There are two schools of thought when it comes to travelling with dogs. There are those who worry about missing out on national parks or the inconvenience of trying to find a dog friendly pub. And then there are those who think: “Go camping without my dog? Are you mad? I’d rather go without my left leg!”
I’m certainly in the latter category… except for the leg part. That’s kind of essential. But I definitely could not travel for more than a few days without the Labs. We’re mutually inclusive.
But it can be difficult when you want to get out and see this great land but keep running up against the dreaded “dogs prohibited” signs. For me, national parks and the like aren’t so much of a problem because there are so many other wonderful places outside of them. And we’ve seen plenty that I wouldn’t have visited if I didn’t have the Labs to exercise.
But sometimes it’d be really good to have a proper haircut. Or shop for clothes. Or visit a physio. Normal everyday things that are hard to do when you have a couple of dogs that can’t come with you. At times like these I’ve looked around for doggy daycare facilities, but they’re expensive and limited to bigger towns. And occasionally I’ve checked out the various dog minding apps which, frankly, don’t inspire much confidence. I’d rather let my hair grow a bit.
It seems I’m not alone.
Earlier this year I was contacted by Vicki Cronan, a friend of a friend, who was working on helping to solve this problem for travellers (particularly those of us in the “grey” category) and their dogs. A reciprocal dog minding network with the clever name of Air Bark’n’Bark. Fast forward several months and Vicki’s now got the model up and running with a live website, a growing number of members, and an app due to be released in December. It’s a simple but clever model that gives people on the road an option to have a hair cut in peace (or visit that national park, if that’s your thing), and then potentially return the favour for someone else down the track. Air Bark’n’Bark also offers the opportunity for people like us grey nomads to earn a bit of extra income on the road by taking care of other campers’ dogs.
It sounds like a great idea to us so we’re happy to give Air Bark’n’Bark a plug and encourage those of you travelling with dogs, or those who just can’t get enough doggy love, to get onboard and support this great start-up business. Find Air Bark’n’Bark online at https://www.airbarknbark.com.au or on Facebook.
Here’s a photo of the long suffering Labs posing in front of yet another silly sign.
