling on the grass.

Cautions

• When the tide’s out mud flats are exposed.

Road access

This off-leash exercise area is beside the road.

Geolocation (see the map)

• Latitude: -41° 7′ 43.60″ (-41.128779)
• Longitude: +174° 50′ 22.95″ ( 174.839709)

Map

See Wi-neera Drive Foreshore dog exercise area on Google Maps.

You probably know something helpful about this park. If so, please leave a comment below.

The Beneful WagWorld Dream Dog Park Contest will award a $500,000 makeover to one lucky dog park in the USA:

To celebrate the relationships people have with their four-legged best friends, the Beneful® brand has created the WagWorldTM Dream Dog Park Contest – in which we’ll be awarding a $500,000 makeover to one lucky dog park! Tell us what your Dream Dog Park would look like. Here’s what one lucky person (and their best buddy) will win:

• $5000 cash!
• A year’s supply of Beneful® brand dog food!
• + The winner’s idea for the ultimate dream dog park will help serve as inspiration for a $500,000 renovation of a public or non-profit dog park in his/her area.

I wish this contest were international! If you’re eligible, then go for it. The dogs in your area may thank you (well, maybe not, but their owners will).

Don’t try to apply here — go directly to the competition website.

Wellington, New Zealand added a couple of new dog exercise areas in late 2009. One of them was the Vice Regal North dog exercise area in Mt Victoria.

Vice Regal North panorama - looking north from the top of the hill.

Vice Regal North dog exercise area lies between Wellington Hospital in Newtown and Alexandra Road, Wellington, New Zealand.

It’s named for the Governor General’s residence that shares a boundary with the park.

It faces south, and lies on a reasonably steep grassy hillside.

Vice Regal North panorama - looking south from the top of the hill.

Quick Info

• A large, grassy area beside the Governor General’s residence
• Away from the road and local houses
• Parking is very difficult, unless you use the Hospital carpark (Wilson’s Parking).

Access for wheelchairs, and pushchairs

• Access may be possible for wheelchairs via the Owen Street or Coromandel Street entrance, but most of the track is steep and grassy.

Facilities

• Rubbish bin: no
• Toilets: no
• Seats: no. There are a few seats near the children’s playground, outside the off-leash area.
• Lighting at night: no.

Description

This is a large grassy slope bounded by bushes and trees, and the fence for the Governor General’s residence. The slope had been mowed when we visited.

The exercise area is new and has not yet been marked with signage.

There are pleasant views over Newtown, to the south, and towards Wellington Harbour from the top of the slope. You can see the Alexandra Road West off-leash area behind the Ewart Hospital Building.

There’s access to Alexandra Road via a couple of tracks, but it’s some distance away. Once you’re past the entrance the whole park is fairly isolated — well away from roads and private properties.

This is a large area where you can easily see what your dog is doing and where your dog can have a good run.

This is area #35 on the City Council map: Alexandra Road West (99Kb PDF).

Terrain

• A hillside off-leash area
• Grassy
• Wide open
• Water: no, but it looks as though one or more streams could run down the hill in rainy weather.
• Well away from roads and houses.

Delights

• Away from the city.
• In the Town Belt.
• Large area.
• Views over Newtown, to the south, and over Wellington Harbour.

Dangers

• Once away from the entrances, no dangers are evident.

Cautions

• We visited after a long dry period. After prolonged rain the hillside might be muddy and slippery.
• There were no visible signs of possum and rat poison, but poison is widely used in the Town Belt and is likely to be present.

Road access

This off-leash exercise area is accessible from entrances off Owen Street or Coromandel Street in Newtown, but free parking is very hard to find.

There are a couple of walking tracks down from near the old Fever Hospital, off Alexandra Road.

If you walk in from the Coromandel Street entrance (on the grounds of the Ewart Hospital Building), pass through the children’s playground, across the small wooden bridge and veer right to go up the hill to the off-leash area.

If you walk in from the Owen Street entrance take the first track to the right. Then either take the higher track past the reservoir, or the lower track that goes to the children’s playground. From there go left and up the hill.

Geolocation (see the map)

• Latitude: -41° 18′ 24.23″ (-41.306730)
• Longitude: 174° 47′ 2.03″ (174.783897)

Map

See Vice Regal North dog exercise area on Google Maps.

You probably know something helpful about this park. If so, please leave a comment below.

Wellington, New Zealand added a couple of new dog exercise areas in late 2009. One of them was the Alexandra Road West dog exercise area in Mt Victoria.

Looking north at Alexandra Road West dog exercise area.

Alexandra Road West dog exercise area lies between Newtown and Alexandra Road, Wellington, New Zealand. It faces west, and includes the slope of a vaguely terraced hillside. It lies more or less behind the hospital.

Quick Info

• A large, grassy area beside Alexandra Road
• Mostly away from the road
• An area with spaces for about half a dozen cars above the slope.

Access for wheelchairs, and pushchairs

• Yes, but probably tricky and the path (more of a track) only extends a short way towards the exercise area.

Looking south at Alexandra Road West dog exercise area.

Facilities

• Rubbish bin: no
• Toilets: no
• Seats: no
• Lighting at night: no.

Description

This is a large grassy slope bounded by bushes and trees. The slope had been mowed when we visited. There are ridges reminiscent of terracing down the slope.

The exercise area is new and has not yet been marked with signage.

There are pleasant views over Newtown. In the lower south corner (not actually part of the exercise area) is some fencing behind local houses. The fences are mainly intact, but there are some spots dogs could get through.

There’s ready access to Alexandra Road via a couple of tracks. The main road frontage though is a bit of a cliff that would deter dogs from running directly from the park to the road.

This is a nice large area where you can easily see what your dog is doing.

