Who says you can't keep a Great Dane in a city apartment?
Welcome to my pad: He’s a big unit, but Wallace the Great Dane is the perfect inner-city apartment pet, say his owners Rebecca and Stephen Edwards, of Docklands.
Photo: Eddie Jim
He loves cheese, is afraid of water, and if he likes you, he will lean his 80-kilogram frame on you as you pat him. Basically, he’s adorable.
Stephen and Rebecca Edwards are glad they ignored the doubters and bought a Great Dane, named Wallace, to live in their Docklands apartment.
Mr Edwards says some friends ‘‘thought we were on drugs’’ when they bought Wallace as a puppy four years ago.
‘‘They were like, ‘why are you getting such a big dog’?’’
But careful research deemed a Dane perfect for their lifestyle, and it has proved correct.
Danes love company, and Mr Edwards, a management consultant, works from their 15th-floor apartment.
Wallace is shy and affectionate, and doesn’t have the energy of smaller breeds.
After slow walks on the Tan around the Royal Botanic Gardens, or along the Yarra at Docklands, he will sleep for six hours.
“Is that a horse?” It’s the most common question that passersby ask Stephen Edwards of his Great Dane dog Wallace, pictured walking near their Docklands apartment block.
Photo: Eddie Jim
The Edwardses play games with him in their underground car park and he plays with other dogs at a nearby daycare centre and small park. But his favourite pastime is lying on his rug, gazing out the window.
‘‘He’s just very laid-back and relaxed,’’ Mr Edwards says. “I’m surprised how Wallace has got under our skin, in a great way. He’s just part of our family now.”
Care for a walk? Wallace the Great Dane, with his owner Stephen Edwards, is a familiar sight in his Docklands apartment tower lift.
Photo: Eddie Jim
Dog registration numbers are rising in central Melbourne as apartment dwellers take on pets for fun and companionship. City of Melbourne figures show overall dog registration numbers have soared from 2329 in 2007 to 3548 in 2017.
While Great Danes are still unusual (there were nine in 2017, up from two in 2007), a surprising number of locals are choosing mid-size dogs.
Labradors (who number 132) are now the second most popular breed after cavoodles (157). Third most popular are Jack Russells (101).
Dog registrations in the Docklands sector soared, as new residential towers were built, from just 12 in 2007 to 262 in 2017, while the Southbank number more than doubled, from 102 to 263.
In the CBD sector, there are now 443 dogs registered, up from 218 in 2007.
Breeds that rose in popularity across the entire City of Melbourne included cavoodles (147 in 2017 compared to four in 2007); French bulldogs (62 now compared to one in 2007), and miniature dachshunds (50 in 2017 compared to 6 in 2007).
In 2017 there were 24 breeds represented by just one registered dog, including, among large dogs, one Maremma, a basset hound, and a St Bernard.
Mr Edwards says Docklands has got a ‘‘bad rap’’ for having no community, but dogs bring people together: groups such as Docklands Doggies hold social events.
When he walks Wallace, Mr Edwards says, gobsmacked strangers take photos and pat Wallace (after asking the usual question: ‘is that a horse?’).
Local dog owners ‘‘walk up and say, ‘hi, do you live around here? Can we play?’ ” Mr Edwards says. “We’ve met so many people that way. The problem is, we know the names of their dogs but we can’t remember their names. It’s ‘hey, there’s Wilson, or there’s Benson’.’’
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Published at Sat, 05 May 2018 14:03:45 +0000
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