Taking dogs on holidays

Submitted: Sunday, Mar 02, 2008 at 22:41

ThreadID: 55125 Views:2551 Replies:11 FollowUps:21

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Member - Dunworkin (WA)

To those who are debating on whether to take their dogs on holidays here is my experience.
We have never taken our furry family member, Simba (see Pic below) on an actual holiday because of the usual "reasons" such as 'can't go to some places', 'she may upset or disturb others around us' you get the idea, well some of you may remember about 15 months ago our beloved Simba had one of her back legs off due to cancer, all has been going well until the last few weeks so we decided to have the dreaded xrays done to see why she was limping in one of her front legs, unfortunately the results were that the cancer is now in her right shoulder, so we dicided to take her for that holiday that we hadn't done for all those "reasons". We loaded up the van and off to Geraldton we went with a very excited Simba on board. We were gone for over a week and not one of those "reasons" raised it's ugly head, we had no problems with other people or with their dogs, Simba was absolutely brilliant.
So if you have a dog and not sure whether to take your pet on your trips just work out why you have the dog in the first place and how important it is to you and your family, because believe me at the end of the day you only have them for a short part of your life and as we have found that those "reasons" for leaving them at home can be dealt with.
Enjoy your furry friens while you can.

Cheers

D

Simba, our much missed baby.

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Reply By: Member - Mark E (VIC) - Sunday, Mar 02, 2008 at 22:52

Sunday, Mar 02, 2008 at 22:52

D

I do it both ways!

I firstly choose what type of holiday I want. Usually, they fall into the category of: Can't take the dog, or can take the dog.

2 month trip to the Kimberley via Tanami, GRR etc, not very dog friendly, hence she gets her own holiday with dog loving friend.

Week long trip to mates farm via a few high country tracks, skillfully avoiding the National Park (of course)....perfect trip for the dog. Mind you I do object to 'permits issued for the purpose of deer hunting with dogs in the NP', when I'm not allowed to have mine with me camping..... which is likely to 'disturb' wildlife more, I ask? It's a crock! I've lost count of the number of deer hunting dogs that I've found wandering in the bush, apparently lost, then rung the owner who is now in Melbourne....."Yeah, couldn't find that one, mate...can you bring her back to Melbourne with you?..." hardly.

Bushwalking in Wilsons Prom.....ummmmm probably not.

I agree with you though, I love taking the dog camping as it adds a very enjoyable dimension to the trip and provided the trip is mid week and fairly remote, away from the madding (dog hating) crowd, I can;t see the problem.

Cheers,

Mark

AnswerID: 290497

Follow Up By: Member - Dunworkin (WA) - Monday, Mar 03, 2008 at 23:27

Monday, Mar 03, 2008 at 23:27

Hi Mark, thanks for the reply. You really do need to work out whether or not the holiday that you are taking is doggie friendly, there is definitely places where you can't take dogs, we did the Kimberley's last year and didn't take our girl so our daughter house sat for us while we were away. She always gives us a fantastic greeting when we get home.

Cheers

D

Simba, our much missed baby.

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FollowupID: 556074

Follow Up By: fozzy - Tuesday, Mar 04, 2008 at 19:47

Tuesday, Mar 04, 2008 at 19:47

Mark

which NPs in Vic allow dogs in to hunt????

cheers
fozzy

FollowupID: 556210

Follow Up By: Member - Mark E (VIC) - Tuesday, Mar 04, 2008 at 22:06

Tuesday, Mar 04, 2008 at 22:06

Fozzy,

Have a look at this link:

Hunting in National Parks

There are other forest areas which directly adjoin National Parks into which the dogs often 'wander'. I often found dogs wandering around the Alpine National Park around the Bennison Plains area, along the Moroka Road and a number of other places. I also spent 3 years living in the Howqua Valley on a large property owned by a school and we were constantly 'rescuing' dogs that had wandered off from the owners, who had given up the search and gone back to Melbourne.

It would appear from the above information that there is very limited dog hunting allowed in National Parks in Vic, though I think a few years ago the restrictions were not as tight.

Cheers,

Mark

FollowupID: 556234

Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008 at 07:45

Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008 at 07:45

I'm with you on the hunting dogs Mark.

Makes me bloody angry that people loose them in the bush and then give up and go home and, no doubt, repeat the process a month later.

