Dogs in New Zealand!
Jun 23rd 2007, 8:03 pm
#1
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Dogs in New Zealand!
We are planning to move to New Zealand in the next few months. I am a nurse and will have a job to go to. Three questions to ask if anyone would be so kind to answer them.
Is New Zealand a dog loving country? We have three terriers.
Will my husband be able to get a job? He is unskilled.
Is it easy to rent initially, especially if you have dogs?
We are hoping to move to either Wellington or Christchurch, but need to be near the sea!
Is New Zealand a dog loving country? We have three terriers.
Will my husband be able to get a job? He is unskilled.
Is it easy to rent initially, especially if you have dogs?
We are hoping to move to either Wellington or Christchurch, but need to be near the sea!
Jun 23rd 2007, 8:10 pm
#2
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Joined: Feb 2007
Location: Northland New Zealand
Posts: 587
Re: Dogs in New Zealand!
We are planning to move to New Zealand in the next few months. I am a nurse and will have a job to go to. Three questions to ask if anyone would be so kind to answer them.
Is New Zealand a dog loving country? We have three terriers.
Will my husband be able to get a job? He is unskilled.
Is it easy to rent initially, especially if you have dogs?
We are hoping to move to either Wellington or Christchurch, but need to be near the sea!
Is New Zealand a dog loving country? We have three terriers.
Will my husband be able to get a job? He is unskilled.
Is it easy to rent initially, especially if you have dogs?
We are hoping to move to either Wellington or Christchurch, but need to be near the sea!
first of all we have a boxer and he goes pretty much everywhere with us. There are restrictions during the summer time dogs can only go on the beach at certain times but we haven't found it a problem. We rent but up in Northland and had no problems finding a property that would accept dogs, however, the newer the property the less likely they are to accept pets...usually.
When you say your hubby is unskilled what does he do for work in the UK, whatever he does over there he is likely to be able to do over here!
Good luck.
Debbie
Jun 23rd 2007, 10:42 pm
#3
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 2,813
Re: Dogs in New Zealand!
It's heaps easier to find rentals if you don't smoke or have dogs.
Are you keen on fishing or something?
At any rate, good luck.
At any rate, good luck.
Jun 23rd 2007, 11:53 pm
#4
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 38,612
Re: Dogs in New Zealand!
We are planning to move to New Zealand in the next few months. I am a nurse and will have a job to go to. Three questions to ask if anyone would be so kind to answer them.
Is New Zealand a dog loving country? We have three terriers.
Will my husband be able to get a job? He is unskilled.
Is it easy to rent initially, especially if you have dogs?
We are hoping to move to either Wellington or Christchurch, but need to be near the sea!
Is New Zealand a dog loving country? We have three terriers.
Will my husband be able to get a job? He is unskilled.
Is it easy to rent initially, especially if you have dogs?
We are hoping to move to either Wellington or Christchurch, but need to be near the sea!
2] If you have a work visa then your husband will gain a work visa on the back of yours , so he can work at any job. There are the usual array of unskilled jobs here which he could apply for. Nothing to stop him.
3] With three dogs you will undoubtably be more restricted in your choice of rentals. I suggest you offer extra bond money etc.
The other option is that your dogs go into kennels whilst you rent.
Jun 24th 2007, 12:08 am
#5
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,208
Re: Dogs in New Zealand!
1] I dunno , we have cats and ducks, neither of which goes well with dogs. I know there are restrictions here in Nelson as to where you may walk your dog & that they often must be kept on their leads. Most dogs live outside in kennels here it seems. The only dogs I know here are working & ex-working dogs from farms and lifestyle blocks ,though I did have a pig-dog cross my path once when it leapt from the ute that had just passed me by. Might have been the smell of the dead boar that urged it to jump or simply the pain from it's wound.
2] If you have a work visa then your husband will gain a work visa on the back of yours , so he can work at any job. There are the usual array of unskilled jobs here which he could apply for. Nothing to stop him.
3] With three dogs you will undoubtably be more restricted in your choice of rentals. I suggest you offer extra bond money etc.
The other option is that your dogs go into kennels whilst you rent.
2] If you have a work visa then your husband will gain a work visa on the back of yours , so he can work at any job. There are the usual array of unskilled jobs here which he could apply for. Nothing to stop him.
3] With three dogs you will undoubtably be more restricted in your choice of rentals. I suggest you offer extra bond money etc.
The other option is that your dogs go into kennels whilst you rent.
There are laws and restrictions a plenty, look up the local city council websites for their lists.
Here if you have more than 2 you need permission for a third and permission from the neighbours, based roughly on the space of your section i think.
