Should he stay or should he go now?

Aviator Guest House - Prince Albert

Kaaimans River Cottage

Carisbrooke - Bettys Bay

The long Easter weekend is not even over and I'm already compiling a list of dog friendly places for us to go next! The one I most lust after has got to be the Kaaimans River Cottage...

xxx

Salvador's Big 5

It only takes one sunny Sunday to get us excited about spring (we don't really get too excited about summer in general...) and therefor I've decided to share a list of Salvador's 5 favorite walks around Cape Town.

#1 Keurboom Park, Rondebosch

We love this park as it is really close to our house and it is huge! the park is surrounded by a couple of sport fields  so you can literally spend all morning/afternoon there - there's no end to running space and meeting new dogs. Salvador loves the fact that he can run around in the little streams cutting through the bottom part of this park and the sport fields are great for playing a game of catch (if there isn't some or other rugby/cricket/soccer game going on, in which case we avoid these areas because of the sheer amount of ball activity going on. If your dog is anything like Salvador you will also want to know about the many children parties and picnics that happen here so perhaps keep your dog on a leash to avoid snacking.

#2 De Waal Park, Gardens, Cape Town

If we feel the need to escape suburban life, we go to De Waal Park. The park is right at the foot of Table Mountain and is a bustling hot spot dogs. There are plenty of squirrels to chase and the city dogs are very agreeable play friends.
Although this park has a lovely deep fountain smack bang in the middle of it, dogs are not allowed to swim in it, which is always an issue with Salvador, him being a water dog and all. Also note that this is a hangout for children, due to the fantastic play area.

#3 Pringle Bay beach, Pringle Bay

If you have some time to kill and you fancy yourself an outing, go to Pringle Bay beach. It is basically deserted yet there are many interesting things to find (seaweed, shells, the odd dead seal). The water is freezing, but this has never stopped Salvador and if you need a rinse off, there is a beautiful lagoon just down the road.

#4 Sea Point Promenade, Cape Town

The Promenade is great if you want to take your dog for a run/cycle. the view of the sea is beautiful and there are some grassy areas where you can let your dog run free and meet friends. Because it is right next to a busy road, I prefer to keep Salvador on his leash when going here since his listening skills aren't always the best...

#5 Newlands Forest, Newlands, Cape Town

You might remember that we once took Salvador to this forest, only to be turned away as we didn't have a dog walking permit...I'm not holding a grudge and one of the busy days I will go to Kirstenbosch Gardens and buy a permit. It's just such a beautiful place to walk so I think it is well worth it. You can get more details on the the Table Mountain National Park website to find out more about these permits.
It is advised that you keep your dog on a lead while walking in the forest as there are many runners and cyclists about.

And there you go, 5 of Salvador's favorite walks, guaranteed to tire you and your dog out!

Licks & Kisses!
xxx

Mountain walking

This morning we went and tried out a recommended walking route just a few minutes away from the CBD, known as Deerpark and although we have only done one of the many routes possible on this walk, we've come to a joint conclusion that it is one of our favorite walks of all time. I, just like Salvador can't wait to explore it even more.

If you know Cape Town, you basically drive all the way up Vredehoek, past the Spar and keep going left towards the mountain, where you will find a parking lot and you're there!
We saw an abundance of dogs and cyclists and the view was absolutely amazing! I guess it's one of those walks that make us Capetonians take a step back and appreciate living in the beautiful city we always hear foreigners ranting about. I managed to take a few pictures this time.

• wear some kind of comfortable hiking shoe/takkie
• having a lead with you is recommended if you're worried that your dog is going to chase after cyclists - there are loads of cyclists.
• depending on how far you plan to walk, I would take some water.

Licks & Kisses!

xxxx

Longing for last weekend...

We had just about the best weekend ever last weekend (just a pity I didn't take enough photos, but I guess this is what happens when you have too much of a good time). It was one of my very best friends' birthdays and we all went to Pringle Bay to celebrate. What a great place for dogs!

Salavador had so much fun, he only woke up on Tuesday night - he was pretty much a blob from all the activity until then! 

The house we stayed at had no fence around the yard. If you've ever been to Pringle Bay you will know why there aren't any fences around the yards - there's just no need for them. Think tiny coastal town, basically deserted for most of the year and dirt roads. Salvador also had the pleasure of spending the night with lots of people and his friend, Suki the Airedale Terrier who is certainly his match when it comes to energy levels.

