Long ago, someone pointed out to me that our favourite canned pet food has carrageenan in it, and said that ingredient is reported to be carcinogenic. I decided not to worry about it, because I thought ZiwiPeak, the brand I'm talking about, is ethically produced.
However, today I was reading a report by a cardiologist about carrageena. He says he wouldn't eat it himself. Reluctantly, I decided not to buy this terrific brand of food any more.
And then...
In researching this post I found they don't include it any more! Hooray!
Two things occur to me:
1. If they have taken the trouble to replace carrageenan with what they say is a safer ingredient - agar agar - then they must have concluded that carrageenan is indeed dangerous to our pets.
2. Why is carrageenan still listed on some websites as a ZiwiPeak ingredient?
I reckon it's worth looking at the ingredient list on anything you give your dogs - and on any human product - to check for carrageenan.
Showing posts with label safety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label safety. Show all posts
Sunday, 9 August 2015
Monday, 23 September 2013
little children can confuse dogs
Our little visitor has become more relaxed with Penny around, and now likes Penny to be in the room with her.
Which is great. We believe it's good for children to be calm around dogs. But we're also aware that a two-year-old doesn't understand that even the most placid dog needs guidance at times as to how to behave.
If you look at this photo of Penny, I think you'll agree that she's looking a bit worried. Her tail is tucked under and her ears are flat.
In the second photo, she has moved to the other side of the little visitor, possibly getting away from the child's attention, and isn't sure whether it's okay to play with her toys. Her head is tilted and she's looking at me to check what's going on.
Which is great. We believe it's good for children to be calm around dogs. But we're also aware that a two-year-old doesn't understand that even the most placid dog needs guidance at times as to how to behave.
If you look at this photo of Penny, I think you'll agree that she's looking a bit worried. Her tail is tucked under and her ears are flat.
In the second photo, she has moved to the other side of the little visitor, possibly getting away from the child's attention, and isn't sure whether it's okay to play with her toys. Her head is tilted and she's looking at me to check what's going on.
In the final photo she has relaxed.
It's wonderful to have our delightful little visitor, and I'm glad she and Penny are getting along so well. But we won't be taking our eyes off Penny for even a moment while there's a toddler in the room with her.
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
dogs and toddlers
For some weeks now our staid old home has been energised by a visiting two-year-old on Wednesday evenings.
We've been very careful to separate Penny from the little one, because our visitor isn't used to dogs. Penny isn't too willing to be penned behind a doggy gate, but can usually be manoeuvred into the room with a treat. She can see the visitor through the gate.
Week by week, the little visitor has become more accustomed to Penny's presence, sometimes wanting to pat her; but in general quite wary.
Tonight, Penny waited behind the doggy gate for her visitor.
After a while, the little one wanted to come into Penny's room and meet her, and we let the visitor give a few 'sit' commands and drop treats for Penny. Eventually Penny was allowed out of the separate room and resumed her usual quiet evening doze in the family room with everyone else, even sitting on the couch next to our little visitor.
It was great to see the two of them comfortable together, but we didn't take our eyes off them for a moment, because it's so important there be no misunderstanding.
Finally Penny took herself off to another room to have a rest. But our visitor thought Penny needed some entertainment, so she rushed around fetching toys for her. (I love the way the camera gives an impression of her activity level!)
Penny was somewhat bemused by all the activity, but took it calmly.
What a lovely visit!
We've been very careful to separate Penny from the little one, because our visitor isn't used to dogs. Penny isn't too willing to be penned behind a doggy gate, but can usually be manoeuvred into the room with a treat. She can see the visitor through the gate.
Week by week, the little visitor has become more accustomed to Penny's presence, sometimes wanting to pat her; but in general quite wary.
Tonight, Penny waited behind the doggy gate for her visitor.
After a while, the little one wanted to come into Penny's room and meet her, and we let the visitor give a few 'sit' commands and drop treats for Penny. Eventually Penny was allowed out of the separate room and resumed her usual quiet evening doze in the family room with everyone else, even sitting on the couch next to our little visitor.
It was great to see the two of them comfortable together, but we didn't take our eyes off them for a moment, because it's so important there be no misunderstanding.
Finally Penny took herself off to another room to have a rest. But our visitor thought Penny needed some entertainment, so she rushed around fetching toys for her. (I love the way the camera gives an impression of her activity level!)
Penny was somewhat bemused by all the activity, but took it calmly.
What a lovely visit!
