Off lead dog park - One Tree Hill

We are lucky enough to live in the Manningham council area with a few off lead parks around. The problem with off lead parks is you get a number of people who bring down their untrained dogs and puppies to "socialise" and run wild.

Luckily for us we have One Tree Hill on our doorstep! This little park is a favorite sunny spot for our walks. It is mostly fenced by the neighboring properties, with just the two entrance ways open. There is seats and a picnic table at the top of the (small) hill, and plenty of space for zooming around.

I have only once in the past 12 months met another person with their dog walking there once, so its a really good opportunity to have some off leash time chasing a ball and training without the madness you get in other places, such as Aranga Reserve - which is another great spot if you go in the middle of a weekday when there's less people, they have some great agility equipment for the dogs!

This is the boys at Aranga Reserve about to show agility skills, the rest of the pics are all from One Tree Hill

Life in the big bad city... with a dog

When I told my parents I was getting a dog they thought I was nuts! What will he do all day? What about when you go away? Why don't you just have a real baby? What do people in the city do with a dog?

Tyrone, our staffy cross, has just turned two. It has been a super steep learning curve, but I thought I would share some of our stories, hangouts and things that have made it all so fun.

The day we picked Tyrone was a bit of an accident. I had been looking on gumtree on and off for a few months when I found his ad. A guy in Mernda had for sale a puppy he got for his 3 year old daughter, but his wife (the one at home all day, 7 months pregnant and picking up after a 3 year old and now fur baby) had told him to get rid of it. I was hungover and needed something to cuddle me, as these days Jules has little sympathy for my shenanigans. Mernda man told his daughter he was taking the dog for a walk, and he was ours (I felt terrible, but she had a real baby sibling on the way to love).

So Tyrone (previously "Buster") was here to stay...

He was ridiculously cute and clumsy, falling over his oversized paws. The challenges started immediately - well I just got a puppy but we are meant to be going to a party tonight?

Its now nearly 2 years on since the day the cutest puppy arrived on our doorstep, and we have added a second staffy cross, Leroy, into the mix.This pic is a few months old now - he is actually bigger than Tyrone!

 We have spent many weekends hunting for dog friendly spots to hang out with these guys. My plan is to use this blog to share the spots which we have found, as well as other fun things to do in Melbourne which make being a dog owner fun!