Salty Dog: Dash at the Beach

I know, I know, I mean, really, seriously: who takes this many photos of their dog at the beach?! It is ridiculous, I’ll admit it. But I have to admit: I love this dang dog! And wouldn’t you know it?! As it turns out, this dang dog loves the beach just as much as we do!

I wouldn’t have done this post, except, well, then there was a request for it, from a longtime and very loyal blog reader — a request for a blog post about “how Dash is experiencing his first summer as the official J-M dog in the Lowcountry.” And that was all it took to pump me up to do this post. So… here it is folks — a post for Dog Lovers (or just Dash lovers), and probably just for them only. The rest of you will think I’ve truly lost my marbles!

So, yeah, Dash seems to be loving his time in South Carolina, at the beach house, and at the beach. We had traveled a bit with him, so he’s pretty accustomed to new places, and we were confident he’d be fine with our July in the Lowcountry (and luckily, the beach house we rent allows dogs!). But we also know that he is really (I mean really) missing the students, and his hyper-social life, at home on campus. For the first couple of weeks after the students had moved out, he was notably and remarkably depressed (truly: lethargic, and just weird and edgy). He has somewhat adjusted, but I know (I mean really know) that he will be very glad to get his usual-life-on-campus back at the end of August. In the meantime, I can say without a doubt, that this dog is loving life!

He loves the golf cart. He jumps right on and sits on the front seat, ready to roll, like a boss! This guy just cracks me up!

He knows that getting on the golf cart means a trip to the beach! And man! Does Dash ever love the beach! He walks the boardwalk ready for the adventures that await~

Wide open spaces! Sand! Salt! Water! And all sorts of things to explore! This dog has it good!!!

Very few people — let alone dogs — will ever be able to experience a vast, wide open, unpopulated beach like this in their entire lifetimes. That fact is not lost on me. I love it, and appreciate every single second of it. And, truthfully, I think Dash does too. No joke. He is a classic J-M, living life to the fullest and not taking any of it for granted.

Sometimes there is literally nobody on the beach but us. I’ve figured out that the prime time for taking Dash to the beach is around 8am. The truth is that Harbor Island beach is always relatively unpopulated, but there is a window of opportunity right around 8am when often there will literally be nobody else but us there. 8am is after the serious exercisers have left the scene (the walkers, joggers, and runners are out there around 6am), but it is before the beach-goers and sun-bathers and families hit the sand (sometime around 10am). So, I like to take Dash to the beach — just me and him — around 8am. If I do that, and if I walk way, way out (away from all the sea turtle nests and dune critters), I can safely let him off the leash. And he will just run and run in leaps and bounds.

At Harbor Island and at Hunting Island, dogs are allowed on the beaches. So we’ve been taking Dash to the beach quite a bit. Before this trip we had never seen Dash swim, or even attempt to swim. But apparently the warm water lured him in, because — it turns out — he’s quite a swimmer! And he loves to play in the water with the bambinos.

But Dash’s favorite thing to do in South Carolina is to explore all the “entities of the coastal environment” (I got that phrase from the title cover of our nature guide — the book that we use to figure out what all this stuff is!)! Like him, we’re exploring too. But there is something about seeing Dash try to, for example — make friends with a ghost crab (photo below!) — that is really just such a hoot!

Here is Dash checking out a horseshoe crab~

And the birds… he loves the birds. There are all sorts of birds that nest on Harbor Island. People come here just for bird watching. Dash would probably come here just for bird watching. He could sit there for hours and just watch the egrets and herons and osprey. When we get out to this area I always make sure he’s on the leash because he can’t be chasing these birds. So, he’s learned to just sit there (or, most often, lay down) and spend some time enjoying the birdwatching. It is quite a riot!

But his favorite thing, by far, are the hermit crabs. He has figured out there there is something living in those shells. But the hermit crabs are totally safe and protected from him in there. So it is quite the funny — always losing — game for Dash. He likes to carry the hermit crabs around for awhile, enjoying the “catch” — but then he always drops them and lets them loose (he’s no match for them anyway). He seems confused as to why they don’t come out to play. It is funny to watch.

And the beach house. Remember, the beach house is at least 3 — maybe 4 — times the size of our house back at home. Dash is used to living in a tiny — I mean, tiny — apartment. So, the beach house is like a mansion to him (and to us). There is so much room to spread out and relax. And… winning!!!… there is a big ‘ole railed-in deck — just perfect for Dash to be able to be outside without anyone worrying he’ll take off. Dash really enjoys chillaxing at the beach house. And just like the rest of us, he’s dog-tired and sleeping some nice long nights during these dog days of summer.

Here are a few more cuties of our cutie dog. If you’ve made it this far in the post then you are either a Dog Lover or a Dash lover, and so— thank you for indulging me! Thank you for reading! ~love, Heather & Dash