Blacks Link and Bowen Road are *not* dog friendly in that they both have been targeted by our resident poisoner.
http://www.google.com.hk/search?q=ho...g+dog+poisoner
Having said that, we always take our dogs on both paths, but keep them under leash when we do so.

Anytime is a good time :-) I was out with the kids today and we did 10km around TaiTam park. Yes, its very hot but if you bring enough water, its not that bad; you will get used to it.
Usually, it will get cooler around Sep-Oct timeframe and when that happens, we will do much harder hikes.