One of our neighbours has just been saying she thought it was law that we had to fence off the dogs to enable unencumbered access to the front/main entrance for visitors? Not one I'd heard of but I think she's wrong ... I hope!
Jun 24th 2007, 2:27 pm
#6
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Joined: Jun 2007
Location: Poole, Dorset
Posts: 6
Re: Dogs in New Zealand!
Way more difficult to rent with dogs. We have 2 dobermans and had to pay lots for our rental.
There are laws and restrictions a plenty, look up the local city council websites for their lists.
Here if you have more than 2 you need permission for a third and permission from the neighbours, based roughly on the space of your section i think.
One of our neighbours has just been saying she thought it was law that we had to fence off the dogs to enable unencumbered access to the front/main entrance for visitors? Not one I'd heard of but I think she's wrong ... I hope!
There are laws and restrictions a plenty, look up the local city council websites for their lists.
Here if you have more than 2 you need permission for a third and permission from the neighbours, based roughly on the space of your section i think.
One of our neighbours has just been saying she thought it was law that we had to fence off the dogs to enable unencumbered access to the front/main entrance for visitors? Not one I'd heard of but I think she's wrong ... I hope!
I'm also concerned about bringing my pets over - the cat will be fine but my dog is nearly 12. Not sure if a) we'll be allowed to bring him and b) he'll cope with the journey
Alex
Jun 24th 2007, 5:43 pm
#7
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Re: Dogs in New Zealand!
Thanks for all the replies, especially Debbie. A bit wiser now. x
Jun 24th 2007, 5:48 pm
#8
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Re: Dogs in New Zealand!
ajax 1610
I'm sure you will come to the right decision regarding your dog. It is very hard. Twelve is a good age and I'm sure he would have had a good quality of life here. Only you will know what is best for your dog. Good Luck.
I'm sure you will come to the right decision regarding your dog. It is very hard. Twelve is a good age and I'm sure he would have had a good quality of life here. Only you will know what is best for your dog. Good Luck.
Jun 24th 2007, 11:52 pm
#9
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Re: Dogs in New Zealand!
Our dog was 14 when he flew over,he is now 15 and doing fine.Cheers
Jun 25th 2007, 8:13 am
#11
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Location: NZ - for now!
Posts: 827
Re: Dogs in New Zealand!
For such a dog loving country, I've noticed its really hard to get a rental allowing a dog. We rent (until we buy), and we're the top end of the market, so you'd think they wouldn't care about the dog because its hard to find people to pay high rent. We only just bought a dog. Prior to buying her, we had our pick. A lot of properties don't seem to mind cats. Our current rental agreed to a dog on the basis she lives outside. Do your dogs live outside? I think that's a good bargaining tool. We currently live in Auckland, but we've been looking at properties around Wellington, no luck with a pooch!! Looks like we'll have to build/buy sooner than we expected and leave her in kennels.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Jun 25th 2007, 8:48 am
#12
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Joined: May 2007
Location: Hutt Valley, Wellington, New Zealand
Posts: 100
Re: Dogs in New Zealand!
Strewth...I've seen a few dogs since I've been here!! 
Jun 26th 2007, 12:43 am
#13
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Location: Waitakere City
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Re: Dogs in New Zealand!
Here if you have more than 2 you need permission for a third and permission from the neighbours, based roughly on the space of your section i think.
One of our neighbours has just been saying she thought it was law that we had to fence off the dogs to enable unencumbered access to the front/main entrance for visitors? Not one I'd heard of but I think she's wrong ... I hope!
One of our neighbours has just been saying she thought it was law that we had to fence off the dogs to enable unencumbered access to the front/main entrance for visitors? Not one I'd heard of but I think she's wrong ... I hope!
The second point is indeed true also. Visitors to the house are to be able to approach the front door unimpeded by dogs. However, the loophole to that is to have a pager intercom system on the front gate, bearing in mind that another rule is that dogs are not allowed to rush the fence either, so if you go for the intercom thing, you'll need something to keep the dogs back from the fence! It's all a bit strict really.
One of things I'm finding that I really miss about the UK is the Public Footpaths across farmland. For the most part, farmland here is private and you may not cross it without permission from the landowner. Many gates display an orange ribbon to support that. Publicly owned land is mostly owned by the Department of Conservation and they're fairly anti-dog. With many native birds being either flightless or ground nesting, I can see their point, but it is very restrictive for those who like a good tramp with the pooch.
Jun 26th 2007, 12:59 am
#14
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Re: Dogs in New Zealand!
