new swimming hole for dogs in Darebin Parklands

The newly mulched surroundings of the old dog swimming hole in Darebin Parklands are looking good.



Although we are not sure where dogs can swim, we tried out what we think will be the new access point to Darebin Creek. It's quite nice, with stepped rocks so the humans can look out for snakes and the dogs can get down to the creek safely.



The water is not very deep, though. Even a small dog like Penny is wading rather than swimming, and I worry about the rocky bed of the creek causing her to sprain a joint (as happened once when she was playing in the Yarra River up at Warburton).

it never rains but it pours

The horrible unseasonable heat wave has broken, and the rain has come! Lovely rain!

We went down to Darebin Parklands today to see how it is reacting to the overnight rain, and the creek was raging.

In fact, when we tried to walk along the path on the Darebin side, it was under water. I can't remember the actual path being submerged, not even in the welcome rain in December last year.



Hmm... I wonder where the snake has gone, the one who lives under this decking? I hope it relocated safely to higher ground. And I hope we don't meet it unexpectedly!

We turned back and headed for higher ground, and then went to see whether we could return to the Banyule side via the Sidney Clifton bridge. No, not a chance! It was well and truly submerged.



We went closer.



And Penny dashed ahead to have a close look. such a close look that she gave us conniptions!

swimming in Darebin Parklands

Yesterday Penny and I came across another section of the Darebin Creek where it is fun to swim. She swam for ages, setting out across the little area to collect tennis balls, as I fiddled with my camera and took lots of shots. Penny didn't seem to tire of it for ages.

Here are some of my favorite pictures:

First, the ball landing. (I wish they were sharper!)






Second, Penny going for the ball.




Third, shaking out.



Fourth, Penny concentrates as she waits for some ball-throwing on the grass to dry off.

renovations to the pond in Darebin Parklands

Well, after more than a year of arguments, meetings, discussions, demonstrations, rallies, it has finally started - the redevelopment that will ban Penny and her mates from the traditional dog swimming pond in Darebin Parklands. As far as I know, the pond was originally edged with giant rocks so dogs wouldn't destroy the banks as they went into the lovely deep water.





Here are a couple of shots of Penny enjoying her favorite swimming hole.






Usually the water was just at a good height for jumping in, but on one occasion there was a flood and even the rocky bank was under the swirling waves.



It made me feel sad to see the machines moving in and the non-native trees being removed.



And those lovely rocks, on which we've had so much fun, dug out.






Let's hope the sacrifice is worth it, and that the creek's water quality is improved by the works that are taking place. Water is the land's life blood, as we remember every summer - we have to value anything that improves the ability of our waterways to stay healthy.

Time will tell...

washing a dog after a swim in a polluted creek

Penny had a bath immediately after we arrived home from Darebin Parklands this evening, because she had jumped into the creek. The creek looked and smelled awful!

Only yesterday I'd been delighted to see it was crystal clear and inviting. But today...



We walked downstream to see whether the water would be clearer after rushing over the series of rapids that have been designed into this section of the creek.



But the water quality was terrible all the way along.

alligator weed and dogs

What has alligator weed got to do with dogs? As far as I know, nothing. That's why Penny stayed at home when I went to a talk given by ranger Matt Strong on the noxious Alligator Weed, which has made its appearance in the Darebin Creek.

On Friday 20 February I posted about this weed, thinking it was already in Darebin Parklands, where we walk most days, but I was spotting the wrong water plant. The government website says;

Alligator weed Alternanthera philoxeroides is an Argentinean plant that was first reported in Australia in the 1940s and has since spread along the east coast. If not controlled, the weed can completely cover the surface of water bodies and wetlands, affecting native flora and fauna and agriculture.

Matt said it has the potential to be disastrous in Victoria but it's not prevalent in our park yet. His advice to anyone who thinks they've found the plant is to report it to the rangers, but not to touch it, because it reproduces from any little bit. Here's a picture of it.


(I found this photo at the New Zealand site of Environment Waikato and I believe the picture was copyright free for non-commercial use.)