He was obviously first to rise the next day and I would say the highlight of the weekend was our walk to the beach (no leads required) and swimming in the lagoon right on the beach. 

If ever you need a pet friendly weekend away, I highly recommend Pringle Bay!

Licks & Kisses!

xxx 

Dogs and the City

Last night we went for dinner at Salvador's aunts house. He stayed home and protected the house with his best friend Jameson while we were there as auntie owns four cats...
During our visit I paid close attention to the cats - just thinking about how some people are cat people while others prefer dogs and how different it is being either pet's owner. I also noticed how destructive cats could be. Now, I am in no way slamming cat owners and cats - I love cats, I grew up with them and if we didn't have an allergic person in the house we would probably own a cat, but it did get me thinking about renting property and how often an apartment is advertised as pet friendly, but by pet friendly they actually mean cat friendly. 
Why is this the case? 
As a dog owner, moving is one of my biggest worries.  I worry about finding a place that will allow me to keep my dog and what do I do if I can't find a place in time? I remember when we first moved to Cape Town how exhausting house hunting was. As soon as we mentioned our dog to an estate agent it was like a steal gate slammed down along with comments like, "well, that just narrows your options right down" or "we don't have ANYTHING pet friendly like EVER". We absolutely lucked out with our current place just as I was about to enter a state of complete hopelessness. The only reason we called to look at the house is because we saw the current tenant’s dog in one of the photos they posted of the house.
We looked at places in and around the city and if it wasn’t extremely limited pickings, it was way out of our price range. This being said, I often drive through the city or past De Waal Park (the local dog park) and I can’t help wondering where all these people live with their dogs? Sure, a large amount of those pet owners own properties close by, but I see more and more people my age with dogs – and some are big dogs at that- and I assume they live in rented apartments or smallish houses with their dogs.
Why are dog owners being denied rentals?
Sure, dogs can be just as destructive, and more so than cats, but dogs offer many benefits too. Dogs are easily trained and are often quite happy sharing small spaces with their humans provided they get enough exercise and stimulations (walks, parks etc.).
Dogs act as a form of security – especially when you live in a country like SA where crime is very much a part of our daily lives, whether they are protecting your property or accompanying you on your daily walk/run.
Just like cats, dogs easily be trained in the artful skill of private time and when to have it. All you have to do is be responsible for picking up what they leave behind, which you are probably already doing when visiting a dog park.
All of this said, most people still find looking for a dog friendly place in Cape Town a huge hassle.
The sad reality is that, in a city where unwanted dogs are already a big issue, even more dogs are being forcibly put up for adoption or euthanized due to the lack of affordable, dog friendly properties. I recently read an interesting article on how landlords in San Francisco have come to compromise with pet owners on having dogs on their previous not pet friendly properties by setting up a special contract. These contracts include things like the landlord being allowed to meet the dog before they move in. In some cases the dog owners even show a resume of sorts with references from previous landlords and vet certificates etc. Other things like allowing the landlord to come and inspect the property on occasion in the duration of the lease can also be negotiated.
Knowing how hard this kind of house hunt can be, I though it would be helpful to post a few pet friendly rentals in and around Cape Town on our Facebook page so keep an eye out for that. Hope it helps!!

Licks and Kisses!

xxx

Purina Puppy Chow Add - a sweet treat for you because I have been horrible at keeping this blog going...

Purina Puppyhood


Hi all,

I really hope you enjoy this lovely, heart warming video as much as I did! It is possibly one of the cutest things I've ever seen, apart from the time I laid eyes on Salvador as a puppy...

There really is no excuse for me not posting anything for such an extended period of time...I will have to go with the old excuse where I rant on about how busy I've been (Okay so I've been REALLY busy! I've taken on a second job, I hardly have time to go to the doctor to get a tiny shard of glass taken out of my foot, that I managed to get lodged in there on the dance floor at a wedding - don't even ask AND all of this has been the main cause for Salavador not having that many adventures to write about the past few months...) So there, that's pretty much the gist of it.

Lots have been happening in the life of young Salvador, although he is now a very mature 30 something in dog years, I've recently been told. It's a rather strange sensation when your dog child starts outgrowing you in age?! I don't feel that he has calmed down at all though. He is still very much a high energy pooch and constantly demands being faffed over.

