Soft spot for pooches...

I have a soft spot for dogs.
They truly are "man's best friend".
I used to have an adventure companion when I lived in USA: an Australian Sheppard (think Border Collie).
She would come on most mountain bike rides, or at least on the ones that were not in the blazing sun in the middle of summer, keeping up to any single track speed

She would come backpacking with me in the High Sierra (we overnighted on a peak of 13.000ft once) and on skiing trips.


Foof backpacking in the High Sierra
Once I moved back to Australia I realized that if I had to have a dog here life would be much tougher, for the dog I mean.
Most recreational areas in Australia are designated National Park where domestic animals are not permitted.
A dog in Australia has a much more restricted life.
In my neighbourhood I would be able to exercise a dog off-leash only in designated pathetically confined fenced up "dog parks".
A far cry from the open environments my dog enjoyed in USA.
Occasionally when I go mountain biking, I see well trained dogs run around off-leash in the forest but I am sure that "technically" they would have to be on the lead.
Authorities seem to be much more aggressive here too and it would be probably just a matter of time before I would get a fine if my dog would follow me on my rides.
So, I was very pleased to see a nice boxer accompany his owner on a Sunday paddle.

Funny thing is that the dog was so mellow about the outing that he nodded off, fell asleep, lost his balance and ended up in the drink :-)
After that rude awakening the pooch remained nice and alert for the rest of the trip.

PS any pooch deserves to be loved and cared for. If you really want to keep your dog safe consider the Safety Collar from Tazlab: the only collar that will prevent accidental strangulation...