Howdy dear availees...just plowin'-on today with the doggo stuff...ummm, no fancy entry today, just off we go...
Skin In The Game:...looks like being a frequent feature in these dog-related posts...it's just over 4 years since I looked-up the South East Animal Welfare League website, and chose the dog that was going cheap...(ooo, take as given the appropriate amount of 'birds go cheep' jokes, but 'cheap' usually means the hound is unmanageable and/or not long for getting drop-kicked across the rainbow bridge-Ed)...and in my doggos' case, both...I hadn't had a dog since mid-2015, but someone politely pestered me to get one (thankyou you) and I saw ol' mate here and rang SEAWL and said I'm coming to get that one...and when I first met him he was fairly excited-manic, but super-friendly, not at all afraid or aggressive...he was fairly quiet and very well behaved around me, not scared but clearly nervous...(well at 4yrs old he was house-trained, didn't chew stuff, etc, but around dogs and particularly at dog park, he was awful-Ed)...indeed he was, first coupla' times, we'd go in the gate and he was just going at other dogs...he never bit or even tried to bite, it was all that alpha-dominant open-mouthed grabbing stuff and barking, etc...
If you've been around dogs a bit you'll know there's several stages of open-mouthed dominant behaviours, from standing next to each other and baring teeth and growling, to snaps at each other, to full-on sparring with lotsa' noise and fury but no-one's actually biting anyone...(and any number of dogs, this 'ere knucklehead, him included, they go hell-for-leather at each other for fun, and grab and pull and it's all teeth and growls, etc, and they're havin' a ball and ne'ry a drop a' blood shed-Ed)...well I guess it's like how animals pick-up their young and carry them around, they bite-down to a point that is just grabbing, not biting...but we digress...
There's 2 main points here...my dog was deeply imperfect when I got him, and I was soon asking myself 'what have I done?', etc, but I wasn't going to take him back...when I got him (December 2019) he'd already been in the SEAWL shelter (pound) for a year and had been adopted and returned 3 times; I was his 5th or even 6th home...but it was quite literally just a matter of affection, persistence, and going to dog park and keeping him on a lead for probably the first 4-6 weeks, but trying to be there when no-one else was so he could run...(well he's a working dog breed and so he's gotta' be able to run, and like, every day-Ed)...absolutely, and the Hastings Cunningham Reserve Dog Park was the only fenced-in place available...and he was already slowly starting to improve when one fine day he got told-off a coupla' times by a young female kelpie who was not havin' any of his crap, and it was like someone flicked a switch...from literally that day on I could let him off the lead, and he was fine...
He did, however, immediately shift his focus/energies to running back-and-forth along the big/small parks' adjoining boundary fence, manically barking at other dogs, or even if there wasn't a dog there...and that went on for nearly 6 months...he'd done this when there weren't any dogs in big park, but now he'd all but ignore the dogs in the park with him...and he can still be like that, especially when there's a mower anywhere in the vicinity...(I reckon it was pound trauma/muscle memory stuff-Ed)...indeed, it's what he'd done for 12mths so it was just what he was used to doing...these days he rarely chases other dogs but he's still mad for mowers, and some trucks, but he's very choosy with the trucks...sometimes, sometimes he stands there and just barks at the sky...sometimes he's yelling "OI!" at me...sometimes, he's just happy...he's a happy dog...
An Old Dog Knows Tricks:...and from day one is house-broken and doesn't walk on the carpets or go into the main bedroom after being told only once, and doesn't chew stuff so I can leave him in the car while I do stuff, etc...and don't panic, I'm hyper-aware of the heat/stress issues, etc, and always park in shade and leave windows cracked or even right down, etc, and if it's getting a bit hot, nuthin's so urgent it can't wait 'til the cool of tomorrow morn...(and he's just extraordinary with li'l puppers-Ed)...indeed, one of his most endearing features is the sheer amount of crap he will tolerate from a puppy...most older dogs are reasonably tolerant, but my bad boy lets them leap on him and chew on him and constantly jump-at and/or lick his mouth...(yeah, what is going on with that mouth thing?-Ed)...I don't know, but they all seem keen to do it...last week, he was lying in the shade and a Jack Russell pup was bouncin'-off him like a trampoline, tryin' to get him to play...all four feet, boing! boing! and Ol' Dog completely ignored it...(it was like a grandpa with a full belly on a hot Xmas arvo, and the grandkids are hassling him to come outside and play with the new cricket set-Ed)...that sir, is exactly what it was like, hilarious...
