We hired a field!

BKayHol2 said:

They're called 'Sniff Spots' & you can search for one by location and/or amenities offered.

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I had no idea! Thanks for the tip and it's time to investigate, since I am dead set against public dog parks.

Sounds like you and the dogs had a great time.

I would love to be able to hire a field, not sure there are any round here.

ForestWomble said:

Sounds like you and the dogs had a great time.

I would love to be able to hire a field, not sure there are any round here.

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Have a look on here - Dog Parks Near Me -Secure Dog Fields and Parks in the UK
You might be surprised.

lovemyboy said:

Have a look on here - Dog Parks Near Me -Secure Dog Fields and Parks in the UK
You might be surprised.

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Thanks, the closest on there is about an hour car drive away. I've book marked the site and will check it every now and again.

Glad you and the dogs enjoyed it. We try to take Zak to his secure field at least once a week. Otherwise he'd never be off lead, mind you he prances around it sniffingfor 10 minutes, then heads for the gate to go home!

Bless him, I am sure Zac enjoys every trip there and the amount of dogs visiting the field must make it so brilliant sniffs for him.

I'm lucky because I have my own private "field". Supposedly secure which it is for 99.9% of the time.

Unfortunately the other day, the Schnauzer boys found the tiniest of holes in the fence to squeeze through and went on a walkabout without me ... their devoted owner! Wouldn't have minded too much because they never go very far but this was at 6 am and me not only being half asleep but in my dressing gown and slippers.

Quickly got dressed, grabbed leads and treats and let myself out of the front gate. Called the boys who came running down next door's garden. Had a struggle to force the gate open and got stung by nettles reaching to put on Gwylim's lead. Took them for a little walk then home where I shut them in the house whilst I repaired the fence. Not ideal but it'll have to do until my grandson arrives next month.

It's a hard life being a dog owner!

Our local one is tiny and not a nice surface. It is quite expensive too but got a bit of agility stuff in it. In the middle of an industrial estate.

mynortiboys said:

I'm lucky because I have my own private "field". Supposedly secure which it is for 99.9% of the time.

Unfortunately the other day, the Schnauzer boys found the tiniest of holes in the fence to squeeze through and went on a walkabout without me ... their devoted owner! Wouldn't have minded too much because they never go very far but this was at 6 am and me not only being half asleep but in my dressing gown and slippers.

Quickly got dressed, grabbed leads and treats and let myself out of the front gate. Called the boys who came running down next door's garden. Had a struggle to force the gate open and got stung by nettles reaching to put on Gwylim's lead. Took them for a little walk then home where I shut them in the house whilst I repaired the fence. Not ideal but it'll have to do until my grandson arrives next month.

It's a hard life being a dog owner!

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I think they thought they would save you the effort of walking them and left you to rest. That's really sweet!

Bobby had the same idea a few years ago. With no thought for his personal comfort he squeezed though a hole in a very prickly hawthorn hedge and took himself for an adventure round the estate at the back of us. When I discovered he was missing I searched and called for half an hour, in rising panic. I had just phoned the police to report a missing, possibly stolen dog when he reappeared the wrong side of the gate!
He apparently enjoyed this adventure so much we had to put a fence along the bottom of the hedge to keep him in.

Oh, I can relate to the 'escape artist' thing! Our property is 10 acres of dense woodlands on the side of a mountain. We enclosed about 4 - 5 acres with plastic mesh deer fencing so the dogs could run & play without us having to worry about them wandering off the property & too far from home. Maintenance is ongoing, because tree branches (or sometimes whole trees!) fall on it occasionally and rabbits/other small critters will chew holes along the bottom. But for the most part, all our dogs over the past 15 years have generally learned to respect the fence as a 'do not cross' boundary (even if there was a small gap or two along the way).

Until we got Felix. He kept finding those little critter chewed gaps in the fence faster than we could patch them & disappearing off into the world beyond! He'd always make his way back, but it's not a safe practice! We ended up having to spend $$$$ to buy 2' tall welded wire fence & hire two handymen to reinforce the entire bottom perimeter of the fence (somewhere around 1600 - 1700 linear feet!) Oh, the things we do for our dogs.....