# Dog Friendly Melbourne



## matjones (Jan 30, 2009)

Are there any areas of Melbourne that are extremely dog friendly? Lots of parks, outdoor dining, pet stores. What are the general leash laws over there? Can dogs be off leash in most public parks. Are there any special enclosed dog parks? 

We are thinking of living in/close to CBD when we move as we want easy access to shops & restaurants and dont particularly want to have to buy a car. 

Any tips?


----------



## Dolly (Feb 17, 2008)

Hi there,

Each Council has their own lists of dog friendly parks/beaches. Some are leash free some your dog will have to be on a leash. I have to say that areas for taking dogs for walks here is quite limited compared to the UK. As long as your dog was on a lead, you could practically taken them anywhere. A lot of parks here don't allow dogs.

Dolly


----------



## Tiffani (Dec 4, 2007)

As Dolly said, you have to check the local municipality. In some respects I have found Melbourne to be more dog-friendly than back home (North Carolina) and in other respects, less.

There are no, to my knowledge, dedicated dog parks, but several of the parks are off-leash at least during certain times of the day. Same with the bay beaches. Usually the off-leash parks are contingent upon there not being any people using the space when you want to let your dog run around (like, you can't go to a cricket oval and let your dog play off-leash if there's a cricket match going on -- and believe me this will happen a lot).

The dogs here are generally well behaved though, and are quite acclimated to being around lots of people and novel stimuli. Thus, there are several cafes that allow dogs to sit outside with you, but it's always a good idea to check inside just to make sure the Fluffy is welcome, because an outdoor cafe does not automatically mean it's dog-friendly.


----------



## matjones (Jan 30, 2009)

Tiffani said:


> As Dolly said, you have to check the local municipality. In some respects I have found Melbourne to be more dog-friendly than back home (North Carolina) and in other respects, less.
> 
> There are no, to my knowledge, dedicated dog parks, but several of the parks are off-leash at least during certain times of the day. Same with the bay beaches. Usually the off-leash parks are contingent upon there not being any people using the space when you want to let your dog run around (like, you can't go to a cricket oval and let your dog play off-leash if there's a cricket match going on -- and believe me this will happen a lot).
> 
> The dogs here are generally well behaved though, and are quite acclimated to being around lots of people and novel stimuli. Thus, there are several cafes that allow dogs to sit outside with you, but it's always a good idea to check inside just to make sure the Fluffy is welcome, because an outdoor cafe does not automatically mean it's dog-friendly.


Thanks Tiffani. We might have some adjusting to do coming from San Francisco, which is extremely dog friendly. I did just find the following link which shows some of the offleash areas in the city of melbourne.

City of Melbourne - Parks - Dogs off-leash areas

What part of Melbourne are you in? 

Also, looking at houses/apartments for rent online, none of them mention wether they allow pets. Whats the norm here? Are pets allowed in rental places? Is this something we just try an negotiate with individual landlords when we find a place we like?


----------



## Tiffani (Dec 4, 2007)

ah, the $64,000 question: are pets allowed in rentals? The answer is: nobody really knows...

It's a ridiculous system; some ads will say "no pets allowed" which is great because then you don't even have to worry about wasting your time. Most say nothing though which leaves you wondering... The best bet is to call the agent who usually has an idea of whether pets would be allowed, what kind, and so on. Usually it's a case-by-case thing so if you have two small dogs and want to live in a house with a small yard, it might be fine. If you have two huge dogs and want to live in a house with a small yard, not so much. It really depends,and of course the final decision is up to the landlord.

Depending on where you want to live there are some things to consider: each municipality also has rules on how many pets can live in a single household, so keep that in mind when looking for a place. Also, the closer you want to live to the CBD, the more cut-throat the whole process becomes and pets are a clear liability there. In fact I know several people living in the Inner suburbs who just never mentioned Kitty or Puppy in their application, which I refuse to do because I don't want to risk eviction. a cat is easy to hide, a Weimaraner is not.

I live in the Outer East, close to where I and my partner work. We have a house with a fantastic backyard for the dog, and my landlord is really dog friendly. But there's no way we would've known when we submitted the application. I attached a letter explaining the situation, the dog's behavioural assessments (AKC CGC, Pets as Therapy training, etc) and of course confirmed that we'd be happy to cover any repairs in the unlikely event of damage. 

When you arrive in Melbourne you'll be competing with lots of people for a place to live. You want to make yourself stand out. Have written statements from former landlords about how great you were, copies of any behaviour stuff you have on your dogs, bank statements, and most importantly, don't be too proud to beg


----------



## matjones (Jan 30, 2009)

Begging will not be an issue. The good thing is we have a month to figure it out while the dogs are in quarantine. I hope the Sofitel has room available for that first month  Start out our new life in style.


----------



## Tiffani (Dec 4, 2007)

hell if you're going to bother with the Sofitel you might as well go to the whole hog and stay at the Westin  They're dog friendly too (at least in the US -- I dunno about here actually; in fact that's another thing you should keep in mind... a lot of hotel chains that are dog-friendly in the US don't allow pets here)


----------



## matjones (Jan 30, 2009)

Tiffani said:


> hell if you're going to bother with the Sofitel you might as well go to the whole hog and stay at the Westin  They're dog friendly too (at least in the US -- I dunno about here actually; in fact that's another thing you should keep in mind... a lot of hotel chains that are dog-friendly in the US don't allow pets here)


Oooh.. the westin looks nice  We did stay at the Sofitel before , their bed are sooooooo comfortable. That will actually be our first purchase in AU. A sofitel mattress. I think our limit will be a 2 week stay there. By which time we better have found a place to stay.


----------



## Tiffani (Dec 4, 2007)

we found a place in two weeks, but apparently we were pretty lucky. Also, like I said, we're not in the Inner Suburbs where it's a bit more vicious.

Good luck anyway


----------



## matjones (Jan 30, 2009)

Tiffani said:


> we found a place in two weeks, but apparently we were pretty lucky. Also, like I said, we're not in the Inner Suburbs where it's a bit more vicious.
> 
> Good luck anyway


Any experience with Pet Insurance over there? Know what the better companies are?


----------



## Tiffani (Dec 4, 2007)

we're with PetPlan and we've been very happy with it. There are several out there though.. a google search will give you the options.


----------

