Tag Archives: off leash park

All About Max, Surrey Parks

Tynehead Regional Park, North Surrey

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Serpentine River, Tynehead ParkTynehead Regional Park is a 260 hectare park in North Surrey. It includes a protected salmon hatchery, an off leash dog park, wide open spaces with picnic tables, public restrooms, and lots of trails though some of the coolest forest that Max and I have cruised through in a long while. The Serpentine River winds through the park, and it cascades all over the place. It chirps and laughs and tinkles all through the park. You hear it flowing over the rocks, under the bridges, and over the flat lands. In the fall it is packed with salmon returning to spawn.

Max in TynedheadThere is a trail called Trillium Trail, which in the early spring is covered in trillium flowers, a flower of the lily family. Canadians of course, know that it is the official provincial flower of Ontario but it is also the official wildflower of Ohio. It’s a delicate flower, that can be seriously harmed by picking the bloom. It is protected in many places. Another interesting thing about the trillium is that it is germinated by ants! The ants take a sort of pod back to their nests, and the seed is contained within the pod. They eat the pod and discard the seed!
Viewing platform, TyneheadMax and I climbed Trillium Trail which meanders up a steep embankment, over which you can see the Serpentine River snaking through the forest hundreds of feet below. There is a log fence to prevent you from falling over the cliff. As we neared the top of the ascent, there seemed to be a viewing platform that poked out over the cliff. It actually surrounded a large tree, about 30 feet off the forest floor and it was basically a tree house! It’s a very cool structure!

Trees in Tynehead ParkWe didn’t get to the off leash side of the park – in fact I didn’t even realize there was an off leash park, but we’ll get there soon! This park is definitely worth another visit. There were lots of trails we didn’t explore, but we will! There were stumps of huge trees that had been logged many years ago, and you could still see the notches cut by the loggers in order to climb the mammoth beasts! Awesome trees – awesome sizes… Sad to see them gone.

All About Max, Surrey Parks

Royal Heights Park, North Delta

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Royal Heights ParkRoyal Heights Park is a nice park, on a very secluded street. It was a little tricky to find it, as it doesn’t really have a proper entrance. Most entrances to the park are at the end of cul de sacs, so that there is very little parking.

Royal Heights ParkIt is listed as an off leash park, but it is not completely fenced, so if you can’t control your dog, it’s not a good park to come to. We found the “main entrance” and as we entered, we discovered we were alone there with only one other dog – a chow!

She was a young pup and really frisky and got Max running around in circles! It was cute to see him trying to keep up, kind of whining at her, as if to say, “Slow Down!”

Royal Heights ParkThe park consists of a very large open field, with public restrooms, and a nice kiddie play park. There are great views out over the river as well. At one end of the park we found a nice set of walking trails, through seem very majestic trees. The trails were too short really, but you can get some nice exercise since they went up and down the steep hills.

Royal Heights ParkAll in all, it’s a nice enough park, but not worth the drive for us. If you live in the neighbourhood, it’s a terrific spot, and I’m sure we’d use it a lot if we did live within walking distance to it. I rather like the idea that is a hidden gem, not marred by some huge parking lot.

All About Max, Surrey Parks

Tannery Road Off Leash Park, North Surrey

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Fraser RiverToday was a lovely spring day, bright and sunny but a tad brisk. So we loaded up old Maxie and hit the trail. Tannery Road terminates at the waterfront, directly across the river from New Westminster Quay.

The DunesThe location is in a rather industrial area, and we had to dodge lots of big double pup dump trucks. The park itself has a couple of open fields, and some trails leading to the water.

The trails lead off to the river’s edge to one side, with large sand dunes on the other side. The dunes are extremely high, and there are several paths leading up to the peaks. Max and I took a charge up and were quite surprised to see there is a HUGE hole on the other side. Trucks were moving in and out, so clearly the sand is being mined for local construction projects.

Tannery ParkComing down, Max just beat it down the hill! Pretty funny! The water’s edge is affected by the tides, so it’s quite muddy, so Max wasn’t too interested in going in, thankfully!

There were not many dogs there, I think because it was too early in the day. It’s a nice enough park, but I think it’s really only for locals. It’s not worth the drive really. I mean I liked it, it’s just that there wasn’t enough to interest me. The view was nice over the river though, so it was worthwhile to come have a look.

