Going to the beach

[Abby'sMom]

We will hopefully be going to the beach this July for a week and want to bring Abby with us. She's never been to the ocean before and I can't wait to see how she reacts! doggiex1

I am starting to compile a list of things to bring with us down to the beach for Abby. Do any of you with beach experience have some helpful ideas that I might not think of? Things you wish you had brought with you but forgot?
Thanks! dog9

[Giovanna]

We take Ginger to the beach a lot during the summer, cause she loves to swim so much. Because it is so hot here in Texas, we always make sure to have a large beach umbrella, for shade and lots of ice/water for her to drink. She seems to enjoy having different little snack during the day as well, chasing the seagulls is hard work rofl3

[Meggie'sMom]

Tennis balls and lots of towels. Megs does her best retrieving at the beach. Throw a tennis ball out and let it bob back on the waves and she is out swiming to get it, by the time she gets it back to shore, we toss another. It's a great workout. She also likes to bury the balls in the sand and dig for them.

Also take a leash you don't care much about for when you're out around the water. The salt water will rust the clips and the sand will get in them and keep them from opening and closing correctly.

You may want to take a mild shampoo and give Abby a bath, especially on the last day before you leave. The ocean water gives a nasty feel to their fur just like it does on your skin.

Meggie was very aprehensive the first time we took her to the beach. I think the noise of the waves was the biggest problem. She warmed up to it gradually and played cautiously by the time we left a few days later. Since then she has gotten bolder and bolder each time we go. Now she isn't happy until she's out over her head and swimming. She loves to ride the waves and will jump into them as they crest, just like any child. I get nervous, especially if the waves are strong or there's an undertow if she gets out very far. You may want to get a cheap retractable leash until you know how far out she may venture.

Have fun. I hope we get there this year too!

[CaynCher]

We have to be careful of sharks in our area so most people stay right with their dogs at the beach. I use an old collar & a training lead. I also take a small tarp for the dogs to stand on while I rinse them off using a plastic bucket for the water. They are then dried off & ready to get in the vehicle. I also dry the ears thoroughly after we are finished. If the coat gets dry from the salt water, you could try a creme rinse.
Don't forget plastic bags or whatever to pick up any poo too.


:dogbark :reddogx

[waterabbit]

We go to the beach at least once a week. ( it's only a 20 minute drive) We go early in the morning when it's not so hot. We also fill a cooler with water and ice, which the dogs seem to enjoy. We never let them off leash, but beware of the owners who do. Sundance, our 4.5 yr old who is a very large golden, was terrorized by a nasty little yorkie a few weeks ago. doggiex1 He has never liked little dogs, but this one kept biting at his legs!! Sundance went further and further into the water to get rid of the dog, but the pint sized terror just started swimming towards him all the while barking. I tried to get the dog to leave us alone and it came at me! :laugh2 The owner just laughed and said I had a big ole' baby. Anyway, back to my point, a lot of owners let their dogs run free, and it might be a problem.
CaynCher- good idea about the tarp, I do get tired of vacuming the sand out of the van.

[kisska25]

My golden loooves swimming at the beach. It's tricky doing this in NYC since it is illegal during the summer (!!). But he loves swimming so much that he swam once in the winter!

[Lady Di]

Our favorite beaches can only be reached by boat. Miles and miles of white sandy beaches so we don't often have to worry about other dogs. We bring ice and water, fishing poles and a good book :D This isn't the greatest picture but I posted it so y'all could see in the background where the waves are breaking. You can walk way off shore and the water never goes above your knees. This is actually the mouth of the South Santee River at the ocean.

[Jo Ellen]

That looks like heaven to me :)

Do you worry about sharks?

