Beached

It is no secret that I have absolutely no affiliation with the sea (or the sand for that matter). My wife on the other hand, claims the ocean runs through her veins: a testament to growing up in bayside Melbourne and embracing the seaside. Consequently, our holiday destinations usually involve the sea.

Our dogs, like ourselves, experience the seaside holidays in different ways. The old Jack Russell, much like myself, totters along the sand and will only get his feet wet if it’s hot enough. Far better, to lie in the sun, enjoying the view from a grassy embankment, sand-free.
The KelpieX associates the joy of the ‘ball’ with the beach; chasing it into waves, along the sand, or across the sand dunes. He digs like a maniac in the sand and frolics along the shoreline with the passing parade of dogs. He watches intensely at the shoreline when my wife does her ‘iceberger’ dawn swim thing in the cold Victorian waters.

The Smithfield is slowing down with age but enjoys the evening strolls along the beach when surf fisherman are throwing their lines into the waves, and the setting sun streaks the clouds to the east. She knows the drill at our regular holiday spot: beach walks or strolls along the grassy tracks near the Great Ocean walk tracks, coffee in town, a rest on the verandah, where she mentors the other dogs on the rules of caravan parks.

Social media, for all its faults, shares the joy (and pitfalls) of travelling with dogs, including local dog sitters who mind your dogs while you travel to nearby National Parks. Travel Australia with Dogs is one of many current FB pages – over 120,000 followers.