This is area #36 on the City Council map: Alexandra Road West (96Kb PDF).

Terrain

• A hillside off-leash area
• Grassy
• Wide open
• Water: no
• Mainly away from roads and houses.

Delights

• Away from the city.
• In the Town Belt.
• Bird song. We heard and saw Eastern Rosellas when we visited.
• Large area.
• Views over Newtown

Dangers

• Dogs could run onto the road via a couple of tracks.

Cautions

• We visited after a long dry period. After prolonged rain the hillside might be muddy and slippery.
• There were no visible signs of possum and rat poison, but poison is widely used in the Town Belt and is likely to be present.

Road access

This off-leash exercise area is off Alexandra Road, near the Newtown end.

Geolocation (see the map)

• Latitude: -41° 18′ 31.63″ (-41.308785)
• Longitude: +174° 47′ 13.52″ (174.787089)

Map

See Alexandra Road West dog exercise area on Google Maps.

If you can help us with any details please leave a comment below.

There’s a fun day for some dogs in New Zealand at Bark in the Park 10. Next up, Christchurch, 11 April 2010:

Bark in the Park print ad, photo by Mat Baker.

PURINA BARK IN THE PARK is a fun, action packed day with activities that your dog and the whole family can enjoy. Show your dog how much you love them and get down to Purina Bark in the Park for the biggest event on the canine calendar this year!

Get their tail wagging with: The annual PURINA ONE Jog the Dog fun run/walk (starts 10am) • FREE doggy makeovers & photoshoots with BENEFUL • Agility demonstrations. • Free PRO PLAN vet advice • FREE animal behaviour consultations at the PURINA tent • Let your pooch try flyball at the DOG CHOW tent • Plus, loads of competitions, free samples, stalls, prizes & more!

Auckland and Christchurch – keep your eyes peeled for Hamish Carter and Mahé Drysdale who will be there on the day!

Oh, and they have the best dog photo, created by Ogilvy photographer Mat Baker.

Did you attend the Auckland Bark in the Park? Are you going to the Christchurch event? Tell us about it in the comments.

We love seeing photos of dogs outdoors having fun. This Post brings you Bob and Molly, Vivienne Scott’s Blue Heelers.

Bob is the black one and Molly the smaller grey.

Grass / green shots with vines in the background were taken in the Wairarapa at Matahiwi Estate.

Beach shots were taken at Castlepoint.

Vivienne says:

Bob is 4 years old and Molly is 3 years. They are no relation as I originally bought them to breed.

They were both born in Melbourne and are pure bred 100% blue heelers (Australian Cattle Dogs). They are both extremely intelligent, loyal and full of energy.

We walk / run for an hour each day at the least! It is vital for them to have long periods of off-leash time as a walk around the block is never enough for them!

Do you have an Australian Cattle Dog? Tell us about it in the Comments. What’s its favourite outdoor activity?

I started this website with the idea of providing quality reviews of dog parks. That’s still an important part of what we’re about here, but I never intended to write all the reviews myself.

What’s more, I soon realised the site could have a broader scope: having fun outdoors with dogs. That’s why I’ve tried to add news items about fun sports and activities.

It’s a simple aim really: Dogs. Outdoors. Fun.

We want your contributions. Please leave a comment on this Post with your ideas.

How can we make it easy for you to send in photos, announcements of events, mini or maxi-reviews of places to go with dogs?

A story in the Keizertimes Newspaper raises some interesting issues about dog parks:

Oshi and Sasha at the beach.

Matt Aquino of Salem counts himself as one of the regulars, bringing his nine-month-old Maya, a Labrador and collie mix to get some exercise about twice a week.

He and Dale Shuart of Keizer, who brought his dog Gus to the park, said dogs who don’t know each other will often test each other to determine who is dominant — the leader of the pack.

The problems start when conflicts move past that stage — and owners aren’t doing anything about it. …

“I would say 75 percent of the problems between dogs are preventable if the owners are paying attention,” Aquino said. “Most of the time it’s the owner — they’re not paying attention or they’re texting.” …

Currently dog owners can bring up to three dogs with them to the off-leash dog park. Some at the park suggested that’s too many dogs to control if something goes wrong.

[Via : Keizertimes Newspaper | Keizer, Oregon | News + People + Life.]

There can be problems in any gathering of dogs, and it’s quite normal for dogs to sometimes engage in a bit of a scuffle to determine who’s top-dog.

But a scuffle should not be allowed to turn into a fight — there’s a big difference between a snarl and a fight. It’s up to the owners to supervise their dogs and step in before hostilities can develop.

As for how many dogs any one person can supervise — well, as the owner of 2 small dogs I can say it can be quite testing to watch out for pooping (so I can scoop), and to keep an eye on who’s where and what they’re doing.

3 dogs must be quite a challenge, especially if they’re active dogs who can cover a lot of ground in a short time.

What do you think about this?

Professional dog walking has never looked easy to me. For a more in-depth look at the life, visit this article about Toronto, Canada’s dog walkers:

A walker is responsible for controlling the dogs and grouping dogs is a skill, developed once you walk them and learn their temperament, says Wisenberg.

Even so, some dogs don’t make the grade and aggression will get them banished from groups and into “specialized services” – private walks at $25 for half an hour.

It takes a special personality to walk dogs, says Dianne Eibner, who has been walking dogs in Toronto for two decades.

“You need to be calm, confident, have lots of energy and the commitment to stick with it through rain and sleet and ice,” she says.

[Via : For dog walkers, the walk in the park is hard work - thestar.com.]

International Association of Canine Professionals.

Eibner founded a professional association, now the International Association of Canine Professionals:

An organization established to maintain the highest standards of professional and business practice among canine professionals.

The site has quite a bit of information, including guidelines for owners thinking of hiring a dog-walker.