Dogs

Dogs are slowly being pushed out of everywhere. No in national parks. No in most forest parks. In those that they can go in most entrance points via a farm no.

Dog access on conservation land http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/know-before-you-go/dog-access/

Trouble is wayno you cant rely on the doc dogs/no dogs advice. They say 'no dogs' for pretty much all areas that are accessed via private land even when the conservation land permits dogs. So you have no way of knowing if dogs are prohibited or if you just need to call the cocky for permission or access via a legal road/marginal strip. The hunting info packs usually give the true picture but it's laborious to download and read each of those, and not all areas are open to hunting so info packs often do not exist Then there's the 'Dogs by Permit' areas like eastern / western ruahines. Western, anyone can get a permit by supplying a kiwisafe cert. Eastern you _must_ be hunting to take a dog. So if I carry a rifle / knife my dog is safe, but if I leave my rifle / knife at home, it's not! Crazy. That said, I walked legally 50-odd days from East Cape to Wellington with my dog via DOC land. It took about 20 hunting permits - in return for which we knocked off 7 goats and a bambi (spots and all) - which in my books fits the 'must be actively hunting' requirement of the permits. But it's not really fair that I can take my dog because I'm willing to put some casual side-effort into slitting the throat of any goat/pig that my dog grabs, but others, like my folks, are not permitted to - because they aren't willing to do that (or pretend to do that). If you dig about in old information from DOC, the 'no dogs' blanket rules were originally brought in as an interim measure until DOC assessed the risk to native birds and identified specific areas where dogs were not a good idea. But that assessment and narrowing down of the no-dog areas never happened.

Just take your dog and if you get caught its just a slap on the hand

Sorry to be pedantic - but a forum is a place where views are aired. A forum is not capable of supporting or opposing anything, any more than a sheet of paper is. What you mean is _you_ do not encourage the breaking of laws - nor, we presume, does Matthew - though I suspect he's perfectly capable of speaking for himself without any of us speaking for him.

What about encountering civilians when with your dog in the bush? I guess you get the odd narky bugga who wants to check if your papers are in order...

Ive seen a few dogs in the Tararuas and several huts have drums cut into kennels I try to be neutral on the policy of dogs giving each dog the chance to prove itself. From the miniture bigon that was 3/4 the way round dobsons loop and had to swim all the stream crossings (normal flow) to 2 dogs in Tutawai that stayed completely out of the way and slept on the owners feet to one labradoor at Waitawaiwai that got up 3 of 4 times during the night just to walk round with its claws goin tap tap tap all the way.

This past sunday night i Went up to Field Hut with my dog and because of the recent Project Kaka 1080 drop and pellets still on the track I had him sleep inside next to me. If there were any other people there I would have politely asked if they mind a well behaved dog being inside on his mat I t I t

My dog has been to nearly every hut in the tararua. It's one of the last true dog friendly parks in the country. Long may it stay that way. She recently came on a 3 week trip down the South Island with my family and was it ever a big deal incorporating her into our tramping plans. It criminal that dogs are almost as much an enemy to the bush as stoats. It's just not right. Dogs are mans best friend and no more so than in the bush. My dog is trained not to go near kiwi. In fact she was my companion for over 4 years hunting stoats,rats and possum for a kiwi project. She has done her bit more than the average human. I'll be honest she has been to many places she wasn't allowed, she's slept in huts, etc etc. I just don't care. She lives for the hills as much as I do. She does as she is told to do. I know what I'm doing. Being someone who loves the bush and has done my bit to protect it and the birds in it . I know where and when my dog can come with me. But unfortunately I am persecuted because of some wives tale of a dog killing 200 kiwi in northland 20 years ago. Or the long line of New Zealand literature where our explorer heroes used their canine companions to hunt kiwi, kakapo and weka for their supper. It's us who are killing the birds more than any other animal yet we are free to wander around. I just hate that my dog can't come along next to my side.