An exciting thing that has happened recently is that one of my very close friends got a puppy - your late 20's will do that to you. She is an Airedale Terrier called Suki and she is simply adorable! Salvador thinks she's marvelous. It possibly has something to do with the fact that they both have some things in common, like having wild and out of control coats and they both like to run at extreme speeds with no means of slowing themselves down, even if that means they have to use some object (unfortunately this usually ends up being another dog or person) to do so for them.
The other great thing about Suki is that she lives in a tiny little beach town called Betty's Bay that is basically dog heaven! We were there for lunch last Sunday and we started off with the dogs having the best time on the vast, mostly empty beach. We then went and had a little rinse in the nearby lagoon - because it was on the way home, therefor we just could . The rest of the day was spent at Suki's house which is just below the mountain and has all the free space a dog could want without us worrying about them getting in the way of a car etc. All-in-all a great day in a great place!

I must now leave you as there is a fire in the other room and I want to go and sit in front of it before I have to mentally prepare myself for this coming week - bless the public holiday smack bang in the middle of it!
I'm planning on getting the glass removed from my foot tomorrow so that Salvador and I can go running in the mornings (you'll no doubt hear about how that went for us that in the near future).
Later!

Licks and Kisses
xxx

Happy Valentine's Day - Playing in parks with giants!

 HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYBODY !!!

Salvador had some extra love added to his breakfast yesterday - I decided that this day of love called for some brown rice and homemade Peanut Butter Biscuits on top of the daily helping of dry food (which Salvador seems to be getting a bit bored of, but more on that later...). 

After breakfast we went to Keurboom Park where we met these guys!

How amazing?! (I've always wanted one...)

Salvador has never seen a Great Dane before. The closest animal to this size he has seen is a horse...so I was slightly worried about how he would react to them. I also know that he strangely dislikes large skinny dogs in odd colors (ie Weimaraners and German Short haired Pointers) with eye colors ranging in shades of yellow to green (ie the same breeds as mentioned above...). These two giants had both, but I think he realized that though he might have the guts to take on before mentioned breeds, he wouldn't stand a chance with these giants. 

Have a lovely weekend!

Out and about #1 - Twigs with Beans, Harfield Village

As previously promised, Salvador will be going on more outings this year. It's relatively easy to take him to restaurants where we live as pretty much everyone here has a dog (or 5...), so in general restaurants around here tend to be very lenient in terms of bringing your dog for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I guess it also helps that most of these places have outside areas.

I started off on my daily internet browse the other morning, only to realize there was no internet that morning...Whenever this happens, I become very despondent and soon after I remember that I could just go to Twigs with Beans and use their free wifi facilities while enjoying a coffee - problem solved!
They have a lovely outside area that is most certainly pet friendly, the coffee is amazing and so are the multiple breakfast/snack options. What's more is you can even buy lovely garden plants if you fancy a spot of morning gardening!
Salvador loves it, firstly because they allow him to be there in the first place and secondly, because it's on street which means lots of foot traffic (of a human and dog nature), which in tern means interesting sniffing opportunities.

Follow the link above for directions!

 Have a great week!

 

HAPPY 2015!!!

Happy New Year all!! Here's to a fantastic year filled with adventures, dog walks and so forth.

All of the season's greetings aside, this year started off on a bit of a wobbly leg for us. We got home on the 1st of the new year, to a freshly ransacked house...This was obviously very upsetting to both us and Salvador, as I'm sure he felt this would never have happened, was he here to protect his property. I'm sure the smell of intruders still linger in his always busy nostrils and as a result he is now even more on guard than before. Literally NOTHING can go past our house, front or back, without him alerting us. It's not great being slightly more paranoid, as one tends to be after these incidents, and suddenly waking up to a manically barking dog at 2am...but then I stick to my theory that I don't think anyone would have broken into the property if Salvador was around, because he would have been on high alert the moment someone entered the garden. Yet another reason to get a dog!!

