Our Very Own Backyard

Jazz and Dixie have never had the luxary of their own backyard as up until now we have lived in apartments here in Tokyo but our recent move has changed all that. We have a back yard!!! At home in Australia its not unusual to have one but we have been extremely lucky to find a place here with such a big back yard. The grass needs to be replaced, which I intend to do in the spring but it is a nice open space for Jazz and Dixie to run around in. Usually when we come back from our morning walk we spend some time out there playing around. As you can see in the video here Jazz loves to play cat and mouse with Dixie. If Dixie didn't stop and let Jazz catch her there would be no way that Jazz could get her! There are also several spots now for Jazz to lie in the sun in the garden, on the balcony and by the sliding doors in all the rooms facing onto the backyard. Dixie is still too busy exploring and catching grasshoppers to crunch!! to take the time out to lie in the sun.

We are Back!!

WOW its been such a long time since I blogged I almost forgot my password and how to blog!! In that time away we moved to our new place which is fantastic as it big and has a huge back garden by Japan standards. Coming from a small one bedroom apartment to this house is taking us some time to get used to! We've been here about three weeks now and finally Dixie is starting to settle down and realise this is her new home. She was very nervous at first and was always on high alert but now we are starting to see some of the old Dixie. It was a much easier move for easy going Jazz who now has so many places to lie in the autumn sun that she is in paradise. About 10 minutes from our new place by car there is a forest park that is quite large and that has a great grassed picnic area. The weather on Sunday was wonderful so we made sandwiches and took them and the girls to the park. We are really enjoyiing these warm autumn days before the cold winter sets in. I still have stuff to unpack but think that can wait as I really want to be outside in the garden or out and about with the girls.

Jazz goes Fishing!

The last post I did about a month ago was about a new toy that Jazz (and Dixie) got. Well Jazz has learnt how to pull the string by herself to make the fish move. She just kept on pulling it until we took it away from her after having a good laugh. We are in the process of moving so I haven't really had that much time to post but just had to post this one!

A New Toy!

Yesterday we headed out to discover another of Tokyo's parks but when we got there we found that it had all been roped off in preparation for last night's fire works display. As we neared the park in the car they were doing a few practice runs with the fireworks and even from in the car Dixie freaked out so we drove a little further down the road and stopped in at Lala Port which is a shopping mall that has a part where dogs are allowed and also a small dog run. After a bit of a play around in the dog run Jazz and Dixie were more interested to check out the pet shop. There I found another cooling T-shirt for Jazz which matches Dixie's and also a new toy for the girls. It is a red sea bream (Tai in Japanese) and when you pull a string it vibrates. Well Jazz just loved it. Dixie might have too but Jazz was just not sharing! When she gets something she likes it is very hard for us to get it back from her and Dixie rarely challenges Jazz for it. Dixie usually just has to wait until Jazz has had enough. There are some toys at home that are predominantly Dixie's and Jazz doesn't show much interest in them so Dixie has her share of toys to play with, but as yet she hasn't had an opportunity to play with the Tai.

Koganei Park

Mmm that hamburger smells good Dad!

Please can we have some?

Today was another hot sunny day but luckily the wind was blowing. We set out to discover another of Tokyo's parks - Koganei Park - about 20kms from our house. It was another well established park with lots of big trees for shade and open spaces of green grass. They also had several dog runs but in this heat not many pups were there. Jazz and Dixie wore their cooling t-shirts and got wet down a few times so as to stay cool and enjoyed checking out the new park.

Tambara Lavendar Park

From left to right, Chura, Dixie, Jazz, Bell, Carla, Cookie,Chamame,Piero, Viola, Naki and Mimi.

On Saturday night we got a call from some friends of the beagle reunioun group that we got together with back in May asking us if we'd like to join them for a day outing to a lavendar park. We had nothing on for Sunday so we agreed that it sounded like a fun outing and set off quite early the next morning for a 160km trip out of Tokyo to Gunma prefecture. There was quite a bit of traffic and we needed to do a few stops along the way so we ended up getting to the lavendar park at 10.30ish. In winter this area is a ski resort but transfers to this wonderful colourful flower park in the summer. The lift up the ski slope was operating but we thought we wouldn't be able to take the girls on it so proceeded to walk up the steep slope with Jazz and Dixie out in front! Most of our beagle friends were already at the top so we ate brunch and then let all 11 beagles and one toy poodle out in the dog run there. What fun they had and what a spectacle for all the visitors to the park to see so many cute beagles out together. Dixie ran about like crazy with the cool green grass beneath her little feet and Jazz played ball with any ball that people were throwing around. Jazz also did a bit of jumping but try as we may we couldn't get Dixie to go over, just around! It started to rain a bit so we headed back down the slope with Dixie still right in front urging me on faster and faster till I thought I would fall and roll down behing them! At the bottom we assembled for some group photos in front of the flowerbeds but Jazz and Dixie unlike all the other beagles were not cooperating at all and in most of the pics they had their butts to the camera! Shin and I swapped positions and I was able to snap a couple were they were at least facing the camera. After that we drove on a further 23km to a dog cafe with beautifully manicured dog run. By now it was quite hot so I sprayed the girls down with water and we sat beneath sunumbrellas drinking iced drinks and eating cakes. We arrived home early evening and everyone was exhausted after a great day out.

Misumoto Park

I finished up summer school on Friday so after a week of not being able to spend that much time with the girls we decided to take them out this weekend. Yesterday we went to a great park on the other side of Tokyo. It was another huge park with lots of open green space and water with a dog run. However the grass in the dog run was knee high so we decided instead to walk around the park which was quite cool on a 30 degree day. A lot of children were playing in the water ways trying to catch tadpoles and small fish. Jazz and Dixie of course did not step foot in the water. We had lunch there and while throwing away our trash we noticed that one of the bins was for "pet" (actually in japanese it said PET bottles but they shortened it in English). We had another great day discovering one of the many parks around Tokyo.

Showa Memorial Park

Wow its been more than a month since I last blogged. A lot happened in that time with school ending, a trip home and Jazz being in season so we didn't go anywhere with the girls. Yesterday Shin drove us to a great huge park, Showa Memorial Park. We had to pay to enter but inside they had a great series of dog runs, beautiful gardens and lots of green grass!! Yes that's one thing I miss living in Tokyo - big open grassy spaces. The girls had a great time and made a few new friends in the dog run. We then sat out on one of the lawns for lunch and meet another couple with two beagles. We were lucky to beat the rain which set in just as we were leaving. It was nice to be back out exploring new places with the girls again.