Last weekend Keeda and I went to the river. The amount of salt in the water was greatly reduced from that of the beach and there were barely any waves at all. Keeda gladly swam after sticks, swam around with other dogs, and just had a lot of fun splashing around. She didn’t seem to have any of that apprehension that she did at the beach. I contribute this to two potential factors:

• No waves
• Less salt

At the beach, Keeda usually manages to swallow some water somehow and gets a salty string of drool running from her mouth. She hates it. At the river, though the water still had a bit of salt in it, it didn’t bother her much at all.

The dogs at the river also didn’t have waves higher than them sweeping toward them – Keeda was more than happy to swim a reasonable distance away from the shore.

So – if your dog doesn’t like swimming at the beach, consider taking it to a river or lake instead.

The dogs loved running around on the beach and playing with the other dogs there. It wasn’t too crowded and the beach had a nice stretch of sand, so we went for a walk along the water with the dogs. Keeda is quite wary of waves. She goes in after me, but comes scrambling back out as soon as a wave hits her. It made me feel great to know that although she’s wary of the waves, she tries her best to follow me. We ran around, swam, made sand castles, and had fun in general.

When taking your dog to the dog beach, remember to always bring fresh water. Your dog can get quite thirsty running around in the heat, swimming, and playing with the other dogs. Always have water available on hand. Keeda and I have a special dog drink bottle, which doubles as a convenient portable dog drinking bowl for her.

Make sure to bring a leash for your dog and always keep your dog’s collar on in case you need to quickly retrieve or hold your dog. There are many dogs at the dog beach and while most owners won’t allow their dog to run free at a beach unless it’s friendly, it always pays to be cautious.

Dogs can have a great time at the dog beach. What’s better than playing with other dogs and swimming in the cool water on a hot day?