The Bruce Pit
if you've walked a dog in Ottawa, chances are you've been to the Bruce Pit. For those who never have, the Bruce Pit is a bit of Greenbelt in Nepean, named, unsuprisingly, after a pit, at the bottom of which is water. Very good sledding in the winter, apparently. I have no idea where the pit came from, but I doubt it's a natual formation. now, at some point people realized tha the Bruce Pit was a pretty good dog walking area, and more and more people, and dogs, began to flock there. The NCC eventually fenced off part of it as an off leash dog park. I'm pretty sure it's the only place in the city where you're allowed to let your dog run loose, although there *might* be another on the other end. It would make sense for there to be one. Unfortunately, though, alot of the nicer trails at Bruce Pit are on the OTHER side of the fence, which in summer you are allowed to walk your dogs on with a leash, and which in winter must be avoided, because of skiers. There is also a bike trail, which dogs must be kept off. I have no particular objection to these, rules in principle, although they CAN be a bit wearisome. However, there are some problems. '
1) With all the various and sundry people and hounds walking there, the trail is getting badly worn down. I'm told there used to be interesting plants there, but the more delicate species have ceased to grow. There are alot of chokecherry bushes there, but the cherries go uneaten. You don't see alot of birds there now, nor rabbits nor squirrels. The dogs seem to have frightened them off. The woods on the other side of the fence offer good birdwatching possibilities, and usually a nice display of Trilliums in the spring. However, if you want to stay on the right side of the law, you must leash your dogs, which makes for a less enjoyable walk. personally, I say "Fine me and be damned", but not everybody feels that way. In the legal off leash area, there are usually several hundred dogs per day, so there is a permanent and inescapable odour of dog pee.
2) I try to keep my dogs off the bike trail. Cyclists are somewhat less considerate about keeping their bicycles off the dog trail. Ditto skiers in the winter. We get one place in the city where we can walk our dogs off leash legally (barring, of course, my aforementioned "fine me and be damned" policy, and the cyclists and skiers have all the other conservation areas in the city. You get people on bicycles whipping over the trail at breakneck speed, and eventually somebody is going to get hurt. There are people walking there who don't move so quickly, and people walking small dogs that could get crushed, not to mention the carnage that would ensue of somebody crashed in to a great dane.
3) some of us happen to like birdwatching, and other activities near and dear to the heart of the amateur naturalist. We also like walking our dogs, and would rather like to combine the two.
4) With that many dogs one place, you're bound to get dogfights, which in some cases can leave at least one combatant bleeding. There's also a greater chance of diseases, worms and such being passed around. And I'm pretty sure all that dog pee I mentioned can't be healthy.
if you've walked a dog in Ottawa, chances are you've been to the Bruce Pit. For those who never have, the Bruce Pit is a bit of Greenbelt in Nepean, named, unsuprisingly, after a pit, at the bottom of which is water. Very good sledding in the winter, apparently. I have no idea where the pit came from, but I doubt it's a natual formation. now, at some point people realized tha the Bruce Pit was a pretty good dog walking area, and more and more people, and dogs, began to flock there. The NCC eventually fenced off part of it as an off leash dog park. I'm pretty sure it's the only place in the city where you're allowed to let your dog run loose, although there *might* be another on the other end. It would make sense for there to be one. Unfortunately, though, alot of the nicer trails at Bruce Pit are on the OTHER side of the fence, which in summer you are allowed to walk your dogs on with a leash, and which in winter must be avoided, because of skiers. There is also a bike trail, which dogs must be kept off. I have no particular objection to these, rules in principle, although they CAN be a bit wearisome. However, there are some problems. '
1) With all the various and sundry people and hounds walking there, the trail is getting badly worn down. I'm told there used to be interesting plants there, but the more delicate species have ceased to grow. There are alot of chokecherry bushes there, but the cherries go uneaten. You don't see alot of birds there now, nor rabbits nor squirrels. The dogs seem to have frightened them off. The woods on the other side of the fence offer good birdwatching possibilities, and usually a nice display of Trilliums in the spring. However, if you want to stay on the right side of the law, you must leash your dogs, which makes for a less enjoyable walk. personally, I say "Fine me and be damned", but not everybody feels that way. In the legal off leash area, there are usually several hundred dogs per day, so there is a permanent and inescapable odour of dog pee.
