The art of finding the perfect stick…..

Every weekend, Chris and I take Ronnie down to Tahunanui Beach to run, roll, swim and chase. The main event of the outing however is the hunt….. but the hunt I mean finding the perfect stick.

For our family this means following a super excited Doggle down to the sand, trailing through the huge mass of sticks that the previous tide has washed up the night before, picking up a few possible candidates while Ronnie constantly jumps up trying to get them out of our hand…..

You see a stick is not just a stick. You can’t just pick up any old stick and chuck it down the beach for Ronnie to chase. It has to be……

1. Quite long – we don’t want a small stick that he will loose in a whirlwind of sand.
2. Of the driftwood variety – the sticks that have been washed up and in the water for too long are too wet and heavy, not good sticks for rolling along the beach.
3. It can’t be straight – they are useless. Ronnie rolls the stick along the beach with his nose while making ridiculous noises while everyone laughs at him. If its a straight stick he can’t get his nose under it.
4. No sharp bits. Ouchy nose.
5. Preferably with a curve like the one in the photo.

Ok…the stick in the photo is a little too large for the dog in question, but you know what they say – don’t blame the tools.

You see, for us humans, a stick is a stick. They are on the ground, trees have them, you trip on them and we put them in our fires. To a dog, sticks are the best friggen thing ever! I mean come on!!! A stick!!! How cool!!!!

This stick is not a good stick….hence stationary doggle.

To get to the point of this post, today, while going through the process of finding the right stick, I stood there and breathed in the fresh, warm beach air, smiling up at the sun and thought to myself, If we had the same joy towards life as Ronnie has towards a stick…and the beach, man what a life it would be! Thank god for Chris, Ronnie and I – we do!

Dog bless!

Adventure Time

As spring arrives and summer approaches, the mornings are lighter and the evenings longer – marks the beginning of mine and Ron dog’s favourite time of year. For us, summer time equals ADVENTURE TIME!!!!

One of the benefits you gain when your dog is your best mate, is that you can go on so many cool adventures together, and Nelson summer time provides endless options. Ronnie and I are both water babies at heart, I myself love Kitesurfing, Wake boarding, Paddle Boarding and Waka Ama, and Ron – well he just loves coming out on the Paddle Board and swimming.

It is the sense of adventure that makes our relationship so close, I can literally take him anywhere, and he makes the most out of the situation, even if it was unplanned.

Our family lives in The Wood, central Nelson where there are heaps of river lands to swim in and tracks to run and hike. Ronnie and I get up early each morning and walk up the Matai river and then up The Centre of New Zealand where you never get sick of the views. Ronnie usually finds a stick to carry to the top, only dropping it when he finds a Rabbit or Bird to chase (he never gets them).

Tahunanui beach is another one of our favourite places to hang out. The back beach is an area specifically for dogs to run around, swim and play, and sometimes people without dogs come down just to hang out with other people’s dogs. The dog beach is a great place for dogs to socialise, and you often see puppies on leads super excited as it is their very first time experiencing the sand and sea. The beach is probably Ronnie’s favourite place to go play, as soon as you say that we are going he is running around the house trying to find his collar and his leash, whimpering and wagging his tail.

Ronnie in the car nearly at the beach – the excitement is real….

Once we arrive he leaps out of the car and sprints down to the sand, waits patiently till we find a good stick to throw and the it’s on! Hundreds of sprinty stick chasey, waggy tail, barky barky, rolling overs and swim fetching….Ronnie is pooped. Time for a big drink of water and a towel to dry his sandy mutt butt.

Other places Ronnie and I like to adventure to is up the Barnicoat Range. Barnicoat Range is a huge hill in the Marsden Valley that is cut through a forrest. The walk itself is serene and beautiful with greenery everywhere, but the view at the top is the part worth waiting for. It takes about an hour to reach the summit, and with the hill being very steep… it is the perfect way to wear out an energetic Blue Heeler.

Ronnie wanting me to hurry up at the start of Barnicoat Hill

Where ever I take Ronnie always ends up being worth the mission to get there, and with Blue Heelers needing around three decent walks a day if they are not working, it is good for my exercise too. Whatever kind of physical exercise you do with your pet ends up being good for your health too, almost like a kind of therapy. Seeing how happy it makes Ronnie to be out there experiencing the world makes me happy too. So we are happy together. Any adventure that Chris and I go on always accounts for him, whether dogs are allowed in that area, is there shade, is there water etc, and its completely worth it.

So…bring on summer I say! Ronnie and I are waiting for you……

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