[Lady Di]

Jo Ellen, Yes I worry about sharks, alligators, snakes and anything else I can think of to worry about !!! Cowboy is a Velcro dog, he pretty much sticks as close to us as he possibly can so we don’t have a problem with him going in deep water without us right beside him and for the most part we don’t go in over our waists. My hubby spent most of his life working on the water so he is very vigilant about where we all swim etc. I’ll have to take some photos this year of the tidal pools on the beach. They are full of little teeny tiny fish that look like guppies and Cowboy loves to lay down in these pools and try to catch the fish. We are surrounded by water, we have all kinds of beaches to choose from so we don’t usually go to public beaches. The movie The Notebook was filmed here and a lot of the river scenes were filmed on the Black River which is beautiful but I refuse to swim in it because the water is very dark and you can’t see what’s under the water :eek:

[Jo Ellen]

Dark water, yes, I know the feeling LOL

The Notebook ... very beautiful. Is the Black River where all the swans were when they were out on the canoe together? Those were swans, yes?

[Lady Di]

Yep that was the Black River. Now the swans.....not sure where they got those from :D

[Seamus' Mom]

That looks like heaven to me :)

Do you worry about sharks?

rofl3 rofl3 rofl3 rofl3 rofl3 rofl3 rofl3
When I read Lady Di's post with the beautiful picture of Cowboy at the beach, in my head I thought "Wow! That looks like heaven to me." My very next thought was about the worry of sharks. I then read Jo Ellen's post, which was absolutely identical! I had to laugh! Maybe I'm spending too much time on this board...we're starting to read each other's minds! ;)

[Lady Di]

Seamus' Mom, you know what they say "Great minds think alike". Jo Ellen, here you go honey...... Swans on the river :)

[Jo Ellen]

rofl3 rofl3 rofl3

Big hugs to all of us !! :D We're a great group, aren't we?

:hug1 :050 :hug1

[Lady Di]

We are a great group :D I am so ready for summer, I've been going through some photos from last year and can't wait to get out in the boat again. Here we are looking like the cast of Survivor :rolleyes:

[Abby'sMom]

I don't know if I've got this picture thing down or not. Please let me know if you can or cannot access them. Hey it worked, at least on my end. If you click on each picture, you can see it larger.

Cody is 13 and we had our doubts about whether to bring him on the trip or not. He went straight for the water the first time we took him to the beach. Each other time, he'd do the same thing and then go lay under the umbrella and wait for snacks and water to be given to him. What a life.
Abby is 3 and totally enjoyed the beach and the seagulls. She didn't really enjoy the water all that much - at least anything above her ankles!


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[johnwa]

Wonderful. Glad to hear you had a good time. Thanks for checking in. :)

[lammer29]

We just returned from our 10 days in Maine. We went to the beach almost everyday. One day we spent at the one beach that allows dogs all day. Last year when we were here with Maisie, DH forgot my birthday, so the next day he and our son came home with a sun shelter for Maisie as one of my presents! It actually works nicely to shade the hot sun of day! she digs a hole in the front and lays in the cool sand. She'll retrieve all day for her tennis ball, in or out of the water but prefers the smaller waves of the shoreline. On the other days, we'd wait til 5 when dogs can come on the beach, which is close to where we were staying. Maisie had a blast, we'd find a spot where there wasn't anyone so we could take her off leash and let her run and chase the ball. She even met several other dogs who would walk by our spot, she did great under voice control, while I could assess if a good match for her to play with. It was the highlight of my day to just watch her have so much fun!Wish we could do it everyday all year, I am jealous of those who can!All in all, in a small popup camper, we just kept remarking how great she was! She was never on a leash at our campsite and always stayed in our "yard" under voice control. We even had a pond surrounded by grass just off our site and I'd just have to say "go do your business" and she did each time! The few times we had to leave her in the camper, she was great, just waited patiently for our return. She made a couple of friends who would come by daily on their walks, another golden and a yellow lab puppy. I even got to sleep with her on my bed. She is the dog that when before we got her, I would spy and desperately want a golden to have forever and especially for this kind of vacation! I would come home with such a desire for a golden, seeing how great they were and I am so delighted we finally got one and she ended up so wonderful!She even enjoyed the campfire and had the concept of the screen houses with zippers down pat!

[Meggie'sMom]

Looks like Abby and Cody had the best vacation goldens could ever hope for! Thanks for sharing the pictures. I take paw print in the sand pics too. ;) NC's beaches are very dog friendly and Meggie is grateful for it.

[lammer29]

I finally got this pic from last year of Maisie and my son at the beach!