Four parks and a burger: one Wednesday with the PawScapes app

Wednesday, both dogs loaded, and a promise to myself to use PawScapes the way a stranger would.

Not to edit it, not to check it, just to pick a park and go.

Kalora Park Oval in Narre Warren North was first on the map, and we rolled in just after midday after a confusing interpretation of the local parking signs.

Photo: Peter Macinkovic

Stop one: the prison yard

The reserve around it is lovely, all gum trees and ovals, but the dog park inside is a tall chain-link box.

These grounds were sponsored by the local Dog Obedience Club who have been generous enought o fund a fenced, off-leash area but the obedience first nature shows.

The first thing that came to my mind, and apparently Pepsi's, was prison yard.

The pups weren't vibing.

Photo: Peter Macinkovic

The gate test

Photo: Peter Macinkovic

Standing at that gate, a bit deflated, I opened Kalora's page on my phone and scrolled to the Off-Leash Nearby tool on Pawscapes.

Gunns Road Dog Park, in Hallam, just 9 minutes away.

Nothing scheduled and a full tank, so we drove there.

I built that Nearby feature myself, and this was the first time it earned its keep on a real day out.

It worked.

Stop two: the one Nearby found

Gunns Road was the opposite day.

There is a sand mound with a tunnel through it, and the two of them worked it over and over, through the tunnel, over the top, back through, until nobody had any dignity left.

The shot of the day, the one at the top of this page, is Max coming out of that tunnel.

Photo: Pawscapes

Then Pepsi found the edges. They were marshy, he went in chest deep, came out a different colour, and shook the lot off right next to Max.

Photo: Pawscapes

The playground is just outside the fence, and Pepsi freaked out on its stairs.

Three days after the ferry stairs, stairs are clearly not his thing right now.

Stop three: room to run

Seebeck Drive Dog Park in Narre Warren South, just after one. Despite growing up in narre Warren South, I never knew a dog park liek this existed near my old high school.

Big, open, and water to find, and both dogs used all of it.

Photo: Pawscapes

The usual finish

We ended where we usually end, at Primary @ Pioneers Park in Berwick.

Both dogs flat under the outdoor table, a burger with fries for me, and Max watching that burger with a focus he usually saves for tennis balls.

Three dog parks and a burger, one Wednesday, and the website that lists them all did its one job in a car park when I needed it. The dogs slept the whole way home. Pepsi slept the whole night too, marsh and all.