You may find this useful... I posted this some time ago on a site that may not be mentioned here 
Right, there seems to be a bunch more dogs being brought over into NZ and I thought you might find the following useful:
Microchips (from a post I did about six months ago)
Finally, after over eighteen months in the country, I have discovered where to register my microchipped pets in NZ, as they were all chipped in the UK and therefore, are still registered there!
I have Virbac chips and they have started using these over here. To register your animals' microchips in New Zealand, you need to contact the Australiasian Animal Registry in Sydney www.aar.org.au or www.aar.org.nz.
Fill in the Application for Registration form that you can download off this site and send off each application form with AU$7.50. Animal is now registered in New Zealand and if found and scanned, hopefully returned to you!
I still cannot believe that they would insist on chipping animals in the country of origin and then having no way of then registering them in their new country.
Registering your dog with the local council
Must be done within 28 days of the dog landing in the country, but no-one seems to mind if you tell them you're a new immigrant and you didn't know. The price of the dog registration goes down if you register promptly (earlybird discount), have your dog neutered and also have a Responsible Dog Owner's licence.
To get this RDO licence, you need to sit a test, answer some questions about hydatids, general care and maintenance of a dog and that's it. Take another 10-15% off your registration fee.
Wandering dogs
The council and dog rangers are pretty quick at picking up dogs and it can cost you $100 to get your dog back. Each time a dog gets picked up, the fine increases... you have been warned!!
Hope you all find this interesting!
Diana
Microchips (from a post I did about six months ago)
Finally, after over eighteen months in the country, I have discovered where to register my microchipped pets in NZ, as they were all chipped in the UK and therefore, are still registered there!
I have Virbac chips and they have started using these over here. To register your animals' microchips in New Zealand, you need to contact the Australiasian Animal Registry in Sydney www.aar.org.au or www.aar.org.nz.
Fill in the Application for Registration form that you can download off this site and send off each application form with AU$7.50. Animal is now registered in New Zealand and if found and scanned, hopefully returned to you!
I still cannot believe that they would insist on chipping animals in the country of origin and then having no way of then registering them in their new country.
Registering your dog with the local council
Must be done within 28 days of the dog landing in the country, but no-one seems to mind if you tell them you're a new immigrant and you didn't know. The price of the dog registration goes down if you register promptly (earlybird discount), have your dog neutered and also have a Responsible Dog Owner's licence.
To get this RDO licence, you need to sit a test, answer some questions about hydatids, general care and maintenance of a dog and that's it. Take another 10-15% off your registration fee.
Wandering dogs
The council and dog rangers are pretty quick at picking up dogs and it can cost you $100 to get your dog back. Each time a dog gets picked up, the fine increases... you have been warned!!
Hope you all find this interesting!
Diana
Jun 26th 2007, 6:22 am
#15
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,208
Re: Dogs in New Zealand!
Am Loolah, first point is correct. Most councils restrict numbers of dogs on a section to the land size, but you can get around this by requesting permission from your immediate neighbours. However, complaints will result in the permission being removed. I have 3 dogs when my property size only allows for one. Being onside with the local Dog Warden and being a amateur dog trainer with the local dog club has gone a long way with this.
The second point is indeed true also. Visitors to the house are to be able to approach the front door unimpeded by dogs. However, the loophole to that is to have a pager intercom system on the front gate, bearing in mind that another rule is that dogs are not allowed to rush the fence either, so if you go for the intercom thing, you'll need something to keep the dogs back from the fence! It's all a bit strict really.
One of things I'm finding that I really miss about the UK is the Public Footpaths across farmland. For the most part, farmland here is private and you may not cross it without permission from the landowner. Many gates display an orange ribbon to support that. Publicly owned land is mostly owned by the Department of Conservation and they're fairly anti-dog. With many native birds being either flightless or ground nesting, I can see their point, but it is very restrictive for those who like a good tramp with the pooch.
The second point is indeed true also. Visitors to the house are to be able to approach the front door unimpeded by dogs. However, the loophole to that is to have a pager intercom system on the front gate, bearing in mind that another rule is that dogs are not allowed to rush the fence either, so if you go for the intercom thing, you'll need something to keep the dogs back from the fence! It's all a bit strict really.
One of things I'm finding that I really miss about the UK is the Public Footpaths across farmland. For the most part, farmland here is private and you may not cross it without permission from the landowner. Many gates display an orange ribbon to support that. Publicly owned land is mostly owned by the Department of Conservation and they're fairly anti-dog. With many native birds being either flightless or ground nesting, I can see their point, but it is very restrictive for those who like a good tramp with the pooch.
I need to re-register the dogs this week, maybe I'll go in person and double check. just wondered if you had a link?