• Do not leave your dog in the car on a hot summer’s day.
• If you’re heading somewhere with your pooch, always carry a leash, a poop bag, and plenty of spare water and a bowl.

• If the footpath is too hot for your feet, then it’s too hot for your dog’s paws.
• Be considerate to other people and their dogs. Some people and dogs don’t want to be approached, and may be nervous of your dog.

You might have heard we recently phased out the single use plastic bags stocked in poo bag dispensers across our reserves. These items are no longer allowed to be used, and our Animal Control team is currently testing a new option of dog poo bag and dispenser that will be kinder to our environment. If successful, we’ll work to get these out in our reserves as soon as possible.

In the meantime, if you regularly use one of our Council-supplied poop bags for your dog’s doodoo, please carry a spare bag with you on your walks. Remember: don’t be a chump, pick up the dump. If it’s yellow you can let it mellow, but if it’s brown then pick it up off the ground.

And if you're interested in ways your dog's waste can have less of an effect on the environment than ending up in landfill, you'll find a section below about pet waste composting systems you can buy, or how to make one yourself.

A friendly reminder that dogs are most welcome in Queenstown Gardens, but they must be on a leash at all times.

Many people and pooches use this popular public space to exercise or relax without the fear of being approached by another dog. And with frisbee golf a drawcard in the area, there are plenty of temptations for a dog that isn’t on a leash.

Our Animal Control team will be visiting Queenstown Gardens regularly over the summer season, but don’t worry – they don’t bite. If you spot them, give them a wave or go say hi.

Looking for a place you can walk your dog off leash?

We have a heap of options in the Queenstown Lakes and you’ll find two of our top picks for the summer below!

Free training sessions

Do you have a dog with selective hearing who could benefit from a little bit of extra training? This summer our Animal Control team will be running free training sessions in both Queenstown and Wānaka, with the aim to provide you and your dog with some top training tips. We’ll be confirming dates on the QLDC Facebook page soon.

Events for your pooch's social calendar

Ears up. We’re bringing back the Queenstown Dog Walk and Wānaka Dog Walk and hope to host these in early 2023. Both events promise to be days filled with dogs, treats, competitions, prizes, and a whole lot of sniffing!

Over the coming months, we’ll be sharing more information on these events on QLDC’s Facebook page.

Picture: Marlow waiting patiently at Frankton Library to have a story read to her.

Dog of the month

You might have spotted our Dog of the Month Marlow from a recent campaign to encourage voter participation in local government elections. She was a Democracy Dog, one of many pooches that donned a cape in September and October this year to help get the word out about voting. Marlow is a big, gentle softy and spends her spare time at the Frankton Library every Thursday afternoon, listening to kids read her stories.

And for that, we thank you Marlow.

Composting your dog’s poo is a great way to care for the environment, especially when you consider how often that poo ends up in a bag, in the bin, then in landfill. And yeah, we get the irony. We spend a lot of time encouraging people to carry a poop bag with them. We’ve already done that twice in this edition of Scuttlemutt! And while bagging your dog’s poop is something our Animal Control team wants to see more of, what you do with it after that can be just as important.

There are pet waste composting systems available like the EnsoPet kit, but if you’re looking to create your own, there are options that will work for small and larger dogs too.

Want to buy a kit or make your own?

Our Animal Control team visited the Wānaka School Holiday Programme last break to educate youngsters on being safe around strange dogs and how to use the ‘three golden rules’.

1. Always ask the owner for permission before patting a dog

2. The best place to pat a dog is on the back or shoulders

3. When a scary dog comes over, stand like a tree. Pull your branches (arms) in nice and tight, and plant your roots (feet) deep into the ground.

After learning about how dogs behave in different scenarios, kids got to put what they learned into practice with Leone from Dogs Zone and her

four-legged assistant Baxter.

Special thanks go to the Wānaka School Holiday Programme for having our Animal Control team along, and to Leone and Baxter for their time, expertise, and assistance on the day!