River View

All About Max, Surrey Parks

Dogwood Park, South Surrey

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Dogwood ParkToday was a gorgeous day, so Pam and I took a drive down south near the Nico Wynd golf course and took Max to Dogwood Park. It’s a large off leash park, with lots of nice trails though some old growth trees. It’s easily the largest off leash park we’ve been to. The trails are really quite extensive, some even running alongside small bodies of water.

Dogwood ParkThere is a man made lake, with a bridge that dogs can jump off into the water! Not that Max would ever do that! There were no ducks on the lake, so Max didn’t find anyone to chase, today.

There are large fields that lots of dogs were chasing balls and playing frisbee on. The park is a really nice mix of open spaces and wooded areas. We walked around for quite a while, crisscrossing the park, walking through some spectacularly sized redwoods, and other large fir trees.

Max loved it! He chased a few birds, but basically he stays with us while we walk. There were a few gravel paths and he doesn’t really like walking on gravel. I think the stones get caught in his webbed feet and he kinda “spins his tires” to get them out!

All About Max

Serpentine Off Leash again

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Max at Serpentine Off Leash Park Today was a glorious fall day – sunny and warm. After spending some time with the Christmas lights, Max and I headed off to the off leash park. He gets very excited now as we get close. He has an eager little sound that he makes as we take the S-curve into the park. He can hardly contain himself and he lets out one eager bark as we enter the park.

Serpentine ParkAs soon as I release him he’s off and running with who ever will run! As I “do the loop” he stays with me, playing with whoever is around. It’s a smallish park, but lots of space to give them time to get a full head of steam.

It’s situated under wires carrying electricity. The mountains are visible in the distance. And on a nice clear day like today, it seemed like they were barely 30 minutes away! (Oh wait – they are barely 30 minutes away!)

All About Max

At the Off Leash Park

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Today we took Max to the off leash park called the Serpentine. It’s a smallish park, but there are tons of dogs there all out having a good time. All sorts of dog, all sorts of sizes, and he had no issues at all! He just pranced and ran and chased and was chased and had a great time.

Here is a movie of Max, taken by Pam October 28, of him playing at the park.

The “That’s Gross” comment from Pam was about a “little” slobber Max had over his nose! haha About 3 or 4 feet long! haha

All About Max

Settling in…

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Max seems to be settling into our routine. When he first came to us, he wasn’t thrilled with my early rising (around 530 or 6 am) and certainly didn’t want to eat when I normally fed Buck, around 6:50 or so. But the last couple of mornings he had his breakfast early, and was ready for the car ride to go pick up Pam from the train. He’s getting a handle on when we go for “a walk” and when we go to get his “business done.”

He still “speaks” to strangers, even when we are on walks. Not good at 7 am! I’m not sure how to go about getting him to NOT bark – might be a hopeless task – but I need some kind of command to stop it. It’s not like he’s yapping constantly, just barks once or twice to announce his presence. I’ve tried to make him sit (he does) then put my hand on his chest and give him a “quiet” or “no barking” command. Buck understood the “no barking” command, but it’s been years since he ever really spoke. I don’t think we was trained on a choke chain, because the normal tug on the leash doesn’t seem to faze him. (He’s not on a choke chain, but I might try using it for a couple weeks to see if I can do something about the barking.)

Crying angelI think Pam is feeling a tad slighted because Max has really taken to me. He’s been a constant companion to me, and I’ve really needed it. When I’m emotional, he’s there for me. When I give him a hug, he returns it, snuggling into my arms, raising his paw to me, banging his head into my chest. It’s very heartwarming. He’s just a great guy.

I have had such a tough time dealing with Buck’s loss. I feel so guilty – and the guilt keeps changing. I hate myself for being the one that made the decision to end his life, even though his last few days were so obviously painful for him. What right do I have to be playing god with my best friend? And I’ve been doing so much reading lately, I realize that maybe Buck was in pain longer than I want to admit, and maybe I was being cruel by not doing something earlier. It’s easy to say I should just let it go, and believe me, I wish I could just “let it go” but I can’t – it torments me…

Anyway – Max is doing great! He’s a real playful guy and Pam and I had a game of catch with him today. He’s fun and energetic. Tomorrow we’re off to the big off leash park, to see how he does. He’s recovered from his surgery, so I think a nice walk in the park with some other dogs will be good for him. We’ll keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t over do it!

Talk to you soon,

Maurice