Saturday, 25 May 2013
more about car safety for dogs
Johann has added a comment to my recent post on car safety for dogs. He reminded me he has his own page on the topic. I'm really glad he's sent me the link, because I thought I remembered he had done a good investigation of restraints for dogs. I'm going to head on over and read it now.
Friday, 24 May 2013
car restraint for dogs when travelling
Over Penny's lifetime we've tried many different restraints when travelling in the car. At the moment we have a harness which we clip to a seat belt. She is a quiet traveller, so our issue is not stopping her moving around (she doesn't). It is making sure that in a collision or a sudden braking, she is not thrown around the cabin of the car.
Today I read a report on PetMD looking at a variety of pet restraints and car safety features.
However, even after I looked at all the styles on offer, I was still unconvinced that there is any system which will keep Penny safe in an accident. If you read this article about how seat belts for humans work, you will see that the idea is to distribute the impact across the least vulnerable parts of the human body:
But the bad news is that studies have shown there is no really effective safety harness for dogs. Here's an extract from a report on dogtime.com :
Here's a quote from an article in The Week:
After writing this post, I'm more determined than ever to keep researching safety equipment for dogs in cars.
And to drive carefully.
Today I read a report on PetMD looking at a variety of pet restraints and car safety features.
However, even after I looked at all the styles on offer, I was still unconvinced that there is any system which will keep Penny safe in an accident. If you read this article about how seat belts for humans work, you will see that the idea is to distribute the impact across the least vulnerable parts of the human body:
When the belt is worn correctly, it will apply most of the stopping force to the rib cage and the pelvis, which are relatively sturdy parts of the body. Since the belts extend across a wide section of your body, the force isn't concentrated in a small area, so it can't do as much damage.If you scroll through the restraints on the Pet MD site, you'll see that many of them have the dog attached by the collar around the neck. I think that's a recipe for disaster in a sudden stop. I prefer the ones which attach to a solid harness that goes around the belly.
But the bad news is that studies have shown there is no really effective safety harness for dogs. Here's an extract from a report on dogtime.com :
Using the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 213, which is the gold standard for determining the safety of child restraint systems in vehicles, CPSresearchers went to work testing how each type of pet seat belt system held up in crash tests. During this initial testing phase, the group used a 55-pound “crash-test doggy” model to represent dogs in the 50-85 pound range, which includes breeds likeBoxers, German Shepherds, and Weimaraners, among others.If you look carefully at discussions this topic, you will notice the key issue is safety for the humans, by preventing the dog from becoming a missile when the car stops suddenly or by preventing the dog from moving around the interior of the car and distracting the driver.
Slow-motion video taken during the study shows the canine crash dummy, buckled into several models of pet seat belts, as the dog careens forward and smashes into the car interior during controlled crashes.
What CPS found was alarming. None of the pet harnesses met the minimum safety standards in the pilot study — a failure rate of 100 percent.
According to the CPS website, some of the problems researchers discovered with current pet safety restraints included a low likelihood of survival for the restrained pet, a danger to the driver and other passengers “when the dog becomes a missile,” and the probability of choking when the pet seat belt materials “cinch tightly” during the crash.
Here's a quote from an article in The Week:
In fact, research by Volvo indicates that a standard-sized dog traveling in a car at 30 mph turns into 2,700 pounds of force — the same size as a baby elephant.I thought the one in this video clip looked fairly good.
After writing this post, I'm more determined than ever to keep researching safety equipment for dogs in cars.
And to drive carefully.
Monday, 2 January 2012
safe throwing toys for dogs
Out again early this morning to beat the heat, we met a couple of lovely black dogs (and their human) at the dog friendly park along the Yarra River. They had a couple of Safestix, which their human had purchased online.
We were wondering whether Penny might try to nab one of the lovely orange sticks, instead of her boring old piece of wood (which I'm holding in the background), but she swam quite happily for the ordinary stick.
The dogs with the Safestix had to learn to watch carefully when the toy was thrown, because it momentarily sinks and then bobs up again.
Now I want one for Penny. Of course.
I can't find an Australian supplier listed on the Safestix site, so I've emailed my favorite pet supplies store, Murphys, to see whether they might have them or might get them in. Otherwise I'll order from either the UK or the listed New Zealand shop.
The Safestix seems to have a similar use to the Aussie Dogs Slapathong, which is also a floating alternative to a stick.