And whilst I do not claim to speak for anyone but myself, it is exactly that sort of interaction that brings so much genuine laughter for dog park patrons...(well the boing! boing! business certainly did!-Ed)...yes it did, and he's just one doggo, there's mad doggos everywhere at dog park...so we use HCR Dog Park almost everyday, and it's why I do things like move the sand to 1) clear the path, but also, 2) to address the issue of dogs hurting their feet by moving that sand to along the fenceline...I identified this issue to MGCC, in writing in January 2023, requesting they put sand along the fence...2 months later I hadn't even had a reply, so I did it...sorry, I know we covered this in the previous post, but for some reason I feel the need to remind some peeps that 1) it wasn't just me that was concerned, and that MGCC knew but ???, so I and another gentleman did it...and everyone thanked us, and many expressed surprise about the Moses-like re-appearance of the gleaming white section of path they didn't know existed...
And 2) I rarely just whinge about stuff...(although you do do that-Ed)...whinge? whine? bitch? call it what you will...(oh, okay, can I have errr 'whiny little bitch' then please?-Ed)...hey now! whoa there! and putting "please" on the end doesn't make it any better either...(nah nah, go' bless go' bless, the MGCC/HCR Public Housing thing, moving the sand stuff, trying to tell MGCC about that and other issues, eg, the shelter debasco, tryin' to edjumicates ya'self about what's happening with doggos' access to the Blue Lake Sports Fields, and so on, I cheerfully concede, you do not just whinge, you tend to get right amongst it-Ed)...yeah, but even then it's actually very seldom confrontation when dealing with the "notorious" and "controversial" (both The Border Watch) bastard that is me...(yeah yeah, and even then it's never threats or yelling or whatevs-Ed)...indeed...(I mean, it can be brutal, like, really brutal-Ed)...I cannot and will not apologise for that...(I've seen supposedly powerful men literally terrified 'cos you're standing there talking to them-Ed)...and that's all I've done, use my words, it's their own guilt that does any perceived 'threatening'...we digress...
During the COVID lockdown(s) HCR dog park was the only 'public facility' still open...personally it was a huge thing to be able to run pupper, and even more importantly, for me, have some extended albeit casual human contact...as people do, both dog parks have loose social groups generally based on who happens to be there at whatevs time, eg, school pick-up time...(you mean like the way the Blue Lake Aquifer Tours cafe thingy that Gary and Trish Turner used to run, along with the actual tours, all from that li'l annex/shelter thingy up at the Blue Lake, like how that was the focal point for numerous social/casual groups, let alone an internationally renowned tourism experience, until MGCC vindictively and deliberately shut them down and booted them out, you mean like that?-Ed)...mate, do not get me started on what a self-defined pack a' low mongrels MGCC are in how they've treated the Turners, and in turn the broader Mt Gambier community...again, my opinion, solely my opinion, I sure-as-shreck don't need no-one tellin' me not nuthin' about how I feel about MGCC...
I've included the Aquifer Tours stuff because 1) it is a perfect example of just exactly what sort of malicious and disgraceful conduct Mt Gambier City Council is prepared to engage in, and 2) because this specific issue should never be forgotten or forgiven.
And so my Skin In The Game re Dog Park is as any true dermis must be...(que?-Ed)...layered, it's layered...(what, like an onion?-Ed)...no no, don't start that with me...(well you're the one who keeps sayin' "shreckin'"-Ed)...yeah, fair dues...anyhoos, my first point is that my Seeping Sack A' Satanic Gasses was at the SEAWL shelter for a year in total, often several months at a time, and when MGCC so graciously pulled their funding from the shelter earlier this year, and started unlawfully sticking dogs in a garden shed in the carpark of the Council depot...(on a 3-Day Kill Order-Ed)...indeed, that was the very genuine concern in the entire community, not just in the dog parks...(well there was that protest outside of MGCC's meeting back in July-Ed)...another great point, community-wide concern at the SEAWL funding debasco (debacle meets fiasco), but we'll get into all that next post, I'm just trying to explain why I'm so all-in on this dog park stuff...(I just thought that's how you are with all this stuff, especially with this 'ere blog-Ed)...another good call, but again we digress...