The main distinguishing features of the weed are the fact that two leaves come out at the same spot on the stem and that there are white flowers near the top. The flowers are really a little cluster of flowers and to me they felt quite spiky when Matt passed a plant around the meeting.

I guess Penny and I should keep our eyes open when we walk next time. I wouldn't want this plant to smother our lovely creek.

swimming in Darebin Parklands

Penny and I took a break from sadness and stress yesterday afternoon and tried out the Darebin Creek. Although there are weeds choking some areas and the level is low, the water actually looked okay. Well, Penny obviously thought so.



Of course, the object of any swim is to fetch a ball.

And when you come out you have to be very focused and ready to leap after the other ball in your human's hand.



Then it was time for another ball-game, this time on land.



And finally, we headed off into the sunset.

dogs swimming in local creeks

Sometimes Penny still swims in the Darebin Creek on hot days, but lately the water level is low and there is a horrible weed growing in the creek. I think I've seen it in the Merri Creek, too. I guess that it's Alligator Weed, because Darebin Parklands ranger Matt Strong is giving a talk about this weed next Tuesday in the parklands environment centre.

With temperatures due to be high again soon, it's great if dogs can swim, but there aren't many places to do it nowadays. We usually walk once a week at Gardiners Creek, but lately that creek's water has become very polluted and everyone who walks there has to keep dogs on lead for fear they jump into the water.

For many reasons I wish it would rain - to water our farmers' crops; to freshen our gardens; to bring our creeks and rivers to life; to put moisture into the air so fires won't kill us, our pets and our bush creatures.

But not heavy rain yet...we don't want all that fire-fighting foam to wash into the dams.

a dog visits Darebin Parklands in the heat

In the cool hours after dawn Penny and I headed for Darebin Parklands to see how the plants and animals have made it through the current heat wave.



One of the first sights was a eucalypt that had dropped one of its branches.

Eucalypts are one of the most common trees in the Parklands and I wondered whether there will be more dropping of limbs if this heat continues, so I had a look around the Internet. I found it surprisingly difficult to locate information from Australia, but I suppose that reflects two realities - the dominance of the English-speaking net by the US and the number of eucalypts growing in the US.

Page 5 of the Danville Weekly of 2006 had an article about 'sudden limb drop syndrome.' They'd been having a twelve-day heat wave - temperatures above 100 degrees for nearly two consecutive weeks. Sounds even worse than here. (I think it must be the Danville in California.)

About why limbs drop suddenly, the writer said:

Researchers are still learning about the syndrome, but they theorize that during periods of hot dry weather, trees suck more water into their branches. This causes the branches, which are already arid and brittle, to snap from the weight of the water...One woman reported hearing a loud crack and then seeing water spill out of a large branch.

That last sentence sounded rather strange, but I'll reserve judgment.

I've heard eucalypt branches snap and drop many times, in the bush - the thump of the timber hitting the ground is frightening but I've never been close enough to be alarmed.

I found a fascinating snippet in an article by Robert L Santos of California State University:

Drought in recent years has made Californians more conscience [sic] of water conservation especially in regard to plant life. Some eucalyptus species have proven to be drought resistant. In the 1917 [sic], there was a drought in California where temperatures hovered between 110 and 120 degrees F. It was found that the foliage on most eucalyptus trees burned with the amount of tree damage being dependent upon type of soil and wind. Trees in loamy soil did better than those on sandy soil because it contained more moisture. A survey was done concerning the number of trees killed by the 1917 drought. It was found that of 2,885 blue gum trees examined only 9 died. The red gum did even better in that only 10 trees died out of 4,461.

I'd say that's true of the Parklands. I think many of the dead trees are wattles.



Two hopeful points, then - the eucalypts are tough; and the wattles are good at reproducing. Penny had a good look at the babies around the dead tree and gave them the paws-up for survival potential.


















Anyway, back to our walk...
Many areas of grass were dusty and dead, with lines of cracks stitched across the ground.



