Beach Birthday Babylon

Our coastal regions are almost always foggy, but I wanted to go to the beach on my birthday, regardless of the weather, so Cabana and I took the 40-minute drive to the off-leash beach. We drove through quiet groves of redwoods, past lots of open space and pasture land.

When we got to the parking area, where it costs a ridiculous $7.00 to park, I saw this sign. The guy in the booth asked if I had a dog with me and what breed it was. I asked if they'd had recent trouble with a pit bull, and he said yes. If the trouble had been with a Labrador or a golden retriever, I wondered if they would have dared to put up a sign saying "NO LABS OR GOLDENS ALLOWED". Wouldn't that seem totally wrong? To me, it doesn't seem any less wrong to discriminate against pit bulls.

After getting out of the car, Cabana turned into this strange creature. She's barely recognizable!!

Behind some rocks, Cabana found a whole bully stick! I don't know why someone would give their dog a bully stick at the beach, or even more so, why a dog would ever abandon it. In the photo above, you can kind of see the bully stick crosswise in Cabana's mouth. She kept her distance from me for the next 20 minutes, worried that I would take it away from her (which I probably would have). I was just glad that she stayed close enough for me to see what it was and that she didn't choke herself by running and chewing at the same time.

Cabana doesn't mind getting wet, but she never goes in too deep. She may be a water dog, but she's not a swimming dog. She prefers chasing and being chased by the waves.

There weren't many other people/dogs there, but we did meet this chocolate lab. A few seconds after I took this photo, the chocolate lab vomited. In his pile of barf, there were about 5-10 mysterious pink pellet-shaped objects...strange. To my horror, while I was still trying to figure out what the pellets could possibly be, Cabana gobbled up the vomit, pink pellets and all. I worried that they were medicine or heaven only knows what, but whatever they were, Cabana seemed unaffected by them.

After passing the chocolate lab and gobbling up his vomit, we crossed paths with these little guys. Adorable!

But mostly, we had the whole place to ourselves.

Cabana's birthday is on Tuesday. Maybe we'll have to spend Cabana's birthday at the beach, too!

Read more...

What I Did on My Birthday

Thanks to all of you who filled out my questionnaire! If you didn't do it yet, you still have one more day. Deadline is October 3 at midnight. I'll randomly pick a winner on Monday, October 4.

It was really fun to read your answers. Amazing how many similar answers there were, although wanting to spend time with our dogs is probably not a surprising one, given that we're all crazy dog bloggers!

I had a great birthday and got to do all the things I most wanted. Here are my answers:

1. As you can guess from the photo, I spent the morning with Cabana at the beach (Ro and Cassie had the same idea). Do you see that dirty tummy? Pictures and more details coming tomorrow.

2. I spent the day with Cabana and the evening with my husband and daughters. Which is what I do just about everyday, so it's a good thing that's what I'd pick if I had a choice. Not that I don't have a choice, but you know what I mean. Anyway, thinking about this question made me realize how fortunate I am.

3. I went to Macy's in the afternoon, determined to splurge on something with my $100. But I couldn't find a thing I wanted. Does that happen to anyone else? So instead, I signed up for a month of boot camp, similar to Raiser Erin's idea. It normally costs over $300, but I got in on a special for only $97. Now I only have $3 burning a hole in my pocket.

4. I had eggplant tofu and fried rice from Panda Express.

5. The Italian restaurant where I wanted to eat was all booked up! So we ate at Mary's Pizza Shack, which isn't at all fancy, but they give you a salad with your entree--obviously a big plus. I had lobster ravioli--yummmmmm.

6. My husband brought home a HUGE cookie dough ice cream cake from Cold Stone. We will be enjoying it all week!

Read more...