By the way, we never throw a stick for Penny on land. I've heard many people mention the dangers of tossing sticks for dogs to fetch, but I don't need to be warned of the possible consequences, because I once saw a man with a stick embedded in his face. He lived, but it was one of the worst things I've ever seen!
Sticks are dangerous.
We were wondering whether Penny might try to nab one of the lovely orange sticks, instead of her boring old piece of wood (which I'm holding in the background), but she swam quite happily for the ordinary stick.
The dogs with the Safestix had to learn to watch carefully when the toy was thrown, because it momentarily sinks and then bobs up again.
Now I want one for Penny. Of course.
I can't find an Australian supplier listed on the Safestix site, so I've emailed my favorite pet supplies store, Murphys, to see whether they might have them or might get them in. Otherwise I'll order from either the UK or the listed New Zealand shop.
The Safestix seems to have a similar use to the Aussie Dogs Slapathong, which is also a floating alternative to a stick.
By the way, we never throw a stick for Penny on land. I've heard many people mention the dangers of tossing sticks for dogs to fetch, but I don't need to be warned of the possible consequences, because I once saw a man with a stick embedded in his face. He lived, but it was one of the worst things I've ever seen!
Sticks are dangerous.
Sunday, 1 November 2009
vomiting up seawater after a swim
Penny's always introducing us to new experiences.
On Friday I took her back to the beach, because it was so much fun the day before, and because from the first of November we're not allowed on the beach during the main part of the day. It was cool day and we had the beach to ourselves, and probably I let her overdo it with the swimming.
This time I took a thin throw-toy, so she could swim with her mouth shut and possibly not swallow so much salt water.
But I think she did swallow too much, because she introduced me to the fine art of doggy frothy mouth.
At the time it seemed quite funny, but it wasn't so funny when she spent the entire evening running in and out of the house to eat grass.
I had a look on the internet that evening, but I'm glad I didn't come across this sad story of a dog that died after a visit to the beach.
WebVet has a good overview of the care we need to take when our dogs swim anywhere.
Penny seems fine after her adventure, but next time I won't let her swim so long, and I'll try harder to make her drink fresh water while we're there. (She wouldn't drink the water I offered her, until we left the beach.)
Here's a picture of the only thing that Penny was worried about - a super scary rock in the water that needed a lot of barking at!
On Friday I took her back to the beach, because it was so much fun the day before, and because from the first of November we're not allowed on the beach during the main part of the day. It was cool day and we had the beach to ourselves, and probably I let her overdo it with the swimming.
This time I took a thin throw-toy, so she could swim with her mouth shut and possibly not swallow so much salt water.
But I think she did swallow too much, because she introduced me to the fine art of doggy frothy mouth.
At the time it seemed quite funny, but it wasn't so funny when she spent the entire evening running in and out of the house to eat grass.
I had a look on the internet that evening, but I'm glad I didn't come across this sad story of a dog that died after a visit to the beach.
WebVet has a good overview of the care we need to take when our dogs swim anywhere.
Penny seems fine after her adventure, but next time I won't let her swim so long, and I'll try harder to make her drink fresh water while we're there. (She wouldn't drink the water I offered her, until we left the beach.)
Here's a picture of the only thing that Penny was worried about - a super scary rock in the water that needed a lot of barking at!
Sunday, 18 January 2009
a dog's dream come true
Penny can't believe her luck! One of the trees in our backyard has turned into a tennisball tree. The balls are a strange color, but she knows they come in different colors and textures, because she's a connoisseur. From the patio it's quite hard to get them, but there are lots to choose from.
If you go down the steps into the yard you can find any number that have been pecked by the birds and thrown on the ground.
They fit nicely in the mouth and they do roll if pushed with a paw.
The frustrating thing is that they must be magical disappearing tennisballs, because every time she looks away from her acquisition, it's as if someone had swooped down and taken it instantly. It must be her humans, but surely they wouldn't begrudge her a few.
And just this evening, when she went out to get another one - not to eat it, mind you, just to have it on her mat - nearly all of them were gone from the tree.
And a note from the humans:
It's our first good crop on this tree, which we've had all of Penny's life. We really wanted to wait till the plums (oops! balls...) ripened on the tree, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. We don't want to take the chance that she will eat them. We've read stories about the danger of those stones in the middle of the fruit. We left a few pecked ones on the tree and on the ground, because we like sharing with the birds - especially our tame female blackbird. I guess we'll have to watch Penny for a day or two.
As for the apricot crop, we think she only walked around with them in her mouth, and it was such a small crop that we were sure none were missing. Well...hopeful.
