2012 Avon Descent

We last went to the Avon Descent kayaking race in 2010, and Barbie and Bender were mainly good companions, though Barbie kept trying to walk backwards when she was sick of standing still. Last year we didn't see the race because we were busy swanning about in Europe. How things have changed with the dogs!

This time Bender was the handful. He just could not calm down. We drove out to Toodyay and he was a pest in the car, while Barbie did her usual thing of sleeping or gazing out of the window. 

We found a parking spot and then walked back across the bridge. N wanted to watch from the bridge for a while, but Bender was alternating between looking like he would try to jump off the bridge into the water a long way below, or jumping off the kerb into traffic. 

When we got to the other side of the river we found that we couldn't go anywhere along the nice grassy foreshore in Toodyay as they were having an 'International Food Festival', no dogs were allowed. The whole area was fenced off, and we were forced to walk along a road to get down to an unoccupied stretch of river.

Barbie seemed to enjoy the sights and sounds near the river. There was a miniature railway which came rumbling past us on the trail, and she seemed to want to hitch a ride. All of the passengers were smiling at her. Bender had his own things to investigate.

He ended up dragging me down a steep bank, which was slippery mud from the recent rains. I landed on my arm and ended up with a sore shoulder, elbow and wrist. I also hurt my knee on a separate occasion as he tried to drag me to another spot. 

He started to calm down a bit, after I had a very loud whinge at him I think he realised what he had done.

All our camping paid off with Barbie finding a sandy spot to lie down. She didn't sit down at all last time we were in this spot, two years ago! Bender followed suit and we had quite a relaxing time watching the boats paddle past. I did wish I had a pack of frozen peas to put on my elbow though!

There were kids on the other side of the river who had started their own little campfires, and there was quite a lot of smoke. Barbie seems to have gotten over her smoke phobia as she didn't even seem to notice it. 

She did notice the sun when it came out though. She decided she would use N's shadow to keep her face out of it. 

Barbie also asked if we could get this boat, so N and I could be at the front and back to paddle, and her Highness could curl up in the middle hole, rest her chin on the boat, and enjoy the ride. 

My Sweet Dogs!

Last Sunday we spent many hours down at Riverside Gardens awaiting the paddlers finishing the Avon Descent. The paddlers last year started finishing at about 11am, but this year because of the very low water levels, the paddlers were finishing at 1pm. The dogs were very well behaved, mostly.

We walked about a kilometer to the river, and Barbie walked very slowly. We put her muzzle on because there were City of Bayswater Rangers around and I didn't fancy being fined. Bender realised we were going to the river, got excited and started pulling like a freight train. Nic had trouble holding on to him for a while. When we got there he kept looking at us.

"Where's my BALL? Why are all these people at my park?"

It took him a little while to 'get' it. We even walked past the 'horsie' rides and neither of the dogs reacted to the horses. Which is good, because Bender is slightly freaked out by all farm animals. He hates cows the most, but he isn't a fan of horses either.

There were a couple of guys dressed up as sea captains, with boats they made out of foam hanging off their shoulders. They stopped to talk to us, and both the dogs dealt well with these two strange people waving these weirdly shaped pieces of foam around.

We found a spot to settle down in. Barbie decided she wanted some nearby people to pat her. She is a sweetheart. She will just stand next to someone and wait quietly for them to notice her. Then they do, and give her a scratch and she wags that long tail of hers. A 12 year old girl pretty much launched herself onto Bender while he was minding his own business. I think he gave her a kiss. She came back a second time. He loved her.

Bender also found a little scrappy dog, and crawled on his belly into it's family group in order to interact with it. The fluffy dog's family loved on him. Had a few hairy moments when Bender spotted soccer balls and footballs nearby. He lunged towards one and got his front feet on it. Nic managed to pull him away before he put holes in it!

After a while, they both settled on the blanket. Then Barbie found a comfy spot in Nic's shadow, and slept for an hour or so. Bender got a bit grumpy and started barking at dogs. We went home before the powerboats made it over the line. I think the doggies did really well, and I was very impressed with how confident Barbie was with so many people around. There were quite a few people who stopped us to tell us how unfair they thought the muzzle laws were.

I also got a letter this week from the Minister for Local Government. I had written to him about the muzzle laws. The letter stated that he would be drafting legislation to allow for retired greyhounds to go muzzle free by the end of the year. Good news for Barbie!

Day One of the Avon Descent

Oh, we're in the car again?

We went for a drive out to Toodyay to watch the poor suffering paddlers who took on the race down the Avon/Swan River despite the pathetic water levels. There were no free rides today and I think a lot of the paddlers appreciated the puppies watching them.





We walked along the river for an hour or so, checking out new vantage points...





It was very fun! Barbie had already been to obedience class for an hour, and Bender had been to the river closer to home. By the end of the day the Greyhound was most tired!