“No medicine cures what happiness cannot.” – Gabriel Garcí a Márquez
What is happiness?
Your happiness may not include dogs, but mine does. Each dog I adopted gave me armfuls of doggie joy. When we went to a beach with a new dog, what a glorious time we shared. This photograph above, taken on a winter afternoon at an empty beach, shows our beloved Sydney. We adopted him at the Petaluma Animal Shelter, where he earned the nickname “Sid Vicious” for biting and chewing on everyone’s hands. I guess he got sold to early and never learned not to bite from his mother dog. Sydney looks pretty cute for twelve years old, right? Nothing ended up being wrong with any of the five dogs we adopted. They adjusted quickly to our family, our house rules and lived healthy and happy lives.
First time we unloaded Sydney at the county beach, he looked at me as if to say, “All this for me? Really? Oh, wow! Oh, goody goody.”
A Canine woof and “WOW!”
What wild happiness each dog showed by snuffling, listening, digging, running and when completely tired out, napping beside us in the sun. On a super hot day, I took this photograph of Sydney, stretched in the shadow of Marc’s leg. Sydney glows with happiness. Can you see it?
Now I wish I had a video of each newly adopted dog, discovering the beach.
All the dogs I adopted and raised previous families + sad stories full of loss. But each dog came with an open heart and loved us so completely. As always, each dog seemed beside him or herself, at first visit to the beach. Dog lovers know that twitching, wiggling, sniffing madly equals an excited dog. That happens to be one of my all time favorite doggie behaviors, ENTHUSIASTIC whole-hearted excitement.
California Beaches
Know before you go. No dogs allowed on many California State Park Beaches!
We must protect wild seals, the intertidal zone and shore birds. The one legal dog beach we visit has a dangerous undertow. So the leash serves as a protection for dogs who love to swim.
Most California beaches stay open year round, and our winters are often warm. Lucky me, I lived for a time in Santa Cruz, California and discovered the warm El Nino and La Nina currents. Best time to wade and relax for us came at midday in winter. I often got a suntan on Christmas or New Years Day.
Dogs on leash only!
We do have a local fall lagoon Water Bark event when dogs and their people get to play
a fresh water lagoon. The sand and water there cannot be beat. We take Sydney to these weekend events. The entry fee set at $3 includes a doggie shower station. Plus a small dogs only play zone, where Sydney feels safe and enjoys going nose to nose with dog’s his size. The Spring Lake Regional Park also makes for good kayaking.
October is adopt a dog month, so please give your local shelters a shout out on blogs, social media and word of mouth.
Thanks a bunch for reading, sharing and leaving a comment.
Deborah Taylor-French
Please read and share my post, “Pet Stores sell 99% puppy mill dogs.”
This is a Blog Paws Wordless Wednesday so please visit the other pet bloggers and get them encouragement for being the change for pets.
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