Next we have the apple tree to deal with. So far she hasn't shown any interest in the windfalls on the ground, thank goodness. Fingers crossed.
Here's a picture of the picked plums, not as ripe as we had hoped.
If you go down the steps into the yard you can find any number that have been pecked by the birds and thrown on the ground.
They fit nicely in the mouth and they do roll if pushed with a paw.
The frustrating thing is that they must be magical disappearing tennisballs, because every time she looks away from her acquisition, it's as if someone had swooped down and taken it instantly. It must be her humans, but surely they wouldn't begrudge her a few.
And just this evening, when she went out to get another one - not to eat it, mind you, just to have it on her mat - nearly all of them were gone from the tree.
And a note from the humans:
It's our first good crop on this tree, which we've had all of Penny's life. We really wanted to wait till the plums (oops! balls...) ripened on the tree, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. We don't want to take the chance that she will eat them. We've read stories about the danger of those stones in the middle of the fruit. We left a few pecked ones on the tree and on the ground, because we like sharing with the birds - especially our tame female blackbird. I guess we'll have to watch Penny for a day or two.
As for the apricot crop, we think she only walked around with them in her mouth, and it was such a small crop that we were sure none were missing. Well...hopeful.
Next we have the apple tree to deal with. So far she hasn't shown any interest in the windfalls on the ground, thank goodness. Fingers crossed.
Here's a picture of the picked plums, not as ripe as we had hoped.
Sunday, 30 November 2008
dogs are in danger if they eat Xylitol sugar substitute
Reading Dolittler's blog today I was surprised to learn the extent of the danger the sugar-substitute Xylitol presents to dogs.
Since I read her previous posts on the danger of this product I've been been warning my friends not to feed anything with artificial sweeteners - but I didn't realise that Xylitol is used now in Rescue Remedy and in some multivitamins.
Dolittler (a practising vet in the US) says that more dogs are poisoned by TicTacs than by any other product, partly because they have such a high level of Xylitol and partly because they are so ubiquitous.
An online article by Sherrill Sellman says that the Finns rediscovered Xylitol during a sugar shortage in World War Two, making it from birch bark. It had been first manufactured in 1891 by a German chemist.
Snopes.com has an account of a nearly fatal accidnet where a dog ate a couple of pieces of chewing gum.
I guess the message is, don't feed your dog anything produced for humans, unless you research the ingredients first.
Since I read her previous posts on the danger of this product I've been been warning my friends not to feed anything with artificial sweeteners - but I didn't realise that Xylitol is used now in Rescue Remedy and in some multivitamins.
Dolittler (a practising vet in the US) says that more dogs are poisoned by TicTacs than by any other product, partly because they have such a high level of Xylitol and partly because they are so ubiquitous.
An online article by Sherrill Sellman says that the Finns rediscovered Xylitol during a sugar shortage in World War Two, making it from birch bark. It had been first manufactured in 1891 by a German chemist.
Snopes.com has an account of a nearly fatal accidnet where a dog ate a couple of pieces of chewing gum.
I guess the message is, don't feed your dog anything produced for humans, unless you research the ingredients first.
Sunday, 28 September 2008
dogs learning to 'leave it' or 'give' it to their humans
Our neighbours might have wondered what was going on in our backyard tonight, because they probably heard my increasingly desperate commands to Penny to 'leave' a delicious tidbit she had found, or to 'give' it to me.
I got so worried I shouted for someone in the house to come and help me wrench it from Penny's mouth. But no-one heard - a lesson that our houses are so soundproof that shouts for help might not be heard. Scary thought.
She was recently on a course of antibiotics for a week because the vet thought she had a bowel inflammation. It was only after I came home from that vet appointment that I had a horrible thought, too scary to even write about here. I remembered that in mid-August, I had lost a nylon stocking whose toe was stuffed with cabana, cheese and other smelly treats.
Why would I have such a strange thing? It was used to lay a great-smelling track for Penny to follow.
Why would I forget where I had put an object so dangerously tempting to a dog? I don't know.
I've had a niggling worry for weeks as to whether she had found it and eaten it. My friends must have got tired of me asking them whether they think a dog would eat something like that; whether it would go through her digestive system; whether it would show up on an x-ray; whether I should ask the vet; whether she would be still pooing if she had a nylon stocking in her gut.
You get the picture? I've been driving everyone crazy by mentioning it every time I start to worry.
