Doing all the preparation for travelling with our dogs. FENCES!!
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Post Reply| I sell it as I wont be coming back. |
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14.3% | |
| I lease it or rent it as I will be coming back. |
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33.3% | |
| I sell it and will buy again later. |
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28.6% | |
| I sell it as I will be on the road as long as I can. |
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23.8% | |
| I sell it to buy a better van or caravan. |
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0.0% |
We have 2 Chow Chows, which are about labrador sized dogs, tail over back, furry and blue tongues. Yes, blue tongues. They are a different type of dog coming from China and have this cat like attitude of "I am better than you" a lot of the time but are very intelligent and really only show that to family humans or people they really like. If they dont really like you they will ignore you, just like a cat and yes, they DO actually clean their faces like cats do and the very rare one WILL purr like a cat. I did have one like that in all the decades that I have had Chows.
Anyway, they are exceptionally strong - I had lightning crack right across the top of us when in the yard and one Chow ran at the paling fence and smashed right through it with ease, in fright. Our current two are a soon to be 6 year old boy and a soon to be 3 year old girl who actually happens to be the boy's litter sister's daughter so we have uncle and neice as it turned out. The girl has been desexed.
We have, up until now, taken them with us to dog friendly accommodation to Coffs Harbour (we live in Blue Mountains NSW) and to Broken Hill. The Broken Hill trip is about 1100K and we do the trip there in about 14 hours, wandering along for the most part and stopping here and there.
While we havent officially entered the Grey Nomad "tour" as yet due to still getting things together, we want to know more and hopefully share a little. So I am asking about fencing strong enough to hold a Labrador sized dog that can fold flat and be stored in transit. Our Chows WILL jump the fence if it is only as tall as them but they do tend to obey the boundaries when we set up our flimsy fencing inside the house now. There is no doubt they could push it down but they never do. Unfortunately the boy is sometimes a little excited, not in a bad way, when he sees another dog wanting to go play with it and he is a TALL boy for a Chow and about 37Kg. If he wants out, he could do it. So, any help on this issue would be appreciated.
I noted, on the Broken Hill trip, roadside rest areas with child play areas fenced and gated like pools are. The fencing was strong enough to contain the dogs if I had have put them in there and tall enough so I thougt that something along those lines but portable would be OK. The problem is to have it all standing and not able to be pushed over. One Chow I had a long time ago would push an outside run fence sideways until the cage door would be out of kilter and pop open. I had to end up cementing it in after that.
I know there are sites that show accommodation that allow pets to be with you so you can rent houses and such so am asking if anyone recommends a particular site where, with a caravan in tow, I could bring my dogs and not have to face a caravan park owner refusing me entry because of them.
Lastly, the thought of what to do has already been around. We couldnt possibly put up with a new pup anymore but we love our Chows and also dogs in general. If you are fit enough to do the tour, you probably expect to last for quite some time yet. So it occurred to us that if it comes to a point where we are now without our loved ones as age has taken them, there are a heck of a lot of places around that have rescue dogs where they arent necessarily badly behaved but maybe the elderly owner has passed away and the dog needs a new home. If any of you are thinking about this like me, then this may just be something you can do - give a dog that needs a home a travelling home and a good life. Hope that helps some of you.
For my part, generally getting along healthwise OK but not fabulously due to previous dire health problems. I get mad at myself when I find I cannot do a normal thing that anyone my age can do so I keep at it until I can. It is just mild exercise really but as a result I think I am fitter now than 10 years ago....even a few years ago. Thus, along with the desire to move around the country comes the desire to just keep moving generally. I think it would be more than annoying to get to that place you always wanted to see but it has a sand dune in front of it that you arent allowed to drive over and there is no other way in so you cant see it because you cant walk it. Preparation isnt just the things I need to do the tour but also my own self so I can enjoy it. Sure, I still need to sleep an hour of an arvo but that's life and having a caravan with me makes even that easy!
I guess wanting to move around and take the dogs with you is a very Aussie thing. I hear the same sentiment all over the place.
Oh and lastly - when you actually leave on the tour, do you sell the house and buy afterwards?
Thanks for that info. I will be heading there as soon as I have posted this!
Just out of interest, where I live, a couple of Grey Nomads were renting a house and had the van in the front yard. It turned out the husband had been so seriously ill that he needed about 6 months off the road and a few operations. They were a heck of a long way from home, poor things.
Anyway, when I asked their plans for the future they told me that had been on the road almost 20 years, didnt own a house and had no intention of doing so ever again. They followed the seasons up and down the east coast of Australia for different varieties of work, generally fruit picking but other things as well, then when they had enough, would go to the destination they were saving for and off they go. In that same time they took their dog with them and when he died, they eventually got another and so on. While the husband was sick and as they had cousins not too far away, the dog had a yard there. The husband only had a short time of convalescence to go and they were off to pick up the dog and resume road life. They were in their early 70s. What a lot of stories they must have had between them!
One of my intentions apart from the dogs is writing. That, with my I.T. skills, will be relatively easy for me, even getting published, too. Oh no, I am not a known author. I jst know how to get published online relatively easily. ;-}
And I like your idea of giving a home to an older rescue dog... have been considering a greyhound.
Sorry, I didnt consider house sitter but I did consider leaving empty but thought it was better left out. You really dont want to let people you dont know actually know your house is empty and though people who post here are friendly, you never know who is reading here. OK I am pedantic about security. ;-}
I understand most people on the road are only either doing it once or doing it now and then. The survey was really for me. I am weighing up my options. I still owe a fair whack on the house due to earlier health problems of my own but I know if I sell it that I could have money left over but not enough to buy a house in anywhere but an outback location and even then, not a really good house. So, not taking into account winning Lotto, I wanted to see how many brave souls just "took the plunge" and call the centre divide line home. If I were to know the great majority do that then I would definitely be able to get answers to questions that I havent thought up as yet but will eventually.
Glad you liked the rescue dog idea and Greyhounds are, from my experience, unfairly judged as are Pit Bull terriers. I have rescued a Pit Bull from choking at one stage and it was terrified. All it did was lick my hands in thanks afterwards. Greyhounds can be some of the biggest and softest sookies you can have but it depends on how they have been treated. I knew a cattle dog that hated all men and would attempt to bite on sight. Obviously a man was mistreating it in the past.
Good luck with fitting a Greyhound in a caravan or van, though! I love my Chows but even THEY can take up a lot of space....especially as they all seem to have a penchant for laying right where you want to put your feet! Great on a cold night, however! I keep thinking of Dr. Who's Tardis every time I think of packing necessities and wonder when they will invent something that will be bigger on the inside than the outside! ;-} I think every road dweller would be thankful of that!
However we only travel for a few months and then come home.
We also like to take our dog with us but as our prevoius dog and this one were/are both Australian Silky Terriers it is much easier to contain them. We use the annex for longer stay and have windows to the ground for that purpose; our dog can look out at the world.
Di
Yes we had a red One about 30 years ago breed by Bartannia kennels in geelong victoria a beautiful dog breed for eating in China {TRUE}
Ranks right up there with eating humans, there may be situations dire enough to make me consider it, but I would prefer not to eat my best friend
. Seriously though, I don't think nature intended predators to be eaten except by scavengers, surely any toxins would be concentrated in a predator.