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Dog Beach

April 27, 2008 in Dogs | 3 comments

We decided to take our dogs to the Ocean Beach dog beach for the first time today. It was so much fun! I wasn’t sure what to anticipate, but it’s actually a really lovely beach. You come in from a bike path and down through some scrub land (or at least we did from where we parked) and then cross a pretty huge expanse of nice sand (which was super hot with it being 86 at the beach today). From there, you hit a sort of little inlet/river that’s perfect for playing with the dogs. It’s not affected by the waves, so it’s perfect for tossing out a ball or Frisbee or what have you and letting the dogs swim out to get it. You can walk down along there for a bit and eventually reach the ocean proper, but most people with dogs tended to stay back in the more sheltered area.

This was the girls’ first big trip out and on a leash. They’ve been on leashes for minor things before — going to Vittin and Michael’s for ear check ups and going to the pet store for rabies and our few failed attempts to take them on walks (after today, I think they’ll be better for walks) — but this was more major. Zillah has been out a couple of times more than Elphie, so she was showing off to Elphie that it wasn’t so bad, but Elphie was pretty freaked out by it at first, tugging and pulling and I had to pick her up and carry her a few times.

It was also their first experience being around strange dogs. Vittin had Michael have a whole menagerie (something like 6 adult dogs plus the four puppies), so they aren’t unused to being around other dogs, but those dogs were also there when they were born, so they were never unused to them. They seemed to really enjoy playing with the other dogs, though. They gradually got better about being on a leash and going in the water. By a little bit in, Elphie actually jumped in and started swimming (or trying) for a little. After that it was back to wading, but they progressively got more comfortable with the water.

After that we took them to a dog wash in OB and got them all cleaned up. They were needing baths anyway, so them getting all sandy was a good excuse. The only thing that really freaked them out that they never got over was bikes and skateboards. They were not OK with them when we were going down the bike path, and then as we were sitting outside the dog wash, they were freaked out by passing wheeled vehicles there too. They’re probably going to take more getting used to.

They were super well behaved, though. They jumped on a couple of people, but certainly not everyone we passed. They only ever barked at another dog once, and I have no clue why that particular dog set them off. Other than that, they were friendly and appropriately calm (excited from having fun but not totally wacked out) and just sort of taking it all in. All of the other dogs were really well behaved as well, and it was relatively free of dog mess, so it seems most owners are responsible. I was impressed. Being there reminded me of all the other breeds I’d like to get at some point in my life — huskey, chow chow, pug, hound, etc. Also, I think it’s funny how much dog people automatically get along when they’re out with their dogs. We interacted with a bunch of different people. I encouraged mom to bring one or the pair of them there by herself some time and chat with some of the solo gray foxes that were there.

I meant to bring a camera but forgot. Oh well, next time!

Anyway, dog beach gets A++ from me.