My visit to Noosa and the dogs I met there walked by owners of course
The dogs of Noosa dog walked
Its probably a dying art, and I am sure that were we were was more tourist than local - but it was curious to see so few dogs being walked in the main street by their owners. Even more curious was how I saw the same dogs and owners most days of the week - when I saw dogs - so I didn't get to see a lot of variety.
Being very warm and humid in summer, it might make sense that I would not expect to see a lot of dogs in the area, besides maybe working dogs. But the reality was that I saw mostly European dogs with thick coats that would need a lot of constant trimming.
I saw a lot of bush turkeys walking around free, but because I didn't visit any dog parks, I saw no free roaming dogs.
The only dog related story I read in the local papers was about a lady who had her dog attacked by a large "powerful" breed dog where the owner was a few hundred metres away and didn't try and control their dog. Again the question of BSL was brought up which still seemingly remains contentious in all our cities, as serious dog bites seemingly continue unabated by a select breed of dog and that dog breed crosses.
I imagine if I were to find stats on the amount of dogs in that local area it would be pretty much the same as for the rest of Australia. Though with warmer weather for much of the year, I was wondering how they stopped snake bites and dogs from eating cane toads etc. I imagine that every area of Australia has its own particular issues with having dogs walk safely off lead and socialising.
Like most places in Australia it seems that proximity to a dog park is the number one contributor to how often dogs are walked off lead in any area. Noosa, like much of the areas around Melbourne are now tightly controlled so that most state forests are total dog ban areas.
The curious things about dog evolution is that it is strictly man controlled. Except for wild dogs (that mostly get shot on sight) dogs size, shape, colour and temperament are up to whether breeders decide they are going to be. With people living in smaller apartments it seems that dogs are either massively under walked or if dogs are social and not walked, they become not that friendly.
I hope that councils will continue to reserve areas that dogs can be walked and socialised, and give a consideration to dog and dog walker safety by providing proper fencing and preventing animals that can kill dogs from entering such parks. Its the least they can do.
