Red Truck Beer, UBC Walks, A New Couch & Deer Lake Park
Markus on the back of a red truck at Red Truck Beer Company at their Barks and Brews Event
Raising Markus is the series where we share stories about our time raising Markus. Said to be aggressive and having gone unadopted for over a year, Raising Markus is the story of a rescued dog from Korea given a second opportunity, now in Vancouver, Canada. This series will include the lessons, joys and struggles of dog owners fumbling our way through our first adoption. The hope is that if you're considering rescuing a dog of your own, our stories are useful to you.
From the last update, we took Markus out to Red Truck Beer Company's Barks and Brews Event. We took him to a couple new walks and parks and we're breaking in a new couch!
Red Truck Beer Company Barks and Brews Event
Markus on the driver side of the red truck at the Red Truck Beer Company
Who doesn't love beer on a hot day while sitting on a patio?
I'll do you one better.
Who doesn't love beer on a hot day while sitting on a patio with your dog?
Red Truck Beer Company has been putting on their Barks and Brews Event for a couple of years now. We weren't able to make it for the previous times, so we were happy to finally make it out. We had a blast here with Markus and wanted to share a few things with you.
The event was held right outside Red Truck Beer Company at 295 E 1st Ave in Vancouver on their parking lot and the dirt lot next to it. With food booths lined on one side and dog-related booths on the other, the event had something for both humans and dogs.
On an adjacent lot next to the Red Truck lot, they had a fenced up empty dirt lot for dogs to play and run off-leash. What was also fun was they also had an artist doing caricatures of the dogs and their owners!
We had a planned outing with a group of our dog friends and had a nice little afternoon here. The dogs got to play and pose for pictures with their famous red trucks and we got beer out of it, which is always good!
The Couch Thing
Markus trying to find his groove again on his new couch
We've wanted to get a new couch for a while now, but before we did, we needed to make sure that Markus wasn't the type of dog to tear up couches. Aside from the one time he tore a hole in a cushion (which he hasn't gotten to since) and the stains he'll sometimes leave behind, he's been really good with it.
In the past few months, Markus has become pretty attached to the couch. Whenever we're out of the house, he would eventually find his way up onto the couch and sleep there. There were nights we can hear him waiting until we were in our bedroom and he'd make his way onto the couch and we'd find him there in the morning. I'm beginning to think it has something to do with the heat more than the comfort of the couch.
We moved ahead with our plan to get a new couch. We picked one out that we felt was easy enough to clean and would've be very obvious if Markus ever left a stain. It finally arrived this week and we assembled it. It's taking Markus a bit of time breaking into the new couch, but he's slowly adjusting to it. We're sure in time, he'll start sneaking himself onto the couch again!
The UBC Walk
Markus resting on one of the beautiful wooden sculptures on a hot day at the walk at UBC
We took a stroll around the UBC area this week which isn't your typical park or trail. It really is just a walk around the neighbourhood, but it's good if your dog's reactive. The walk itself is not as busy and it's a nice stroll with plenty of grassy areas for dogs along the way.
We enjoy this walk because aside from the grass, there are plenty of things to see throughout the walk. Our favourite part about this walk is that it ends at a cookie shop. We've done this walk a couple of times, so I've mapped out some of the paths that we like to take when we usually come out here.
The route we usually take when we do the UBC walk
We normally start the walk by Wesbrook Village because of the free parking along the streets in the area. From there, we make our way left onto W. 16th before taking a right onto E Mall St. and a quick left onto Stadium Rd. From here, there is a quieter strip of path called the Main Mall Greenway where there are plenty of grass for dogs.
If you stay on this path, you'll eventually hit Martha Piper Plaza where there is a beautiful fountain. People love to stop here and take pictures! Around this area, there are some large sculptures (at least while we were there) that you can enjoy.
Whenever you're ready, take a right onto University Blvd and in the building in front of you, look for the Blue Chip Cafe where you'll find some of the best cookies in Vancouver!
Deer Lake Park
Markus checking out the lily pads from a dock in Deer Lake
On the way to pick up some raw food at CRUDO in Burnaby, we stopped by Deer Lake Park to give Markus a walk. We've heard this park mentioned a lot, but we haven't had the chance to go. We finally found our way there this weekend where we enjoyed a nice evening stroll on the wooden walkways around the lake.
Aside from the lake, there were other areas to explore around Deer Lake and we share about all of that and our time here.
We’re so grateful for your support of The Markus Project. We mostly choose our locations through searching and word of mouth. If you know of a park, trail or location you think we should check out, please share it with us. We’d love to know!
