Routine creeps up when you need to do the same thing day in, day out. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. I loved our daily dog walks along the same tracks on Hampstead Heath, seeing the views change as the trees went about their seasonal business. However, when your dog knows the drill and gets a sudden case of deafness or an urge to wander off when you reach a certain spot that spells home, things can get tricky.
I’d been walking Teddy in a particular Auckland park for a few weeks. At what I had been told was the designated off-lead spot, we’d had a few games of fetch and I’d given him the freedom to snuffle about. Then I found out that the, ‘hill with trees on it where dogs can free-roam’, was not the pretty spot that we’d been visiting but right by a main road, which put it on the wrong side of risky for us.
Of course, after I found out that the former grassy knoll was out of bounds, Teddy felt even more sure that it was his personal playground. Each time I attempted to walk by, he dug his heels in. He also worked out that the chicken treats I produced from my pocket when we got there, the only stuff to make him budge, were another good reason to wait it out.
Well, change is good. As we can’t go off lead in that park anymore, and as Teddy has decided to plant himself on the pavement when he gets in the vicinity, I’ve been forced to find other free-roam areas and, in doing so, I’ve lit upon what Aucklanders call ‘reserves’. These small patches of greenery are dotted throughout built-up areas, linking up neighbourhoods. Hidden away like secret gardens, it turns out that most of them are dog-friendly oases. Filled with trees, populated by birds, with some open space and some bush – they are dog heaven.
Now that our furniture has made the journey from London and is currently sitting in Auckland customs, we’re moving to a new home. The good news is that I’ve discovered we have not one, but two of these reserves in our new road. Will Ted be content with those? Hmmm… I think he has plans to keep me on my toes.
