Yappy Hour on the Beach

Itake a walk on the beach just about every Sunday morning. It’s one of the things in the plus column on the list of why you might want to live in Florida. (That and we get the prize for biggest and best cockroaches in the U.S.) Florida is a very dog-friendly state. People take their dogs with them to the mall, to the grocery store, out to dinner - You can’t run into CVS without seeing someone with a dog tucked under her arm. But the beach is where you’ll get the best slice of a dog’s life in Florida. There’s about a mile stretch of shoreline not far from where I live, where dogs are not only allowed, but encouraged. This is where I walk on Sundays.  There are big dogs . . . . . . and small dogs . . . and every size and shape in between. We’ve even seen celebrity dogs. This is a dog who is locally famous for visiting sick people in the hospital. His agent gave us his card and said we were allowed to pose for pictures with him. There’s lots of fetch going on at the beach. If you throw something - anything - a dog will go get it for you.



They like to walk on the sand because there’s a lot to find there.

Sometimes they luck out and find a decapitated fish lying on the sand . . . . . . and sometimes it’s best to just roll in it, to be safe. Some dogs on the beach will gladly pose for the camera.  They look out into the ocean with longing. I think they get that from us. And they love their peeps.


They’ll follow them anywhere, especially into the water.  The dogs love the water.



But going to the beach is really all about partying with friends.

We try not to walk too far north, because eventually we’ll get to the beach that doesn’t allow dogs.  And as pretty a picture as this is: I prefer this: