This month marks seven years of living in the city. For Lockie, she has now lived most of her life here.

As a nod to those days when we first made city living a way of life, Lockie and I ventured to the scene of a traumatic event. I still can’t walk past this spot without feeling a little bit anxious! You may have noticed that Lockie isn’t looking at me in this photo, and I know why! She’s looking out for swans.

Seven years ago, we walked here with my son and my grandson (then 2yrs old) and Lockie pulled her lead out of my hand to chase a family of swans into the water! They weren’t happy and flapped their wings and swam further into the river. Lockie wasn’t going to give up easily, and with the three of us screaming at her to come back, she continued to follow them, further and further from the shore.

I was frantic, in my head I was thinking that we’d have to go to South Perth to get her back. I had visions of the ferry picking her up to save her from drowning! She didn’t realise that although she can swim, she’s not a swan. She was in their territory. For goodness sake, the river was named after them!

It wasn’t until the swans had decided that they’d had enough fun with this annoying dog, that they took flight. Lockie suddenly realised that she was in the middle of the river and it was a long way back to land. Luckily, she had the strength to swim back, but, oh boy, was I mad with her! So, it was with a very wet dog, that we returned to our apartment building and hoped that nobody noticed us.

My son and I will never forget that incident, and Lockie certainly hasn’t. To this day, when we walk past the pathway to that beach, she will pull in that direction to go there. Usually, I’ll say, “No way, Lock!” Even at 13 years old, I don’t trust her with swans!