Bogie vs. the Pacific Ocean

Today I got my first taste (literally and figuratively) of the Pacific Ocean. Mom isn’t really a beach kind of girl, so she doesn’t like it that much, but dad loves to swim. Dad kept insisting that I was going to love it, being a “fowl dog” and all. That water was in my blood. That I come from a long line of water-lovin’ dogs, and that I would take to it quite naturally.

Mom and dad were ridiculously excited this morning about something… I should have known that they were planning something that involved a lot of walking…

Well, let me tell ya.

Walking down the steps was a little weird – they’re not like any steps I’ve seen before, but, ok dad here I come – and then we had to walk over all of these really big stones. It wasn’t that easy for me, even with 4 legs, and I occasionally did a little dip onto my belly but it was a challenge, that was fine.

I kept looking out at the “ocean” wondering what the hell that was. It was making a lot of noise, smelled funny, and people were running into it.

Just as dad was about to show me I used the moment of opportunity to let nature take it’s course. Yes, I took my first dump on the beach. Rather undignified, I know, but I was in the back of the car for over an hour…

Then it was time to try out my water-dog instincts. Dad went running toward the water with me on my leash, I ran as fast as I could beside him, wanting to be the best dog I could be, my ears flapping in the cool ocean breeze, just getting to the very waters edge as a wave slowly spent its energy on the shore…

And I ran like a scared baby.

That water wasn’t coming anywhere near this fine Airedale fur. No siree Bob. Just the paws and the underbelly got a little soaking. I quickly convinced mom (took a little longer with dad) that there were so many other fun things to explore in this new environment, so they didn’t push it. Whew.

I met these two adorable Bulldogs, I’m so sorry I didn’t get their names! They came running like little furry bullets toward me, but they were really friendly and just wanted to play.

They kind of smile, don’t they?

I had a lot of fun with them, I wish we could have played more, except that dad was kind of determined about my getting a good dunk in the Pacific. So we did the running thing again, except this time I let him run further than me, I stopped just before the water touched my toes, and dad got all wet. Ha ha!

I did get to meet another really furry dog on the way out of the beach, so many doggies today!

I did discover that rolling in sand is quite fun, especially as now so much of it stuck to my damp fur. Now destroying the back of moms car will be a snap!