On a sunny day more than 10 years ago, Torunn drove down south of Aarhus to pick up German Sheperd puppy Vinna (11) from a breeder she found in the breeding database of the Danish kennel club. Torunn picked up and paid for the puppy before it was even born.
As soon as Vinna reached 8 weeks old, old enough to be separated from her mother and chipped for identification, location tracking, and vaccination records, as per Danish laws, she came to live with Torunn in her pet-friendly flat in Skejbyparken.
“Buying a dog is less complicated than adopting one since there are so few dogs available in the shelters in Denmark,” Torunn explains. Shortly after she got Vinna, Torunn also got custody of Zaia (12), a dog previously owned by her daughter.
“One of the Most Dog-Friendly Neighbourhoods in Aarhus”
Spending a minimum of 3 hours every day walking Vinna and Zaia, Torunn takes the dogs around on the roads and patches of grass in between the woods around Skejbyparken. Sometimes they walk the beach down south or the golf chart up north which ranges about 10 kilometres.
The easy access to a wide range of green spaces is what makes Skeybjparken in Skejby “one of the most dog-friendly neighbourhoods” in Aarhus and “people are kind and love dogs, at least I hope so,” Torunn explains, laughing. “Some residents in a building nearby voted to make their apartment allow pets and became dog owners in recent years, and I got to know them on my walks”.
Torunn spends not only time but also money on her fur friends. The two dogs cost about 1000 krones a month.
Dogs are curious animals, but Vinna and Zaia were calm and showed no interest besides sniffing even when pedestrians walked by with food in their hands. “They are not supposed to accept treats from strangers”, Torunn says, smiling.
When the dogs were young, she spent several years training them until they learned boundaries and discipline. “Young dogs are just like teenagers, they don’t listen! And puppies aren’t fully grown until they’re three years old, so never give up!” Torunn advises.
Baby, the 14-Year-Old Dog
Another dog owner Brian and his dog “Baby” regularly use Skejbyparken. The grass field about 80 meters wide between the bushes and Brian’s house is 14-year-old Baby’s playground most of the days.
Brian doesn’t really dedicate much time or any money to raising Baby because he has friends who give Baby food for free. He also shares custody of the dog with an ex-girlfriend who gave him the dog for free in the first place. When Brain lets Baby off the leash, the tiny dog wanders around and disappears from sight without turning back despite Brian’s repetitive calling. “She’s old and bad in the ears,” Brian says. “To be a good dog owner, you just gotta give them a world of love.”
Meet Lulu the Cat
Caroline Jelle, a Danish student at Aarhus University, bought her cat Lulu online two years ago from the previous owner who no longer wanted the cat. It doesn’t cost much to take care of Lulu: the cat subsists on a special diet that costs between kr. 100 and kr. 150 per month. Unlike dog owners, Caroline says she doesn’t have to take up insurance for her cat because she is healthy and mostly stays indoors.
“To get a dog, you might have to get insurance, but many are just selling cats on Facebook,” Caroline says.
Owning and raising a cat as a pet comes with several cons: they shed a lot of hair, excrete stinky urine, and can damage furniture. For Caroline, things become somewhat more difficult when she has to be away from her apartment for an extended period.
“I live kind of far away from my family; so if I’m going on a vacation or something; they might have to drive here to take care of Lulu or she goes to their place,” Caroline says. “But it’s not the worst; it’s okay.”