As far as New Years resolutions go - I'm not sure if we have that many. I have however decided that we will be taking Salvador along to restaurants more often. Now not all of us are lucky enough to do this, bit living in Cape Town, in a mostly pet friendly suburb with loads of on street dinning delights, this is definitely something we are going to start doing.
In fact, we took Salvador and his friend Jameson to a lovely, laid back place called The Stall in Franschhoek today and I was pleasantly surprised at his good behavior. This being said, he was exhausted when we got home, as I think trying to behave all through lunch, at a foreign place with so many new smells, just took its toll on him mentally. He handled himself well though.
There seems to be many places around Cape Town that is relatively dog friendly - I mean it's probably always going to be hard to find a place where they literally beg you to bring your dog along(I'm not sure if one can be sure of the cuisine at such an establishment...), but there are definitely some that would sooner ask you if you would like a water bowl for your panting pooch, than chase you off hungry. We will be checking out some places this year and with Salvador's help I'll inform you of the good ones!

Another thing we are working on this year is going for a well calculated, peaceful jog - now as you can see, I've underlined a bit there as this is a big block in the road for us. Our current jogs starts off with a bang - literally a BANG, as in the gun shot at the beginning of a sprint race, because we are bounding off at break-neck speeds! Somewhere midst all the pulling and jerking we then come to an abrupt halt in order to tend to some toilet business...it is towards the last 2 minutes of this mad sprint that we reach a stage of total bliss as Salvador gets a bit more tired, but before you know it we hit the front step and the chaos is over. As any of you who are keen runners can gather, this is no way to exercise, well not for me(I'm sure Salvador tires himself out quite a bit), so we will be tending to this issue in the coming months.

To end off this New Years post, I am glad to inform you that we will be able to stay on at our current address for at least another year! This comes as a great relief after we were told that the house we are renting is on the market, in which case there was a big chance that it would sell and we would be stuck in the horrible tumult of finding another pet friendly residence - one of the hardest things to do in this town! But we are definitely staying and couldn't be happier!!

HERE'S TO A GREAT 2015 !!!    

xxx

Sunday morning at Camps Bay Beach

Salvador and I went to the beach this morning with some friends. He's slightly down in the dumps because one of his best humans left the country last night for a brief work trip in the UK, so I thought the sun and sand might cheer him up.
This only being his 2nd time at a beach in his whole entire short life, he had a blast!

For some reason I thought that dogs were not allowed on Camps Bay Main Beach, but alas, I was very wrong! There were plenty of dog friends out early this morning and I'm telling you, there's no better way to start the day!

I'm slightly worried about how much he enjoyed digging massive holes though....and hoping this won't happen to our garden now...

Digging one's hole...

Protecting one's hole!

I'm also happy to inform you that Salvador was extremely well behaved towards other dogs - meeting and greeting everyone happily! Great improvement!

Licks and Kisses!
xxx

Salvador on the job

I've always thought that Salvador is the kind of dog that needs a job - Spaniels being working dogs and all. Unfortunately for him, we aren't anywhere near hunting grounds with any retrievable game on it, so I decided a day at work with me could only do him good - and this is what happened...

He got rewarded richly for protecting the car for 15 minutes while we went into the shops. He then decided to chew on said reward for most of the working day...

He went for a leisurely stroll along Sea Point Promenade...

And then he got portraits of himself drawn by two budding young artists?! I mean, how was that even work?

Oh...Salvador is looking at me now as if to say, "don't conveniently leave out the bit where you made me come with you to meet a friend after work, and I had to sit in the busy street all that time you guys were chatting away!"

(I can explain...I had to meet a friend after work and we decided to go to The Power and the Glory, which is a great place in Cape Town to go to if you happen to have your dog with you, as you can sit outside. Although, at this stage Salvador had 'lost his sense of humor'-I guess it's usual after having had such a busy day at 'work' and all- and started getting a bit annoyed with all the strangers walking past...)

Winter Weekends

Lately there has been very little for us to do-it being winter in Cape Town at the moment. Not many adventures to be had...Yet this weekend has been rather eventful since the weather was playing along. Here are a few things we got up to.

When forest walks don't pan out...

In and around Cape Town there are some amazing places to go walk your dog! There's the famous Newlands forest contour path, Tokai Arboretum and Silvermine East, to name but a few. We were super excited to take Salvador to Newlands forest this weekend although, upon our arrival we were notified that you need a permit to walk your dog here...so I'm assuming you need a permit to go into most of the surrounding nature reserves. If you are like me and missed this very important notice on the website (that's because I don't think there is anything on the website about needing a permit...), click here to find out more on the My Activity Permit (and don't be foolish and drive all the way to Tokai forest to go and get one just to find out they are closed onn weekends!)