Waves of Anxiety

Ever since Cabana got career changed at the end of November, I've looked forward to taking Cabana to the off-leash dog beach. I envisioned 20-30 dogs of all sizes and breeds, dashing and splashing in the surf--what could be more fun for Cabana? The off-leash beach is only about 20 miles from our house, but the winding road makes it take almost an hour to get there. We took advantage of a non-rainy day last week--but the outing was not quite what I had hoped for....

It was foggy, as is the case 95% of the time at the coast, regardless of season. The beach was absolutely deserted, alas no doggies for Cabana to romp with. But I had already paid the $7 parking fee (except I paid $8 for reasons too long and complicated to go into in this post), so I decided to proceed as planned.

Cabana amused herself by trying to drink the ocean water.

"Look at all this water! Can I drink it? Ew, salty."

"How about over here, can I drink this?"

"What about here? Water, water everywhere...but it stinks that I can't drinks!"

Notice that Cabana has her long lead on in the photos, even though it's an off-leash beach. That's because I got nervous. What if Cabana tried to go too far into the water, where the tide might pull her out? I pictured myself having to plunge fully clothed into the freezing ocean to save her. Or she might dash up the beach for miles and disappear beyond the rocks. Her recall is getting better--but I didn't want her going rogue on me. Better safe than sorry--except that I COULD have gone to the ON-leash beach with free parking instead of paying $7 or $8 to come to this OFF-leash beach, only to keep my dog ON leash the whole time...dumb!!

Finally, a few other people and dogs came! Two funny basset hounds, not the most spry of canines--but dogs nonetheless. Some people might like having a beach all to themselves--but not us! With the bassets there, I felt more comfortable about letting Cabana off leash. If there are other dogs around, Cabana stays predicably close to them. Unfortunately, the bassets didn't stay long. After 15 minutes, it was just Cabana and me again--so the leash went back on.

We practiced recall in the water...."See, Mom, I'm good and I'll come when you call!"

"It's no fun to be tangled up! C'mon, Mom, loosen up already!"

Okay, okay. I let Cabana off leash for a little while, and Cabana did a pretty good job of coming when called. Next time, I think I'll have a bit more confidence in Cabana. Maybe I'll even be able to relax and have fun?

Read more...

Let's Get Beachy, Not Bitchy

I so appreciated all your comments and support on my previous "rant" post!! Sometimes, a little rant just feels darn good, especially when others with similar experiences can chime in--it's so cathartic! Unfortunately, puppy raisers are only human--and humans and canines both are entitled to good days and bad days.

Last week, I was super busy getting ready for a big event over the weekend. That was likely part of my reason for getting "maxed out" by people's random comments in public. But Cabana was acting WEIRD, too, perhaps due to my stress, or perhaps because she's close to going into season? After all, she's over 11 months now and hasn't been in season yet, so we keep waiting....

Anyway, we were a couple of bitches (Cabana is a female dog, after all) last week...ha ha!! (Pardon my language, I don't normally swear, but I couldn't resist the double entendre.) But now with my event being over, I decided no more bitchy--instead, we should get beachy!

So, after dropping my girls off at school this morning, Cabana and I headed for Bodega Bay (acclaimed because it is where Hitchcock's movie, The Birds, was filmed).


We did see a lot of birds, but none that tried to peck at us. It was cool and very foggy. In fact, I worried a little because if Cabana somehow got away from me, I wouldn't be able to see her in all that fog. But although she might have liked to get free from her leash, she had no such luck.


Cabana loved checking out the kelp. Kelp is so amazing and interesting and fast-growing. It's also stinky and fly-attracting and a bit disgusting. I'd never stick my nose in it like Cabana does--eewww.


We had the beach mostly to ourselves. The only time Cabana would stop dashing about and sit calmly was when she could discern someone approaching in the foggy distance. She knows good things happen when she sits, so she does it automatically, hoping that if she sits nicely enough, the people will be drawn to her. Her magical sit didn't work this time, though.


Here's a piece of kelp that looked a bit like a Nylabone.


Cabana played with it just like she would a bone.