So it's the issue of MGCC's appallingly deceitful conduct on almost every issue related to SEAWL and how that directly relates to whether or not my amazing wunderhund would even be alive, and secondly, how important enclosed but open spaces are important for dogs...(and their owners-Ed)...well yes, owners first, dogs are their responsibility, but you know what I mean...I would likely not have the truly amazing mutt I am so fortunate to have, and HCR Dog Park has been a huge part of that...
Only recently have we been enjoying the beautiful tree-lined avenue and parkland surrounds that is the Blue Lake Sports Park Parkland...and I'm gunna call it a parkland 'cos it may only cover 32hectares, much of which is open sports fields, and have a highway running along one boundary...(and a mill down another-Ed)...but there's just enough mature trees and associated bird life, etc, to give that sense of canopy...(and when it rains there's that beautiful Eucalyptus smell heavy in the air-Ed)...yeah, and the Swifts darting and Willy Wagtails twitching around as we walk, hoping we scare-up some morsel for them, heaps a' wattle-birds and magpies of course, parrots and lorikeets, and the corellas have arrived...and I've heard but not yet seen kookaburras, not least-of-all 'cos I've also had to spend a fair bit of time there looking at the ground because of the numerous dog craps there-abouts...it's not catastrophic, but I'm doing all my walking around the peripherals and I see enough and I know there's craps left in the diamonds some times...
As per shreckin' usual, it's most dog owners do clean-up after their mutts, might occasionally miss one, etc, but some people are clearly not bothering...and sometimes that happens in the diamonds...(and an occasional miss amongst the gum trees is very different to having your dog inside the fields and missing that-Ed)...excellent point Ed, there's a very big difference, when in the fields dog owners should be watching their dog 100%, your view can't get blocked by a tree, etc...and I absolutely understand that some people want to be able to run their dogs in a fenced area...(can I just butt in and leap ahead a bit-Ed)...sure...('cos you made the point that the Northern boundary is defined by the Jubilee Highway, a four-laned 80kph zone, but that boundary fence is only 1m high and the wire starts a foot from the ground, it's almost pointless against dogs-Ed)...yeah, and for many reasons like that, it's mostly just that dogs need to be run, and their owners feel/know they don't have the recall, etc, so an enclosed area is essential...(yeah, and that MGCC 'Plan' photo below, that refers to "Off-Leash" along that boundary-Ed)...yeah, well spotted, we'll get to that...
As is my want, I've spoken to various people about the BLSPP sport/dogs issue, and I absolutely sympathise with the sporting groups who have very genuine problems with dog crap...it does get left on the fields, and then when people do pick it up they sometimes inexplicably tie it to the fence and leave it there instead...(I've seen that, even at HCR dog park, where the bins are right there-Ed)...I know, baffling, and bins are another issue...as best I can tell only 3-4 bins across the entire BLSPP are actually MGCC bins cleared by Council, which I think means that sports groups pay for the other bins, which have to be regularly cleared 'cos there's dog crap-bags in all of them...(I've walked it all several times now and there's places where people have picked-up after their dog, but then thrown the crap-filled bag into, say, the outside corner of a baseball dugout, along with the several others already thrown there-Ed)...walked it today and found 2 craps and 2 craps bagged but then just dropped on the ground, all within 50m along the outside of a baseball field fence...they weren't there 2-3 days ago...
To a lesser degree but for balance, I've also noticed increased litter around the area after sports events, and there are several very large very dead trees that must be removed...(and a shreckin' tonne of potential bushfire fuel where all that bark and branches and stuff has been dumped right the way along the Southern boundary, where the dis-used rail line is-Ed)...yes, that is a concern, the whole parkland needs some intensive TLC, but who's gunna' pay for that? MGCC? they can't even maintain the HCR Dog Parks, or don't even try, whatevs...however, the immediate issue about dog crap, that's something that everyone can be involved in, not least of all dog owners...
Gaszilla and I have been into the baseball diamonds 3 times; the first ever time we went there, and twice whilst speaking with other dog owners...again, I am very fortunate that my pupper has excellent recall, and I regularly walk him 'Off-Leash', but I still wouldn't wanna' flush-out a wallaby...(like that time at HCR when there was a big bouncy mouse on the dis-used tennis courts-Ed)...yes, we got lucky that day, when we'd walked right up on a Swamp Wobbly, and then we all stood there like statues, until it took-off and Gasius Maximus bolted after it, but then he lost it behind the trees and turned back toward dog park...3yrs ago 2 puppers flushed a wobbly at HCR and 1 followed it out onto the Rail Trail, and was later found several kms away out at the Millicent Rd old Bunnings site, with 2 big but thankfully minor scratches down it's guts...but now, to the map!...
