Sengkang Riverside Park appears to be a relatively boring and featureless place at first glance. Here are the key features and what you can expect to see in the park. ;)
Tag: parks
We’ve visited Punggol Settlement for a cycling outing before. So when I heard Punggol Waterway Park [google map], I assumed it would be roughly the same area. I was wrong, the two are about 2.8km apart if you drive. Last year we visited and found Punggol Waterway Park to work pretty well for a doggie Christmas picnic that we were invited to.
The other day, we had a little bit of spare time in between appointments so we took Donna to East Coast Park [map].
East Coast Park is always busy, particularly on weekends. We are a small island, so it is quite typically for our beach views to be bordered by tankers in the horizon.
Popped Donna in a short stretch that is clear of humans so that I can crop out the humans later. But decided to leave the photo as is. Children building sandcastles on the left. Beach volleyball game going on on the right.
Donna observes the beach soccer players.
And finally a spot of doggy parkour on the picnic table. As I was taking this picture, I have a fellow dog owner coming up and remarking how well trained Donna is.
You could say, I had it easy because Donna is a smart dog who learns fast. Or Donna isn’t a stubborn dog. Or we are just lucky we found Donna. Or it just is easier because Donna isn’t a distracted puppy.
I adopted Donna in January 2013. It was a conscious decision to adopt an adult dog who will be calmer and easier to manage than a puppy.
It is now September 2014. That is how long it took to get to this point with the Donna you see today. Given previous experience, it’s pretty safe to say that for us the positive reinforcement needs to be consistent and continuous with her. It is an on-going process for both human and dog.
Actually Donna isn’t even particularly well-trained since her best trick is Stay and we have nothing else very spectacular to show off beyond that. HAHA!
We were scheduled to meet with some small dogs for the first time.
And because we had a not so successful introduction to another dog before, and knowing that Donna can sometimes be overly friendly and want to approach some dogs we walk pass on our walks. And also that she has, admittedly, a past history of antagonistic relationships with other female dogs – namely her mother, siblings, a former cell-mate called Grace – I thought it prudent to take the dog for a long walk in the morning… 2 hours. :P *pats self on the back*
Aside: Doggerel recently published a post on that gives the key points how to introduce unfamiliar dogs, if you are interested.
We went to the pretty Bishan Park. (I have more pictures and a related news article on my previous post on this link to dog urban agility at Bishan park, if you are interested.)
One of the lovely features in the park is the man-made stream that runs through the length of it. At various points of the stream, there are stone steps that one can traverse across to get to the other side for the fun of it. We’ve never tried going across them before, but there’s always a first for anything isn’t it?
So I thought hey, Donna can parkour across the stream by hopping across the stone steps!
But first, the coast has got to be clear, so we waited for this man to come across. I thought to take a picture of Donna before she starts her journey across the stream, but she didn’t want to stay. She wanted to forge ahead.
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.
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.
