I go online to look up the time of the lowest tide - to ensure we have a nice, wide stretch of wet sand to play upon - and we head out to our Super Secret spot.
On the path to the beach, there is a pile of wood that Goldie likes to explore every single time. She thinks small animals live in it. She may be right.
She wedges herself in there to get a better look:
When we get to the sand (it is a remote area, down a path and about 1/2 mile walk from the road) I let her off leash to run and run and run. She will race up and down for as long as I let her, sometimes disappearing into a tiny dot at the furthest end of the beach.
When she gets hot, she plunges into the waves for a few minutes to cool down, her sides heaving, panting. Sometimes she goes out far enough that she has to swim for a bit and waves splash up over her head.
Her hobby is chasing birds. The little birds just fly up and out of the way, but the seagulls like to mess with Goldie's head. The same bird will fly just out of her reach or hover about 20 feet over her head, watching her circle around on the sand below with her head tipped back.
Often a gull will fly up and down the beach for 10 minutes or more with the dog in hot pursuit. When the bird tires of the game, it just takes off out over the ocean. I have seen this happen again and again.
Eventually I decide that we have to go home because it is getting dark. Sometimes Goldie lets herself be captured easily, but not very often. She usually pretends she can't hear me and races right by, tongue flapping. Then I have to wait until she is standing in the deeper water and can't run away. I plunge in and snap the leash on.
The next day she is always sore and moves around creakily. This is a 14-year old dog, after all. But she never lets it stop her the next time. Every day at the beach is a good day for dogs.
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6 comments:
and this is the exact reason why i made s come with me every day this weekend to take baby grover to the dogpark. he loves it so much & gets to play with all the other doggies off-leash. it has definitely helped with socializing his 6 month old self.
Sweet, the story and the photos.
Though I am reminded of an album title by the late-great PFR:
"Goldie's Last Day"
May your Goldie live long and prosper . . .
SUCH A GOOD DOGGGGGGY!!!!!! i love your dog! i love the beach! I MISS SO CAL
we should all have that attitude. run while you can, worry about it later.
14 and running around like a fool? Right on.
I love dogs at the beach! My sister's dog would always get excited to go on a car ride, but as soon as she saw the water or smelled the surf she'd go apoplectic! She was the same as Goldie.. run run run run run run run..... I miss that so much!
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