The Hutt: It's a great place for dogs
BY NICK BARNETTDo you know of the Hutt Valley, have you heard of its glories? A river runs through it, you know. And it's the river, or more correctly the strips of land just to the sides of it, that helps make the Hutt such a great place to be dog owner.
I'm a Huttie, bred and schooled, but not born. It's my stamping ground, though I thought I'd permanently stamped away from the place many years ago.
Now here I am back. And one of the compensations of being a long bus ride from my office is that it's superbly set up (by accident and by policy) for dogs.
Much of the length of the Hutt River's banks, both east and west, is an off-leash dog-walking area.
And it's not one boring, unchanging strip of footpath, either. The riverbanks include leafy walks, gravelled paths, grassy paddocks and sunlit uplands where Labradors leap and dachshunds dance. (Well almost.)
There are quiet stretches where you'll never see anyone, and other places where you'll meet dogs and their owners at almost any time of day. (Admittedly, one favourite dog-walking area has been under threat recently from a plan to split it down the middle like a Kitkat bar and plant trees on one half to help cut the flood risk. It would be a grievous loss to dog owners.)
Then there are dog-friendly beach areas of Petone and Eastbourne, and hilly hiking paths that go on for miles, often with great views.
No, I'm not a PR person for Hutt City Council. You could say some negative things about the Hutt (please don't, though, out of respect for property values). But one positive thing is that it's got a lot of places to walk.
My dogs love it. They never have to tread the same boring route two nights running. And the boredom doesn't set in for us humans, either. That's a real factor in our quality of life.
We've met dog owners from Wellington city who travel out to the riverbank or beaches of the Hutt to walk their dogs. Wellington's not as dog-friendly, they've told us.
Well I'd hate to make an assertion about that. I know that Wellington has eased its policy on dogs lately, approving some new off-leash exercise areas, and allowing people to walk their dogs through the central city, though not stop there with them.
And Wellington boasts the region's best dog-socialisation zone - the Woof Woof Ruff walking area at Lyall Bay beach. This is where you get the densest and most varied gathering of dogs, which makes it ideal for getting your own dog used to meeting lots of different sizes and personalities of dog, as well as people. It's also perfect for getting your dog caked with sticky grey sand.
So - are Wellington dog owners well catered for with dog-walking areas? How dog-friendly do you feel your town or district is? What are your favourite places, anywhere in New Zealand, for taking your dog out (and living, too)?
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Living in Mt Cook and not having a car, dog walking is a nightmare! There are some sportsfields however we are not allowed to walk dogs on those and no woof woof areas anywhere closeby for walks. General dog friendly behaviour in Wellington city is very low - even with the new bylaw of allowing dogs being walked through the city (however only to go through to the waterfront I understand - not to actually spend time in the city!).
The Council asked for feedback and supposedly made changes to dog walking areas. Looking at the cahnges these are minor changes in way out suburban areas. Very annoying. It should not be presumed that everytime you walk a dog , you do so with a car!
Thanks to your post today, I learnt about an additional off-leash area in Ngaio (which looks bigger than the one in Cummings Park) and I found a great website with dog related news for us poor Wellington dog owners. It turns out there's more areas than I thought. But my favourite is still Waihinahina Park, in Newlands. Tonnes of space to tire out our dog and on a nice day, well you can't beat the harbour view.
We walk from Trentham park most weekends, down to the river so the lad can have a swim. he loves it. We always meet new dogs and see dogs (and owners) from past weekends. We have been to Lyall Bay a couple of times which is fun, and Petone beach is pretty good too. But you can go to any spot along the Hutt river and walk for miles in either direction.
We're in Wellington and it is a bit limited. Lyall Bay is great when you live nearby (we used to) but not so good if you're a way away (as Emily points out, there's dog owners near the central city too, and the point of taking a dog for a walk isn't actually to get in a car!). We really need a proper dog park (fenced, off leash area) or four in or near to the central city where dogs can be socialised. There's loads of space around. Top of Mt Vic near the old fever hospital where the SPCA's going maybe?? One actually in town or by the waterfront? Wellington is not very dog friendly at the moment - needs to change.
yes wellington city needs full fenced off leash parks.
Christchurch has a couple of great ones, full feneced, even a seperate one with a pond to splash in. They even have a fully fenced seperate pack that is seperate from one of the main ones and is for 'one at time use' ie bitches in heat or not so dog friendly dogs
Pity we cant have that here, some of the off leash bits here are right beside busy roads and have no fencing!
another thing, I read that the council WONT be putting more or any bins in dog parks as it costs too much to get them emptied.... um what the hell? yet they will be the ones complaining if there are little blue bags of dog poo in the bushes at the parks.
what do we really pay rego for each year!!
Hi to all your dogs anyway. dogs are awesome !
There's a dog park on the site of the old Central Park Geriatric Hospital, off Ohiro Road. Or there used to be, Kerry may have had her dog unfriendly way with that park too.
It has access from Epuni Street, Ohiro Road and the top of Mortimer Terrace near the Bowling club. Great site, lots of play areas and near the community gardens, which is what makes me think Kerry may have cut it.
Don't agree! What about the Hutt pound - not good for dogs!
The Hutt a great place for dogs?
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I'm Hutt born and bred (and never leaving...) and love being able to take my dogs down to the river. They arent "off leash" kinda dogs so I put them on a long retractable leash, and they love it.
Plus, it's always warmer in the Hutt...