Hundreds of people and their dogs gathered in Wellington and Auckland for a simultaneous mass dog walk. The event, officially called The Big Dog Walk With Lots Of Dogs, started with a Facebook post by Wellington comedian Alice Brine in January. The walks – at Waitangi Park in Wellington and Waiatarua Reserve in Remuera, Auckland – aimed to raise money for animal welfare charities HUHA and Chained Dog. Daniela Maoate-Cox caught up with some of the dogs and their owners in Wellington.
Kisa Basabas and Rambo
He used to steal things, but we’ve trained him well. You can have a piece of steak on a plate on the floor and he won’t eat it without command. He’s a Siberian Husky and he’ll be two on the 13th of April. He makes a lot of noise but he doesn’t bark, he howls.
Siobhan Warren with Nia and Lexi
Lexi’s the black and white one and Nia is the gold one. They’re both border collies and will work for cheese. Lexi does awkward things like stand in the passage in the dark. You flick on the light and she’s just standing there staring at you. Nia’s name means ray of sunshine in Swahili and her best trick is spinning. She’s a therapy dog with Canine Friends so we go to Kenepuru every Saturday morning and she cuddles people in the geriatric wards. Love is her superpower, I reckon.
Steve with Derby and Little Jim
Little Jim is a Jack Russell-chihuahua cross, Derby is a greyhound-border collie cross. We got the greyhound first and the little guy we saw on Trade Me and he looked adorable so we picked him up. They get along well together. We’ve had them about three years now, best of friends, you can’t separate them. Little Jim’s two and a half and Derby’s three and a half.
Shelley with Frida and Betty
Frida’s coming up three years, she’s the salt and pepper schnauzer and Betty’s a pure black schnauzer. She’s six months old now. Frida’s pretty well trained, she does sit, stay and shake, but they like to steal food if they can. She can actually push the bin open and steal things out from the bin. She’s managed to pull out big bones.
Alex and Banjo
He's six years old. He is a Leonberger, from Leonberg in Germany. It used to be a principality a long time ago and the myth goes that the duke or count or whatever decided he wanted a lion that looked like the lion on Leonberg’s crest. He is very much a dog dog when he’s out and about.
Paul, Duke, Duchie and Shelby
They’re all staffies (Staffordshire Bull Terriers). These two, Duke and Duchie, are just about four, Shelby’ll be two in August. They love making a mess outside, chewed up everything. They love balls and tyres and keep pretty active. Sometimes get all three of them on the bed. Shelby can play dead but there might be too much going on today for her to do it.
