End of dog days of summer

Summer is not for dogs at the beach. They are not allowed until after Labor Day and then banned again after Memorial Day. Okay, they can appear after 6pm. But, now is the time for dogs again.

It’s usually not a problem but once I was laying down on my blanket minding my own business when the couple’s dog on the blanket near me ran over onto me. It happened quickly but dog paws are sharp and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. And sandy. The way they didn’t even apologize or try to rein their dog in. It reminded me of cohousing and some who don’t care about what the community agreed upon about dogs. At the beach moment,  I thought, “Geez, left that environment” but shrugged it off to tourists being on vacation in every way possible.

One woman at the beach was the opposite. Very considerate how others would feel about her dog. She asked me, as she held her pit-bull close to her, if I’m afraid of dogs.  Usually I’d say no but I felt like saying yes, yes if that big, known as aggressive dog comes running towards me I will be scared. I may even pee in m pants. But, she assured me it’s a nice dog and I figured since she asked anyways.  I got to meet her, the dog, and learn more about pit bulls which every owner willingly tells you how the facts are wrong out there.

One other clue that the fall is really the dog days is that I was sitting out at the beach last week with a friend who was visiting from out of town. I was playing with the sand when I found something brown and hard and quickly threw it far away. It was dark out so I didn’t get a good look but I’m afraid it could have been a hardened dog product that an irresponsible owner let fossilize on the beach.  I try to put it out of my mind and sanitized away any memory.  Just another reminder that beach life is great, but like everything, not perfect.