Tired and dirty, Cabana headed home for a warm bath and long nap. It's a tough life, but someone's gotta do it.

Read more...

What Cabana Did on Her Summer Vacation

We had a whirlwind of a week! It was a lot of fun, but it's also nice to be back home and catch up on blogs!

My husband's brother came from out of state, along with his wife and 4-year-old son, Adam. Adam and Cabana took to each other in the first 2 minutes. I don't know what they're doing in this photo--peekaboo maybe?

The first part of our vacation was in Santa Cruz, where we stayed in a rental house just minutes from the beach. Cabana loved and adored every minute we spent at the beach, running like mad on her flexi leash. She dug holes in the sand, ogled other dogs, and dashed through the waves.

Those retractable leashes, though, do not retract as fast as they should--especially when they're a bit water-logged! A couple of times, we had a massive tangled mess, and it was all I could do to keep Cabana still enough to untangle her.


Here we are at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk--a great place for puppies in training, since "regular" dogs are not allowed! We did see one other service dog there, and both dogs were equally distracted by the other. Still working on that one, ad infinitum!!


Onto the Monterey Bay Aquarium! Cabana and I had front row seats for the penguin feeding, and Cabana, although interested, was very well-behaved, even while being completely surrounded by children who wanted to pet her.

Unfortunately, Cabana had an accident while we were at the aquarium, although I blame myself entirely. I forgot to relieve her as we were leaving the beach house, and when we got to the aquarium, I tried to get her to pee. But Cabana wouldn't go, and the rest of my family was waiting for us--so I gave up. After we entered the aquarium, the time slipped by quickly as we went from exhibit to exhibit. Then, just as I was thinking I should take Cabana out, she peed on the floor. :(

Cabana hasn't had an accident in at least 5-6 months, so I felt bad for making her break her almost-perfect record. But hey, pee happens!


I don't know if it was to appease me, but our relatives said they wanted to take a tour of Guide Dogs for the Blind! They really enjoyed Cabana and hoped to get a chance to pet some of the baby pups. So even though we missed Fun Day, we got to have our own mini fun day! This puppy caught my eye because he was such a chubby chunk--what a sweet baby!


Also on the tour with us was a working guide named Donna, along with her partner Amy and husband Dave (they gave me permission to include them in this post). Donna was so good at her job!! I confess that I found it a bit difficult to see Cabana doing that someday, unless she undergoes quite a change in the next few months. Our tour guide used a few inevitable adjectives for Cabana, like "high-energy", "high-spirited" and "live wire".


But I know that Cabana CAN be disciplined and self-controlled, because she was ALWAYS so sweet and gentle with 4-year-old Adam who is a bit high-energy himself! It was absolutely endearing to watch them together. Above, they are sitting together on Cabana's dog bed.


Tickets to the boardwalk and the aquarium can be expensive--but wouldn't you know, they had the time of their lives with a couple empty plastic bottles and a big bucket of water.


As they say, "Priceless!"

Read more...

Beach Dog, Baby Teeth, and Bad Breath

Today, we met some friends at DP Beach for a barbecue lunch. The weather was overcast and windy, but we managed to survive the elements. Cabana had a lot of fun, running in the surf, chasing seaweed slivers, and drinking ocean water.

She looks pretty dirty here--but it's amazing how easily labradors clean up. A few wipes with a towel, and she's back to her spiffy self.

On another subject, Cabana's breath has been stinking to high heaven. When she opens her mouth in the back seat of the car, I can smell her breath from the front seat. It's a very metallic, rancid smell, probably due to the fact that she's losing so many teeth. Every few days, one pops out onto the ground. This morning, I went to get Cabana out of her crate, and there was a tooth sitting on the ground in front of it. She must have spat it out through the crate door. I hope her baby teeth will come out quickly so her mouth won't smell so bad anymore. It's highly unpleasant--I wonder if she notices it herself? Probably not.

Read more...