Since the forest excursion didn't exactly work out well for us and we still had a very excited, energetic Spaniel in our car, we decided to try out a park that I've been driving past a lot lately. It's called Paradise Park and the entrance to it is right next to Paradise Motors in Newlands. 

The park has a stream running through it and boasts many interesting and beautifully handcrafted swings and seating areas that I'm assuming people from the surrounding area made in an attempt to spruce up this previously neglected space. There's a little play area for children and the walk way is just long enough for a quick sniff about. 

Cape of Good Hope SPCA book sale at Canal Walk

I should have said something about this earlier because now it is slightly late, but there is a book sale hosted by the Cape Of Good Hope SPCA in Canal Walk shopping center this weekend. All proceeds go to this great organization. If you are in the area, go and have a look!

On getting another dog...

We've decided that now is not a good time for us to get another dog...AAAAH yes I know, it was a very exciting prospect, although we really thought of what getting another dog entails and we came to the conclusion that Salvador is enough for now! He has just started to settle into suburban living and the other thing is, being the age we are right now and trying to sort out what the next couple of years entails makes it hard to imagine if we can provide a stable living arrangement for another dog. House hunting in Cape Town was enough of a nightmare with one dog, so just imagine two! 

So right now we will just enjoy what we have, but if you are interested in getting a dog please go and check out the lovely creatures on the Cape of Good Hope SPCA website! Another place to look when considering adoption is DARG - they are in Hout Bay.

And that's it from us for now! 

Note for the week ahead : GET A PERMIT FOR SALVADOR TO GO EXPLORING THE FOREST!!! I'm sure your dog will want one too!

Licks and kisses!

Montagu

This weekend Salvador and I went to visit his gran, who recently moved to Montagu. If you've never been there - it's amazing!
It's situated roughly 200km's out of Cape Town and is well known for it's dried fruit. The town itself is tiny and everything seems to have started up around the main road that runs through it - as is the case with many old towns. There is no shortage of restaurants and guest houses in beautifully renovated old houses.
Salvador and I didn't have much time to explore the many walks I'm sure one can have in and around the town, but we did find a lovely one leading to a huge picnic spot called 'Lovers Walk'.
Dogs are everywhere to be found in this town so yes, this is definitely one of our favorite pet friendly outings!

This is how you know you've arrived!

Beautiful little town

                               

Salvador exploring the ICY water!

More exploring

Another glorious Franschoek excursion

We visited the amazing Franschoek again today and Salvador had such a fun day with Jameson (his new best friend)! We thought of going for an exciting walk - swimming in the dam maybe, but then it was too much of a lazy day so we decided to just go to the grassy patch that we usually go to except, this time we met a horse! Here are the pics!
                          

Jameson and Salvador's 'can we leave now!'faces...so we eventually left and went up the road past this gorgeous view....

   

...until we got to the grassy patch where we met a horse!

 

         

We don't know this guy's name, but he eventually(after ignoring some barks from Salvador...) became a friend.

It's been a good day and now it's packing time because we move in two days time...?!

De Waal Park, Cape Town

Salvador came with me to work today and while I had a few errands to run, he patiently waited for his promised walk in De Waal Park in Cape Town.

Find your way there

The park is 12 hectors in size (ample space for energetic dogs) and it is a bustling meeting place for people and dogs from all around the area. A few main features is the Victorian Fountain (which Salvador saw as an open invitation for some swimming),

Victorian Fountain

Salvador testing the waters in the fountain

 Loads of beautiful trees and benches to relax on, paved walk ways,  lots of grassy space for dogs to run around on and to top it all off, the whole park is fenced off so your dog won't be able to run into the busy roads. These are only a few of the great features of this tranquil park.

A view of the playground in the park

Gorgeous views of table mountain

The park is open daily from 06:30 - 20:00 in Summer months and from 07:00 - 18:00 in Winter months and if you go late afternoon, you're sure to meet lots of dogs! We went mid day and it was relatively quiet, although Salvador made two friends and there was some serious shenanigans going on! 

Salvador and his new Lab friend

Salvador and his new Pekingese friend

 Most of the dogs we met weren't on leads, but it is obviously up to you. We will definitely be returning to this one!!