I found this laminated plan/map (photo below) blowing across the ground near a baseball field the morning after that stormy night...I was gunna' chuck it in a bin, but still had it in hand when back at the car, and I've still got it...if MGCC desperately need it back, they need only ask...there are some others around the BLSPP, and because I reckon I'd have noticed them sooner if they'd been put-up earlier, I reckon these only appeared fairly recently, I'd say the last coupla' weeks...apologies if I'm in error, 'cos it is kinda' important 'cos MGCC has been doin' their usual song-'n'-dance about 'Public Consultation'..(I see there's no 'Submissions End' date on there-Ed)...I hadn't noticed that, it's an interesting omission..and dear availees, it's been put to me that the 'consultation period' may have already concluded, so when MGCC actually put those signs up is important, was it only shortly before 'Consultation' ended?...I suspect but it is purely speculation...
(Yeah, it also doesn't actually mention "On-Leash areas"-Ed)...well yes it does, there in the title...(no no, in the text, that's my point-Ed)...aha, yes, I see...(it specifically differentiates between "On-Leash" and "Off-Leash", but there's no "On-Leash" area mentioned in the blurb or on the map-Ed)...ermmm, yeah, not sure what's up with that...(do ya' reckon that it might be that it's s'posed to say 'Red areas will be on-leash areas'?-Ed)...yeah, that's not what it says though...(and what happened to the previous plan for the HCR Dog Parks improvements and a second park at Conroe Heights?-Ed)...well recalled sir, 'cos I have seen the original response from MGCC after a dog park patron wrote to them a coupla' years back, about a range of issues, and including several specific requests...there were requests for path/entrance.access improvements, eg, bitumen; for a small water feature for dogs to lie in; improved shelter/facilities, etc...MGCC specifically stated that they intended to spend $200k on improvements like bitumen paths, a small external playground to keep very small kids out of the park...(which is actually an excellent idea, I get very fidgety when small kids are around bigger dogs, just 'cos they might get skittled-Ed)...absolutely, et moi mate, et moi...the letter also stated that there would be a second dog park built on the large area in Conroe Heights...MGCC now denies ever committing any amount to anything, and it all falls under a general 'plan'...
This post has already blown-out a bit so we'll pull stumps here...just wanted to explain why I seem so invested in this dog park stuff...1) 'cos I got me a wunderhund and I loves him proper like, and I know how important all this stuff is to many people, and 2) MGCC's conduct of all of these dog related issues, each and every time it's been deceit and conflict...(and if there's any action it's inaction-Ed)...and it is definitive of how they conduct themselves on literally any issue...here's the map as promised, and we'll get into it next post...to keep y'all tickin'-over 'til then, please consider if you will how many ways the word 'Never' can be achieved using the letters in the words 'Proposed', 'Interim', 'Possible' and 'Future'...
Tomorrow: Doggedly Plodding On With Parking Mad Intent
Just read on the Mt Gambier Residents and Ratepayers Association Facebook page, MGCC has released a series of videos of our illustrious Mayor and Councillors doing truly heart-warming and not-at-all desperate hostage ransom-style 'to-camera' pieces about Mt Gambier and what it is they love so very, very much...(wow, just, wow-Ed)...yes, wow, and like how...and the immediate most obvious thing is that not one of them is about the good ol' $80m FARC (Farcical Aquatic Recreation Centre)...here's one walking down some steps, talking, blah blah something...here's one walking...another one walking, ummm, walking, do we have any where they aren't walking?...(errr this one, sittin' on a log-Ed)...how very lumberjack...(I know, right-Ed)...any at/in/about Wulanda /FARC?...(one wandering about in a toxic swamp-Ed)...nooo, it's semi-aquatic, I'll give ya' that, but no Wulanda?...(ermmmm, nup, sorry-Ed)...not half as sorry as Ratepayers are gunna' be, am I right? yeah?...(ummm, I don't think the monstrous fiscal disaster that is Wulanda is anything to joke about, especially for Mt Gambier Ratepayers who are gunna' be left holdin' that can, that can what they are also standing in, and for many decades to come-Ed)...well that's a cheery note to end on...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
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