A hike at Bell's Rapids

Winter and spring are the best times to go hiking here in Perth. Once we get past November many places get too hot and inhospitable. One of these places is Bell's Rapids, located in quite a steep little valley. We have had some good rain lately and the rapids were pumping when we were there. It was Mouse's first time but she really seemed to enjoy walking up the steepish trails with loose rocks.

Mouse is very agile and sometimes it's hard to keep up with her. Bender is great off leash in the bush and never goes far, so I walked both the hounds while N could take photos. Bender just enjoyed trotting along with us at his own pace. When we take his leash off he looks with a look on his face that says 'really? are you sure? wow! awesome!"

Bender took the opportunity to sniff and pee on everything. Mouse likes to pee on stuff too, but Bender really takes it to an extreme. 

Even though it was a fairly mild day, Barbie sought out water wherever possible. She took sips out of every puddle we walked past, and then she discovered a small stream near the trail. She tried to convince us we should follow the stream instead of walking on the rocky, hot trail.

After we climbed up the hill we had a rest. They all found a flat spot to lie on. Mouse, as usual, had to be as close as possible to her sister.

We came across some horses on the trail, they are not Mouse's favorite creatures. I heard their riders chatting to each other first, so we put Bender back on the leash. I took Mouse far off the trail and made her sit and wait for them to go by. She let them go past and was really good until they got further down the trail, then she barked at them a couple of times. Mouse always has to shout. We are still working on it. 

Some of the trail was quite overgrown and I wondered what the horses thought of pushing through this kind of vegetation. The dogs didn't seem to mind. Of course everyone had to be checked over for ticks when we got home!

I hope we make it back to Bells for a couple more hikes before the weather gets too hot for it. The dogs were nicely exhausted afterwards and it's one of my favorite winter places. 

A hike in the bush & dog trailer fascinations

The dogs must LOVE public holidays, as over the Easter long weekend they have been the centre of attention every day. Mouse has been to run and play with her friends at the local fenced dog park a couple of times, and rode with me to the airport to pick up N. 

We also went for an 8 kilometre hike around The Spectacles which are located in suburbia well South of Perth, off Anketell Road. The Spectacles are supposed to be lakes but it's very dry there at the moment and we didn't see any water. The hiking trails are a bit confusing and we ended up walking a bit further than planned, but they are mainly flat and easy. There were some people there doing some 'bush care' work, and one of them patted Barbie and said 'greyhounds, my favorite type of dog!'

They all decided to poop very early on in the walk, and I didn't want to carry it, so I double bagged the girls poops and tied them onto one of the side d-rings on Mouse's harness. She didn't even seem to notice as she was having such a great time looking for bunnies and other small things that hop around in the bushes. 

The walk was a little bit long for the two oldies, and Barbie decided she would have a short rest on a sandy patch in the shade. Mouse was still going strong though. I think I really need to get her a backpack so she can carry water for everyone and perhaps a supply of poo bags. 

We had another strange encounter this weekend. For those not familiar with greyhound racing, the dogs are transported to the track, or wherever else they need to go in these trailers. They vary wildly in size to fit four to eight dogs, but they are all made of that white corrugated metal with little whirlybird ventilators on top. 

To me they look like caravans for midgets. When I went to pick up Mouse she was locked up in one as we were coming late in the day and the trainer didn't want to disturb all the other dogs in the kennel. Once she had been in the car, with it's glorious glass windows and padded couch like seats, I didn't think she would ever consider getting into one of these again! 

Lately I've noticed a really small dog trailer parked on the verge of a rental townhouse two doors up. They seem to be visiting as they are not there all the time. We walked past with the dogs for the first time last night, and their reactions were fascinating.

Bender didn't show any interest at all but the two greyhounds went crazy taking deep whiffs through the vents on the doors. Then Mouse dug her paws in and refused to continue on the walk, with exactly the same look on her face as when I'm trying to drag her away from the car. I managed to convince her that she wasn't going in the trailer and she begrudgingly continued on. The same thing happened when we walked back past the trailer on our way home. 

While our dogs live in the moment, they never really forget their past. 

if we want to race, we'll race at the dog park!

