In our house there is Me (Daria), Marty and Cera the Dog. There are also our things etc. When we first moved started looking for somewhere to live in Sydney we were quite worried it would be difficult to find a place that was near Sydney uni and that would allow pets. After not much luck through agents (on paper Marty and I don’t appear to be ideal tenants, in person we’re pretty good) we decided to search out rental properties directly from the owner. This proved to be much more successful and we quickly found this nice apartment on Gumtree.

So we have a dog in an apartment. This is my most common question: how’s Cera does she like it? Well interestingly being a dog she doesn’t seem to mind where she is as long as it’s near her people, she has food and water, lots of walks and heaps of toys. So check, check, check and check. What we didn’t realise when we looked at the map and saw how close our new home is to parks is how great those parks are!

So, Cera the Dog, and I walk everyday along a number of different routes. Our favourite is off-leash most of the way and culminates in a friendly dog beach in Sydney Harbour. Now that I am more dependent on public space to exercise my dog than I was in Brisbane I have become considerably more interested in the laws that govern these spaces. A pleasant surprise on moving to Sydney is the discovery that the laws surrounding pets and their freedoms are much more inclusive and comprehensive than in Brisbane.

In Brisbane you cannot have your dog off its lead anywhere except inside designated off-leash areas that are delineated by tall black fences. This is an odd scenario for a dog. Dogs are social and yet loyal creatures so a dog park is actually quite challenging for them, they get to socialise but don’t have the usual limitations of being under their owner strict command in order to be secure. If you have ever visited the Brisbane dog parks after 4pm you will see heaps (more that 30) of dogs going pretty wild playing, chewing, chasing and being crazy. Its fun to watch and good for the dogs health but not a very natural environment.

In Sydney I have yet to come across a single fenced area to contain dogs. Rather whole parks or sections of parks are designated people and dog areas. All who venture into these parts of the parks know they are likely to come into contact with dogs and dog owners are expected to have reasonable control of their dogs, supervise them and pick up their poop (there are also loads of free dog poop bags which are degradable and pretty good for the environment). This is a much more natural environment for owner and pet. The dog can wander ahead at their own pace, sniff the news, greet fellow canines and roll around at leisure. Dogs that are walking off-leash tend to do a circling back behavior where they go ahead but come back or wait for you to catch-up. They (if trained) remain alert and responsive to your commands and are generally more civilized then when in the penned free for all of an off-leash area.

The city rangers who are in charge of making sure the rules are followed are all really approachable and seem to like dogs!! They’re happy to give you a chance before you are fined and are very helpful with local knowledge. This is in accordance with the Companion Animal Act some pretty cool legislation that has been created with the knowledge that people will have pets, they love their pets and they want to have fun in the community with their pets! Search the Bris City Council site for something similar and I doubt you’ll find it! You pay a one-off fee and your companion is registered for life. So we didn’t know it but living in an apartment in Sydney is turning out to be more fun for us and for, Cera the Dog. We take a more proactive role in her exercise and play, rather than just letting her roam the garden.

Oh yeah and as a side note the laws governing small pets (birds, rabbits etc) are laws for Pocket Pets!

p.s I know your all wondering… how do I manage to take Cera out to pee all the time? Well I like to take her out often, we usually walk twice a day and maybe more little trips. Marty found this nifty invention that goes on your balcony: The Portable Dog Potty. It is some treated fake grass on top of a specially designed tray. The dogs go woo! A loo! And pee there.. Its not perfect but its pretty good, the equivalent of kitty litter.