In fairness not all hunters are like that: a few years ago I was camped in deep bush north of Dargo and was very surprised to see a pair of headlights approaching camp on a cold, wet night at about 10pm. Turned out to be a hunter on a quad out looking for a lost dog. Chatting to him on CB the next day he found the wet and unhappy dog at around midnight.

Mike Harding

FollowupID: 556272

Follow Up By: Member - Mark E (VIC) - Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008 at 08:31

Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008 at 08:31

Mike,

Yes, like anything, there are good and bad.

I have nothing against dogs for hunting per-se, though it's not my bag. It's a free world and everyone is entitled to their own interests, provided they don't impinge on others. My main beef was the lack of control that the hunters seem to have on the dogs, which then wander off and end up on private property or in National Parks.

The school camp where I used to live in the Howqua Valley, had about 80, 15 yo girls and you can just imagine the look on some of their faces when a burly bloke dressed in fatigues, camouflage-painted face, wanders into the camp with high powered rifle slung over shoulder, looking for his lost hound!!! Not to mention the obvious security issues. Mind you there were a few deer up that way!!

FollowupID: 556278

Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008 at 08:37

Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008 at 08:37

>The school camp where I used to live in the Howqua Valley, had
>about 80, 15 yo girls

By God man! You're made of stronger stuff than me! I can hardly imagine anything worse than having to deal with 80 15 year old girls!

I reckon whatever you did you'd be on a looser somewhere! :)

Mike Harding

FollowupID: 556279

Follow Up By: Member - Mark E (VIC) - Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008 at 09:38

Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008 at 09:38

Yep, it had it's challenges!!!!!!!! 8-)

FollowupID: 556294

Follow Up By: Member - Dunworkin (WA) - Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008 at 13:49

Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008 at 13:49

Can some-one please explain to me why people are allowed to take a dog (hunting) into NPs, let them loose to catch rabbits deer, foxes etc..., assuming that they are trained enough to know that those animals are the only ones that the dog is allowed to chase/catch, (and by all accounts not trained enough to come back when required) and I am not allowed to take my well trained dog, always on a lead, (when not home) well fed, picked up after (and I mean always) into these same NPs just because she is a 'dog' (in our minds she is not just a dog she is a member of our family, we would never leave her behind). My head is still shaking. Is it a sport???? or is it actually the Govts way of trying to get rid of feral animals in the Parks????? for me it appears to be creating more ferals there.

Cheers

D

Simba, our much missed baby.

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FollowupID: 556319

Reply By: Members-Neil & Margie-Cairns - Sunday, Mar 02, 2008 at 23:18

Reply By: Member - Doug T (FNQ) - Monday, Mar 03, 2008 at 04:56

Reply By: Member - Coyote (QLD) - Monday, Mar 03, 2008 at 14:32

Monday, Mar 03, 2008 at 14:32

Damn straight.. This is one of my biggest frustrations about camping/holidaying in Aus these days.. 99% of places do not allow dogs. Unfortunatly this is policy making based on the lowest common demoninator, so I understand the reasons why dogs are banned - too many idiots have let their dogs run rampant and kill/chase native animals etc and bark/howl etc.. I see no reason what Mans best friend, managed and taken car of properly cannot be part of the family no matter where we go. I am more than happy to admit to taking my two Beagles across the Simpson Desert, to Cape York among many other places. They love it and we are always very crafeull to ensure that they are not able to chase/disturb the wildlife or our neighbors (if worse comes to worse and we actually have to camp near someone else) we even go so far as to put towels tc over the windows of the car at night so that they can't see out and hence distrub the wildlife, should it come into our campsite. (they sleep in back of the Nissan) This works very well as we have had dingos at our tent door right beside the car with the dogs in it and they didn't even realise until I made a racket to chase the dingos off.
There are very few places I don't take my dogs. Would be nice to be able to do it legally though.

AnswerID: 290584

Follow Up By: Member - Dunworkin (WA) - Monday, Mar 03, 2008 at 23:47

Monday, Mar 03, 2008 at 23:47

Hi Coyote, I know what you are saying, it seems that most people do the right thing but it is the selfish minority that messes it up for the rest. The park that we were in at Geraldton had quite a few dogs in but there was no problems at all.
We have a book called "Holidaying with Dogs" (It is in the Exploroz book shop) which is fantastic, it covers Australia wide and gives the names of all places that allow dogs, also gives the name of places that will look after the dog if you happen to go off for a few hours or days.

Cheers

D