For those of you who don’t know me, I’m from Barcelona, although, for work-related reasons, I haven’t lived there for 10 years. I came to London two and a half years ago and every time someone asks me if I like living here, I don’t need more than two seconds to say: I LOVE IT!!! When they ask me why I always say the same thing…it’s because I’m lucky enough to do what I love and also be all day in different parks in my area.
Yes, it’s true, it rains a lot, it’s cold in winter and this summer it’s been really tough on our dogs. But, despite of all that, I won’t change it. I like living in north-west London, it’s a quiet residential area which offers us various options to walk our dogs. Willesden Sports Centre and Tiverton are examples of small parks which offer us the safety of being in an enclosed area and having a better control of the dogs and the space; and being small parks facilitates a lot more the interaction between dogs, thus practising one of the most important parts of socialisation.
Gladstone Park is one of my favourites, much bigger than Tiverton or Willesden Sports Centre and having to walk for one hour with a group of dogs is much more entertaining for them, as in one hour we can have a large walk without going in circles through the same place. The dogs enjoy not only playing with each other, but also exploring and smelling a much larger area, exercising their mental and sensitive sides.
Queen’s Park is amazing, but not being able to bring the dogs without a lead makes me visit the park only on my training sessions as it allows me to have more control over the dogs that I want them to socialise with. A great option for scared and sensitive dogs.
As everyone who lives in this area will know, you can’t walk more than 4 dogs at the same time in these parks, so when I have a group of 5 or 6 dogs (which is the maximum number of dogs I walk at the same time) I always go to my favourite park in all of London, Hampstead Heath. There, the dogs have places where they can bathe, shades to walk in on such hot days as we have this year and large areas where they can run and play with the other dogs we come across.
So how can I not love my job and this city when I have the best offices in the whole world?