One of the best things about living in California is access to the beach. Specifically, the kind where you can let your dog run around off-leash. It’s doggie heaven for Banjo, and blissful for us. I can’t think of a better reason to voluntarily wade up to my thighs in jeans other than to teach my dog to swim.
Alright, fine. He has yet to actually learn how. Instead, he bounds through the waves, pitching and yawing, like a furry dolphin. He looks up at Mr. Fizgig and me joyfully: bright eyes, head cocked, mouth open and relaxed showing two lower fangs, with a long tongue lolling out one side, as if to say This is wonderful! Let’s do this always!
Sometimes his long ears, which are usually floppy, are held high on his head in interest, the fuzzy tips bouncing like giant blooms. Then, much to my amusement, the right one will wilt, leaving the left coquettishly standing to attention. This is a brief, still moment, all of a sudden lost to a frantic, scrambled dash after a tennis ball.
On this particular day, it seemed everyone was in a good mood. It was warm, even as the sun was setting, and we played for more than an hour – me, alternating between wading, throwing a tennis ball (badly, because I am useless at anything sporty) and teaching Mr. Fizgig how to use my camera on a manual setting.
Here is my favourite picture of Mr. Fizgig and Banjo at the beach:
I love how worn out Banjo is here — especially compared to that lively Pit puppy in the foreground!
For more dog-friendly beach adventures, check out what Banjo has to say over at Shyhound / beach.
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This is all sorts of happy. You are absolutely right, I need to get my behind out to Del Mar Beach, stat.
Well, whether Del Mar or Ocean Beach, if you see a 6-foot-tall woman with wavy dark blonde hair (probably dressed in jeans with a pashmina), and accompanied by a dog who looks very much like a Greyhound with German Shepherd colouring, please feel free to come up and introduce yourself!
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