Well, tonight I learned the answer: yes, a dog WOULD eat it if she happened to find it, even if it were so old that it had turned into a disgusting slimy mass.
Yes, she would absolutely refuse to give it back and would try to swallow it as quickly as possible if she thought her human was trying to steal it.
Yes, the stocking would start to tear apart if the human tried to pull it back out of her dog's oesophagus.
When I look at the photo and see how far into her mouth the stocking had gone - you can tell the part that is damp - I thank heaven that some intuition made me leave my dinner and go outside to investigate what she was doing outside at a time when she's usually keeping an eye on her humans while they eat.
Top of my to-do list is to be shown once again how to force a dog's jaw open. The vet did show me but in the dark and in the stress of the moment I couldn't do it.
One great result of tonight's fright is that now I can stop worrying about where the stocking is. It's in the rubbish bin and out in the street for collection.
I got so worried I shouted for someone in the house to come and help me wrench it from Penny's mouth. But no-one heard - a lesson that our houses are so soundproof that shouts for help might not be heard. Scary thought.
She was recently on a course of antibiotics for a week because the vet thought she had a bowel inflammation. It was only after I came home from that vet appointment that I had a horrible thought, too scary to even write about here. I remembered that in mid-August, I had lost a nylon stocking whose toe was stuffed with cabana, cheese and other smelly treats.
Why would I have such a strange thing? It was used to lay a great-smelling track for Penny to follow.
Why would I forget where I had put an object so dangerously tempting to a dog? I don't know.
I've had a niggling worry for weeks as to whether she had found it and eaten it. My friends must have got tired of me asking them whether they think a dog would eat something like that; whether it would go through her digestive system; whether it would show up on an x-ray; whether I should ask the vet; whether she would be still pooing if she had a nylon stocking in her gut.
You get the picture? I've been driving everyone crazy by mentioning it every time I start to worry.
Well, tonight I learned the answer: yes, a dog WOULD eat it if she happened to find it, even if it were so old that it had turned into a disgusting slimy mass.
Yes, she would absolutely refuse to give it back and would try to swallow it as quickly as possible if she thought her human was trying to steal it.
Yes, the stocking would start to tear apart if the human tried to pull it back out of her dog's oesophagus.
When I look at the photo and see how far into her mouth the stocking had gone - you can tell the part that is damp - I thank heaven that some intuition made me leave my dinner and go outside to investigate what she was doing outside at a time when she's usually keeping an eye on her humans while they eat.
Top of my to-do list is to be shown once again how to force a dog's jaw open. The vet did show me but in the dark and in the stress of the moment I couldn't do it.
One great result of tonight's fright is that now I can stop worrying about where the stocking is. It's in the rubbish bin and out in the street for collection.
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
dogs on leads in busy streets
Even though I'm an advocate of the necessity for dogs to walk off-lead beside their humans on an everyday basis, I certainly don't mean to suggest a busy street is a place for that freedom.
Today was full of excitement - of a kind I could do without.
In the morning I took three dogs out for an on-lead street walk because their owner is not well - they were Bonnie, an elderly mutt who is a regular visitor to our house; and two gorgeous West Highland terriers who don't know me. All went well until I looked down and realised one of the westies, Scruffy, was wandering along beside us not attached to his lead. He had backed out of his collar.
I think I might have stayed calm if we hadn't been near one of the busiest roads in our neighbourhood -Bell St in Heidelberg. Scruffy danced away from me and raced towards Bell St. What to do? I hurried the other dogs to their home, on the corner of that road, grateful to a man who was dashing towards the busy highway to try to head Scruffy off. I thrust them inside the gate and was surprised to hear the other man say, 'Well, that's okay, then.'
What? I looked around, and there was Scruffy with the others. He had darted inside when I opened the gate.
It took me a long time to stop shaking and realise that all's well that ends well, but eventually I drove off towards Reservoir.
As I stopped for the lights at the massive intersection of St George's Road and Murray Road, I was horrified to see two little 'white fluffies' - probably maltese crosses of some kind - playing in the middle of the traffic.
Not straying near the traffic - PLAYING in between the masses of cars and trucks that were travelling through the intersection. The two little devils were chasing each other between the vehicles.
( I took the photos of the intersection at St George's Road after the two little dogs were safe, so they're not in the picture.)
So I parked my car as close as I could, grabbed a leash and checked my pockets for doggy biscuits.
But they weren't going to be caught. They were having too much fun. I got the council ranger's phone number from a nearby business and called for help.
