Bruce Pit — Attraction in Ottawa

The park is a 5 stars for my puppy. But my experience was a 4. I’ve been there every morning for the whole month and it was awesome. The park is huge, off leash, other dogs mostly are well-trained, and other owners are nice. They cleaned up after their dog and always supervised them. Just this weekend, the park was kinda busy with more dogs and families walking their dogs. My puppy had a situation with a baby. The baby was holding a stick and standing by himself (the grandma stood 1 meter away), my puppy ran over and wanted to play with the baby, the dog didn’t jump on him, but he lost his balance and fell on the ground. His grandma was upset and told me to control the dog when my dog didn’t even show any aggression or opened his mouth or barked (he just walked away when the baby fell). I just ran over to apologize and put my puppy on leash to walk away from the baby. But re-thinking about the situation, I just want to tell (grand)parents to be careful when bringing kids younger than 3 years old. I have been working with kids as an ECE for years, so I know they should not leave the baby’s hands or let baby hold a stick (especially in a dog park). The baby in this situation still works on his walking and balancing skills, but he has a stick on his hands and the grandma didn’t hold his hands. She told him to keep walking towards her. This was so dangerous if the baby just fell on the stick himself or bigger dogs might run into him to grab the stick. I would say to let the kids walk with no hands holding in a dog park, the kids should be 3+ or at least have verbal language and understand simple things adults say like “don’t hold the stick walking around”. Dogs are obsessed with sticks and the moment kids raise it up, dogs think...

Winter at Bruce Pit was truly a slice of heaven this past season! I was lucky enough to witness a remarkable gray owl irruption, and I captured this stunning shot during my visits. As someone with a physical disability, I don’t get out as often as I'd like, but it was definitely worth the effort. The people and their dogs were so friendly, and it was heartwarming to see the joy the dogs had while running freely. For photographers and nature lovers, Bruce Pit is an absolute winter wonderland.

However, I do want to take a moment to share something important, TICKS. I had an experience here back in 2009 that changed my life. While I was doing a photoshoot with my best friend, I unknowingly got bitten by a tick (and I wasn’t even in tall grass!). I spent years seeing doctors, only to find out that I had late-stage Lyme disease. By then, the damage was done. It's a tough journey, and while treatment is effective if caught early, I wasn’t that lucky.

My hope is that by sharing this, someone might catch Lyme disease early, protect themselves and their pets, and avoid a long, difficult road. It's easy to get lost in the beauty of nature here, but it’s equally important to be mindful and check for ticks.

Feel free to connect with me if you're curious about my story or just want to chat about Bruce Pit's wonders. Stay...

LET ME EXPLAIN THE ONE STAR REVIEW ‐------------

I love this park. My dogs love this park. Aside from some swampy spots I have no complaints.

My dog was attacked today. He is a staffy mix, 16 months old. He cautiously approached a German Shepard walking with a rotti. There was a group a adults with them. The German shepherd growled so my dog went to walk away. That's when the rotti started snapping at my dog. The German shepherd was on him next and the two dogs pinned mine on his back.

I was able to get ahold of my dog and pull him out but they kept coming at him. The other owners finally got hold of there dogs. I'm angry so I know I won't be calmed by anything he has to say but accusing my dog of attacking both of their dogs was among the worst.

Shouting ensued from all parties but as tempers raged and we decided to tend to our dog rather than continue the rotti owner shouted that they go to that park daily and to keep a close eye on MY dangerous dog.

As we left other people told us they've seen it before from those dogs. Some had even had their dogs...