Dog friendly bush walking - Ellis Brook Reserve, Perth

Last weekend was a long weekend inWestern Australia, we had time to take a hike in yet another new location, Ellis Brook Valley. It is a local government reserve near an abandoned quarry which is renowned for it's bird life, wildflowers and 60 foot waterfall. Unfortunately we were a bit early for the wildflower season, which is supposed to start in July, and there was no water gushing down the waterfall, but the dogs still enjoyed the hike.

Some of the trail was easy and flat like this.

There was a metal grate that no self respecting dog would walk on (the gaps were big enough for Barbie's paws to go through!), but both dogs managed to pick their way along on solid ground one side of the grate. 

There were quite a few steep sets of stairs - they were mostly the solid kind just made out of dirt with logs or rocks or pieces of wood supporting the dirt. Barbie didn't have any issues with most of these, though I decided next time I needed to use a longer leash so that I didn't have to walk so closely behind her on narrow trails. 

There was another family there with two Irish Setters, and they let them do the trail off leash. I think it was because it's easier when the terrain is rough. 

Barbie struggled to get down these stairs but she did it in the end. She gets stuck when she forgets that she can move her back legs down onto the next step. After we got down the stairway we saw there was another trail that allows people and doggies to walk down without the stairs. 

It was a shortish walk as we parked in the 'upper' car park, but we weren't sure how Barbie's soft princess feet would hold up in the rough terrain. She did fine on the short walk so I think she would have probably been OK for the full 6 kilometre loop. 

As it was a public holiday, every family and their dog decided to go for a walk - we arrived at about 10.30am and finished the walk in an hour, and the car park was packed by the time we got back down.

At least Barbie got to make a friend on the walk. It's another great winter walk, and we will have to go back late winter when the wildflowers are out and there might just be some water in the water fall. 

Bright Sunny Morning in Whistlepipe Gully

I contacted the agility club we were supposed to be visiting on Friday night and they were on holidays!!!!

On Saturday we went to see the Fremantle Dockers (my Aussie Rules team) beat Hawthorn in the preliminary final. Their first final since 2006! And they WON! The dogs got a long walk that afternoon, but we decided we had to do something special for them today.

First though, we went out for breakfast. The dogs weren't allowed to come for breakfast because of previously mentioned 'no dogs in cafes' rule.



Then we drove up to the hills and went for a walk in Whistlepipe Gully. It was about half an hour, and Bender spent the whole time huffing and puffing. He didn't recognise the route and was pretty excited to be going somewhere new.



Barbie started off slow, while Bender attempted to drag Nic down the trail. I think Bender needs a backpack to slow him down a bit. Lovely Barbie decided to poop very early in the walk so we had to carry it the rest of the way. I tied the poop bag to her lead.



They both enjoyed some yummy smells on the trails. Probably rabbits and kangaroos!



There was some nice fresh water trickling down the gully, making for some cute little waterfalls.



Barbie went wading a couple of times to cool off. She loves water. She likes to dip her whole face in. I haven't seen her swim yet. Being so lean I think she will have floatation issues.

We came across two large logs that had fallen over the trail. They were probably about 80 cm tall and Barbie leapt over them with minimal encouragement. A very big improvement from last time we went hiking in the bush!

At the end of the trail there was a house. Barbie was convinced we should go in and visit. The woman who lived there came out with her old German Shepard and they said hello to each other. The GSD was barking at first but then it's body language softened as the lady grabbed hold of it's collar. It took treats to lure Barbie away from the house.



On the way back we met an adorable Border Collie pup with a blue eye and a brown eye. I think he was about 6 months old and he played a short wrestling game with Bender. Barbie said a brief hello then I held her back because I got the feeling that she was going to turn into the fun police and tell them off for wrestling.

The view from the top of the hill was quite stunning...



although I think it was lost on the dogs.



Barbie did well with the walk and we made it back to the car with minimal paw-dragging.

We dropped in to City Farmers on the way home to pick up more kibble for the dogs and the kittens. Barbie was cool as a cucumber because she has been there a few times lately. Bender found the environment very very stimulating. He tried to steal the tennis balls, and then perked up his ears and looked around when he heard someone squeezing a squeaky. He also discovered the fish in tanks at the back of the store and left nose prints on the glass. The staff gave both the dogs treats, though Bender was a little snappy with them!

Midday we got home and now Barbie is sleeping in her crate and Bender is outside in the sun. I think they had a good day.