walking on a warm but not hot day

Penny and her two humans didn't have to walk at the crack of dawn today, because it's a warm day, not as fiendishly hot as it's been lately.

But a dog still needs to have a drink when she's taking her humans for a brisk walk.

It's best if you can instruct your humans to turn the tap on, so you can drink from running water.

The great thing about this drinking bowl is the hole in the bottom, because once a dog has had her fill, the water empties out along a clever little drain, presumably to be directed to the nearby Yarra River.

We're so lucky that someone had the foresight to create this beautiful bush setting just a few kilometres from the centre of a huge modern city.

mystery of river levels in the Yarra

Today the Yarra was low.

As we walked along we were astonished to see a big branch sitting on the muddy bank, exposed from tip to tip.






Usually it looks like this. As it did yesterday.



Seeing we were at one of Penny's two favorite swimming spots, she headed on down to the water and swam happily for a stick, but we didn't like to see her slogging through the deep, soft mud, given that she had surgery on her cruciate sixteen months ago.

So moved on to the other spot, where the strangely low water has exposed rocks, not mud.



Melbourne Water has been working for months to rebuild the old weir at Dights Falls. Their site says:

The Waterways Alliance, on behalf of Melbourne Water, is completing works to replace the ageing Dights Falls Weir and build a new fishway on the Yarra River in Abbotsford.

The new weir will be similar in shape, location and height to the existing structure and continue an important role controlling water levels in the river.

A new fishway will allow fish to swim past the weir, benefiting 11 species of native migratory fish and unlocking vast reaches of the Yarra and its tributaries upstream.

And...

A temporary diversion of the Yarra has been set up at Dights Falls to allow the construction of the new weir and fishway. The diversion will be in place until the new weir has been constructed and will cause river levels for up to 16 kilometres above the weir to temporarily drop below normal levels on occasions.

The drop in river level will cause sections of river bank, usually under water, to become exposed.

So that seems to be the answer to the mystery.

a muddy river and a limping dog

Yesterday Penny and her humans went for a walk to Yarra Bend Park, the dog-friendly place where she can walk off-lead. To our surprise, the Yarra was at the lowest we have ever seen it. (Later we discovered the weir at Dight's Falls has been taken apart for repair, which has left the river at what our informant said is its natural level.)



The low level of the water had revealed an interesting object.



But Penny was more interested in the water than what was on the bank, so she went for a swim.



As we strolled back along the path, Penny hastened to a boat ramp that leads down to the water. We don't usually swim there, even though it's an off-lead park, because there's a strange sign that seems to indicate that in this spot dogs should be on lead. (Very strange) Penny jumped off the ramp edge, which is usually under water, and couldn't get back up, because she was stuck in the soft mud.

With our physio's advice 'no scrambling from now on' in our minds, we raced down to try to lift her onto the edge of the ramp, to no avail. Eventually we managed to direct her around the side of the ramp where she could scramble up onto dry land.

We didn't worry too much until later in the day, when she hobbled across the kitchen on three legs, her left leg held off the floor. Oh no! The lovely extracapsular surgery - had it been ruined?

The vet nurse was reassuring when we rang for advice, saying that even though it's common to have a setback, the surgery is strong - but we made an appointment for today.

And then gave Penny some tender loving care - an ice pack on the joint, ten minutes at a time, and hand-feeding of nice little carrot tidbits.



During the rest of the evening, we gave her lots of massages to the leg, as the physio had done during the recovery from surgery.

This morning the vet said she has probably strained the leg, but she seems okay. She's not limping, but we didn't exercise at all today.

Here's hoping!