2) I try to keep my dogs off the bike trail. Cyclists are somewhat less considerate about keeping their bicycles off the dog trail. Ditto skiers in the winter. We get one place in the city where we can walk our dogs off leash legally (barring, of course, my aforementioned "fine me and be damned" policy, and the cyclists and skiers have all the other conservation areas in the city. You get people on bicycles whipping over the trail at breakneck speed, and eventually somebody is going to get hurt. There are people walking there who don't move so quickly, and people walking small dogs that could get crushed, not to mention the carnage that would ensue of somebody crashed in to a great dane.
3) some of us happen to like birdwatching, and other activities near and dear to the heart of the amateur naturalist. We also like walking our dogs, and would rather like to combine the two.
4) With that many dogs one place, you're bound to get dogfights, which in some cases can leave at least one combatant bleeding. There's also a greater chance of diseases, worms and such being passed around. And I'm pretty sure all that dog pee I mentioned can't be healthy.
Labels: rants
posted by Gaelan | 8:12 AM
4 Comments:
Stanly Park has off leash down on the Rideau - and a un-official dog beach.
Hi,
I walk our dog at Bruce Pit although I live within walking distance to two lovely parks which are both not dog friendly! There is an off leash park at Conroy, just south of Hunt Club which is quite good. Its smaller than Bruce Pit and the car park is tiny so on a weekend you'll find yourself parking on a bus road. When you're handling a dog and a baby in a stroller parking on a main road just isn't going to happen.
I agree with all your points about the problems with having only a couple of dog parks for one city. It seems to me that the people who are out and about in all weathers, rain or shine, are dog walkers. There are alot of dog owners in Ottawa and they seem to have very few rights as far as where we can walk our dogs!
I come from the UK where owners are allowed to walk their dogs almost anywhere, with some restrictions around childrens play areas etc. Owners, by law, have a responsibility to make sure their dogs are well behaved when out in public and will be prosecuted if their dog acts in an aggressive manner, towards another dog or a human (adult or child). While there are problems with the British system there is, I believe, a lot to recommend it to the NAC and Ottawa Municipal Government. When we moved here our UK friends all said 'Oh your dog will love it. He'll have so much freedom!' In reality he has less freedom living here in Ottawa than he had in London UK!
Tami (Wellington West)
This park is not as dog friendly as you may think. If you are old/infirm or otherwise incapable of logical thought, than perhaps Bruce Pitt is not the place for you. I now have an 8month old puppy who has a record of having "bitten" someone because he jumped up at an old man who bent down to the ground and my dog made contact with the man's face resulting in a tiny scratch. This man then went to the hospital and filed a report and contacted by-law. The NCC then contacted us to tell us that the guy wasn't going to press charges but if anything happened again we would be hit with a huge fine - and of course we were not allowed to dispute this. Since when is an accused not allowed to present their side of the story? Dog owners beware because to the NCC if your dog is in contact with a person YOU are automatically at fault and could be hit with a $360 fine minimum. Apparently Bruce Pitt is only "use at your own risk" if you are a dog.
Don't be so hard on bikers. Our lab is a runner, as you could immagine and the best excercise we can give her is taking her for a good bike ride in the trails. And we NEVER run into old or young people, we have breaks, never crush little dogs or hit great danes. We are VERY considerate and stay on the paths as far away from the main dog walking ones as possible. It is unfair to assume because a few bad bikers may go in there that we're all bad, just as it is unfair to assume that all dog owners are bringing safe and friendly dogs.
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