SaltySeaDog

hi folks,my husband & I decided 15 months ago, after alot of ummms & ahhhs, to apply for a Canadian visa (it was a toss up between Canada & NZ). Well, it is just taking sooooo loooong we are now getting so sick of waiting for something to happen, that we might give up & apply for the NZ one instead!!
One thing I am wondering about about NZ is how much freedom we will have trekking & walking with our black labrador?? We have heard dogs are not allowed on any of the long distance paths, in national parks & have to stay on the lead almost all the time??? Cab they swim in the sea??!! Is it really as bad as it sounds?? We are both really into trekking but like to take our dog along too!! Thanks in advance for any advic e regarding out doggy friends!
Salty x

CWEMM02

I am not in NZ at the moment, but read in the NZ Herald yesterday how some cities ban dogs from the central part of town. Other posters have indicated on here that dogs are not allowed on beaches or on beaches during certain times and may not run in the woods in case they scare a kiwi bird. I think that there are dog specific trails in the woods, but your dog must be on lead.

ladylisa

there was a long thread on here very recently about this very issue, have a browse back and you should find it.

WheelsOfSteel

People don't want dog cr*p everywhere which makes sense.

lapsed kiwi

It's not too bad. We're just out of Auckland, and there are a couple of beaches and two huge forests where we can let our mutt off the lead for a good run. This time of year, he can run free on any beach all day, but as he's not too good at coming back when called, we usually restrict him to the out-of-town ones for this. You'll also find that people here tend to apply a bit of common-sense to rules, ie they're not always applied rigidly. I wouldn't bend the National Parks rule though, they are some vulnerable native species and you wouldn't get much sympathy if your dog came back with a weka or similar in its mouth. There are also small parks in the towns where dogs can be exercised, some off-lead, some on, but again people use their discretion.

lizard

Its crap here if you like going out for long walks with your dog. You are not allowed to go into any national park with them. You can go on the beaches, some have restrictions others don't. Depend where you are intending to live, some areas are slightly better than others. We live in the Bay of Plenty and there are a few big forests you can go in, but its not like England. There are restrictions every where you turn. We have a black lab and it drives us crazy when you have to drive for ages to find somewhere to let your dog have a Good run. There isn't a network of public footpaths here like in the UK, only national parks and council run areas. Everywhere else is privately owned land. NZ is not at all a dog friendly nation.

lizard

Listen find something better to do than interfere with genuine posts. Where are dogs supposed to crap if there are restrictions everywhere. People like you always hijack these posts with "I don't want dog poo on my shoes".
Where i live there are very few dog exercise areas but joggers have starting to use them and people pushing prams then they complain about dog poo. Well these are DOG EXERCISE areas so go somewhere else for Christ sake. We don't take our dog into a school playground and then complain about about the children teasing the dog.

Biddy

Alternatively you could pick up your dog poo afterwards like the rest of us.

aarcc

"Where are dogs supposed to crap?"

In/on the dog owners property prior to being walked.

WheelsOfSteel

Lizzard: As Biddy quite rightly pointed out. You could always pick the stuff up and take it home with you. Or perhaps you are as discussed of it as many others are. NZ is hugely, better wrt. dog control in this aspect.

If it wasn't for dog's and there owners leaving cr*p everywhere, perhaps joggers and you all, could live in harmony?

lizard

Did I say that I left the dog poo on the ground. I always take bags with me and clean it up. I know how repulsive it is to people, but the people who don't like dogs have plenty of places to go. Dog lovers don't. When someone ask questions about dogs there is always someone who tries to redirect the topic towards dog crap.

WheelsOfSteel

As a permanent resident of NZ, I am simply reinforcing the wide concern the general public have wrt. dogs and therefore, this should reinforce and substantiate the reasons for the lack/perceived availability of dog recreational options in NZ.

Plus, the farmers don't like them harassing the sheep...

dlmckay

Dog mess should ALWAYS be picked up and dogs should NEVER be off lead without being under COMPLETE voice control.

To back to the OP... dogs aren't generally allowed on a lot of the long distance paths and this is because there are a lot of ground dwelling native birds on the endangered list that could be disturbed by dogs.

Dogs are most certainly allowed in the sea and also below the high tide mark of most beaches.

Contact the local council where you think you'll be emigrating to and ask them to specifically list where the dogs are allowed on and off lead. There's also a great book called The Complete Pet Travel Guide which I highly recommend. Lists all the places you can go and stay with your dog.

This webpage is also helpful... DogLinks NZ

livewire

Unforunately some dogs aren't even under supervision, let alone voice control. It's not that unusual for them to be seen wandering around the streets on their own. Whether this is because people just don't have secure gardens or they just can't be bothered to take the animal out for some exercise I don't know.

There is a lot of controversy about micro chipping just at the moment, my feeling is that a lot of councils may not treat this as a priority, it wouldn't stop dogs from straying anyway and seems to have stirred up quite a bit of hostility from the farming community.

gruffbrown

Just hold on and wait for Canada, think of all the Beavers he can chase and Elk, loads of Elk and Celine Dion....