Masked canine stalks local park

Dogear6 wrote a post on Escaping in the City where she shared some amazing topiaries she found at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. I enjoyed that, so I thought I share some pictures of Donna in one of Singapore’s biggest parks.

We visit it pretty often since we live around 1/2 hrs walk from it. The 62 hectare Bishan Park has been renovated last year and fairly suits the “escaping in the city” theme with its “naturalised” landscaping. Don’t tell the other dogs but this park now sports some pretty awesome landscape rocks, cross river stone paths, low walls and other relief that makes doggy parkour a pretty fun game to explore here.

Donna has started to respond to “up-up” and to climb up on rocks, park stools and public structures about 50-80% of the time. And you know what? Doggy parkour is a great skill for your dog if you love to take doggy pictures. Haha!

Masked canine contemplates swooping down Recycle Hill. These ragged rock steps that we stand on were made from the remains of an old canal which was removed to make way for a  “naturalised” river, which basically means man-made. :P And we are enjoying the new river plains landscaping because now we can see some bird like herons and other water birds visiting, they who used to look down their long beaks at the old canal! :P

But really, the masked canine much prefers chilling out on her rock in the cool shade over here in the secluded water lily ponds.

And after all that jumping and running, there are sun deck loungers along the footpaths that one can lounge on and rest, if only the weather wasn’t so glaringly hot!

But if it’s so fun here? Where are the other dogs? Well, back in the fenced dog run of the park where we left them!

The last time we arranged to meet up with Dou Dou and her humans before we attempt to drive to the Nat Geo Free Pet Shop event together was a Saturday. We agreed to meet at the dog run but Donna was reluctant to approach once we were near to the vicinity of the dog run, having spied a large golden retriever. Perhaps it triggered memories of her bad experiences in the dog park. So instead, we met Doudou a distance away from the dog run.

I was keen to see if Donna has become fearful of the dog run in general, so after that day we continued to visit the park. The pleasure of consistently training Donna to walk beside me manifested itself then. We were finally able to walk the half hour to the park without having to stop more than a couple of times. When she was less good at walking by my side, we never did make it to the park much since time usually ran out and we had to turn back to go home.

On the few occasions we were there, Donna was able to walk back and forth in front of the dog run without the original resistance that she had displayed. She did not try to avoid the dog run like the last time. When led to the perimeter fence of the dog run, she sniffed intently despite the big dogs in the fenced enclosure. It is interesting how specific a dog’s reaction can be. Donna has encountered bigger dogs at other places without apprehension. It seems like only when the dog run and its vicinity is visited by big dogs that she displays the fear that had her tail tucked tightly between her legs. She has showed improvement. Her tail positions vary from half-mast to down but not curled tightly in between her legs. I did not observe any yawning or lip licking so if there was any fear, perhaps it was mild.

But really, once we left to explore the rest of the park and were some distance away from the dog run, her tail sprang to life!

So yes, this park is great for doggy parkour.

Source: wildsingapore

As for the dog run, I would be cautious. If we were to go in there again, I would make sure we move to a far corner to avoid dogs that charge in at the entrance. Otherwise, we’ve met some friendly people there and we didn’t have much trouble with the dogs yet, once they finished charging in of course. :P

If you are interested, Dr Sophia Yin has a great poster on Dog Park Etiquette that can be downloaded for free as well as tips how to train a dog to prevent him from being part of any unhappy situation that may escalate in a dog park in the dog park. Southslope.org has a nice Dog Park Etiquette Poster with lots of useful tips for adults and for parents with children on how we can help make the dog park an enjoyable place for all humans and dogs and also what to do, if a fight breaks out.