Dad Ryan Williamson out with his five girls, from left: Aria 7, Maple 1 (the pup), Indie 3, Miley 8, Tillie 5, while their essential worker mum Melissa is at her pharmacy job. Photo / Dean Taylor
Dog ownership in Waipā has risen by 12.3 per cent over the past five years, compared to a population increase of about 9.1 per cent (Waipā District Council statistics and Infometrics).
The trend parallels the rest of New Zealand and means about one-third of Kiwi households have a dog as a pet, companion or for work.
There are currently 9024 dogs registered in the district, nearly 1000 more than five years ago.
In urban Te Awamutu there are currently around 1550.
Waipā ownership is one dog for about every six people - and level 4 lockdown is the time to see those numbers at work as dog owners take to the streets for daily exercise.
Robyn and I are dog owners - we have two collie cross-breeds: 14-year-old Tammy and 9-year-old Gully.
We are also naughty dog owners, despite the best intentions of regular exercise for ourselves and our dogs, it is pretty much restricted to the odd walk in Te Awamutu and more regular walks and runs at the beach.
We see some dogs getting regular walks, others out and about during level 4 we haven't seen before.
Over the past couple of days I have asked owners about their habits and it seems walkies are up during lockdown, although many claimed they did get out most days.
Level 4 did mean extra long walks or walks with more of family members tagging along - so for a dog, this is heaven.
This summer will be critical to discover if the sharks have started returning.