We spent some pleasant time chasing balls but we took care to avoid the areas with the potentially leg-breaking cracks. (One of us chased balls; the other is too old and too tired out from the heat to raise a gallop, so she, having the advantage of arms and fingers, threw the balls.)
Then it was time for a cool off in the creek.






Here is another article with information on 'sudden limb drop':Summer Limb Drop on Ornamental Trees by Pam Geisel, farm advisor at the University of California.

dogs and planting in Darebin Parklands

Today Penny and I went to have a look at how the baby grasses are growing in Darebin Parklands.













It was the first time Penny had seen them, because she stayed home while her humans were planting poa grasses along the edge of the creek last Sunday.















It was enormously satisfying to work with others to plant hundreds of native plants and know that they will add to the variety of flora in this beautiful spot. Many of the people who worked that day walk with their dogs in the park, so they will enjoy seeing the plants grow. (Let's hope that the hot summer weather doesn't begin too early this year, so the plants can get a good start.)

Each little plant had a handful of water crystals beneath it, which should keep them going for a couple of months.


After they went into the lovely sandy soil, we mulched around them.
































For some of the volunteer 'gardeners', it was their first experience of planting in this wonderful park. I hope it will be the beginning of a long-term involvement. I've just been looking at a fascinating presentation about the history of the Darebin Parklands Association and I can only say how I admire the work that has been done so far.

dog training in Darebin Parklands

Penny and I set out in the cool of the morning to take part in a special free dog training session in Darebin Parklands.

It was arranged by the City of Darebin Animal Management, and Lynne Hiscock was the contact officer who organised it. Darebin DOGs (Dog Owners Group) advertised it through their email contact group - darebindogs@hotmail.com. Bruce, one of the organisers of the Darebin DOGs, is pictured here discussing the day with Lynne and making plans for the future. I'm very grateful for the work they put into this day.

A local dog obedience club ran the session.





It was an enjoyable morning, even though it quickly got very hot and we were all heading for any little bit of shade. I'm not much into formal obedience, I must say, but got a few good ideas for working with Penny.



The things I will practise are:
walking on the short lead without surging ahead;
doing a five-minute sit at home;
making sure the recall is very strong.

When Penny is on the long extending lead I don't care if she's out in front. I don't have any sense that she thinks she is leader of the pack when she's ahead. I think she is just aware that if she wants to sniff evey vertical surface, she'd better rush ahead so she can do it before I catch up and hurry her on. Likewise when she's off lead and going places with me I don't mind if she ranges out from me.

However, when we walk up to the shops it's great if she's walking nicely and I'm going to do what the trainer said. How we did it was that she walked on my left, as normal, and when she surged ahead I stopped and walked backwards a few steps, calling her if necessary and when she was level with me on my right I turned towards her so she was on my left and we walked a bit in that direction, before heading back the way we had been going. I think that was it...

I'd like to try the five-minute sit because, even though I'm not into dominance, it would be a good exercise to try occasionally to check that she does have the self-control to do it.

The recall was discussed at some length. I agree with the trainer that this is the most important obedience command. Although I may not like obedience training, I know that there are some things that MUST be taught to a high level. He reminded us that it is vitally important that all recalls must end with a pleasant experience for the dog and that we should never chastise a dog when it comes to us, no matter how irritatingly slow the return was.

It was a pleasant surprise at the end of the session to discover that there was a free bag of goodies from the 4-Legs dog food company. It's a brand of food that I do buy sometimes, when we're slacking off from the only-raw-food thing. I also use the 4-Legs Doggy Cool treats because they seem to have wholesome ingredients and they can be cut up into tiny pieces without falling apart.

We allowed Penny to have a look in the bag and she pulled out a bone-shaped rawhide treat and rested in the shade whilst chewing it. I don't think I would be buying them, though, as I don't like rawhide treats because I got a fright one night when she seemed to be choking on one (not a 4-Legs one).

Oh, course, seeing we were in the beautiful Darebin Parklands, it just wouldn't be a satisfying day unless it ended with a swim - and the water was crystal clear, today.