An hour later it was safely resolved, thanks to the help of a passer-by who played with them and fed them my treats in the - unfenced - front yard of a nearby house.
Guess what? The ranger knew them. They've been out before. As far as I'm concerned, some people don't deserve to have a dog. I'm not going through that intersection again if I can help it. I don't want to see a little white body in the gutter.
What a day! It would be a relief to go for a walk at relaxing Gardiner's Creek with Penny and her friend Jabari. I headed along busy Manningham Road towards Blackburn.
And there he was - a THIRD dog roaming off-lead near a busy street. A black labrador. I zoomed to a halt in the car park of a nearby school and fumbled for doggy biscuits. Lucky I'd restocked my pocket.
Once again, no way was this dog going to let me near him. Worn out by the stresses of this doggy day, I rang Jabari's mum and poured out my story to her.
'Is he on the road?' she asked.
'No,' he's near some fences.' By this time he was barking fiercely at me.
'Okay, get in your car and leave,' she commanded. 'That's the sound of a dog on his own territory.'
'But...'
'He's not lost. You can't help.'
She was right. As I plodded towards my car and the patiently waiting Penny, the dog slipped through the palings of a fence.
Today has convinced me. The days of groups of carefree children roaming the streets with their dogs are gone. Our streets are too dangerous.
All the more reason to value those places where dogs and people can stroll along together, safely distant from traffic. We need to make sure our community developers plan for off-lead walking areas for dogs and their humans.
Today was full of excitement - of a kind I could do without.
In the morning I took three dogs out for an on-lead street walk because their owner is not well - they were Bonnie, an elderly mutt who is a regular visitor to our house; and two gorgeous West Highland terriers who don't know me. All went well until I looked down and realised one of the westies, Scruffy, was wandering along beside us not attached to his lead. He had backed out of his collar.
I think I might have stayed calm if we hadn't been near one of the busiest roads in our neighbourhood -Bell St in Heidelberg. Scruffy danced away from me and raced towards Bell St. What to do? I hurried the other dogs to their home, on the corner of that road, grateful to a man who was dashing towards the busy highway to try to head Scruffy off. I thrust them inside the gate and was surprised to hear the other man say, 'Well, that's okay, then.'
What? I looked around, and there was Scruffy with the others. He had darted inside when I opened the gate.
It took me a long time to stop shaking and realise that all's well that ends well, but eventually I drove off towards Reservoir.
As I stopped for the lights at the massive intersection of St George's Road and Murray Road, I was horrified to see two little 'white fluffies' - probably maltese crosses of some kind - playing in the middle of the traffic.
Not straying near the traffic - PLAYING in between the masses of cars and trucks that were travelling through the intersection. The two little devils were chasing each other between the vehicles.
( I took the photos of the intersection at St George's Road after the two little dogs were safe, so they're not in the picture.)
So I parked my car as close as I could, grabbed a leash and checked my pockets for doggy biscuits.
But they weren't going to be caught. They were having too much fun. I got the council ranger's phone number from a nearby business and called for help.
An hour later it was safely resolved, thanks to the help of a passer-by who played with them and fed them my treats in the - unfenced - front yard of a nearby house.
Guess what? The ranger knew them. They've been out before. As far as I'm concerned, some people don't deserve to have a dog. I'm not going through that intersection again if I can help it. I don't want to see a little white body in the gutter.
What a day! It would be a relief to go for a walk at relaxing Gardiner's Creek with Penny and her friend Jabari. I headed along busy Manningham Road towards Blackburn.
And there he was - a THIRD dog roaming off-lead near a busy street. A black labrador. I zoomed to a halt in the car park of a nearby school and fumbled for doggy biscuits. Lucky I'd restocked my pocket.
Once again, no way was this dog going to let me near him. Worn out by the stresses of this doggy day, I rang Jabari's mum and poured out my story to her.
'Is he on the road?' she asked.
'No,' he's near some fences.' By this time he was barking fiercely at me.
'Okay, get in your car and leave,' she commanded. 'That's the sound of a dog on his own territory.'
'But...'
'He's not lost. You can't help.'
She was right. As I plodded towards my car and the patiently waiting Penny, the dog slipped through the palings of a fence.
Today has convinced me. The days of groups of carefree children roaming the streets with their dogs are gone. Our streets are too dangerous.
All the more reason to value those places where dogs and people can stroll along together, safely distant from traffic. We need to make sure our community developers plan for off-lead walking areas for dogs and their humans.
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