Summer is by far my favorite time of year. Sunny days, water fun, and vacations – what’s not to love?! Mauja and Atka participate in the majority of our summer activities. I love having them with us and they love getting out and about and meeting new people.
When Mauja first entered our lives, we spent a lot of time preparing for our new fluffy baby. We researched, planned, and then researched some more. I felt pretty confident when she came home with us, but you always have to be ready for some unexpected challenges! Taking Mauja on her first beach trip was one of those challenges.
Here are 5 tips to help your beach visit go smoothly:
1. Make sure the beach is dog-friendly. Many beaches are only dog-friendly during certain times of the year or day.
2. Don’t force your dog. Mauja was scared of the waves at first and it took a few visits before she became comfortable. Let your dog explore at his/her own pace.
3. Pay attention to your surroundings. People don’t always pick up after themselves and can leave drinks or snacks that could harm your dog. Bottle rings, broken glass and cigarettes are often left as well.
4. Watch for over-exercising. Some dogs just have so much fun and don’t know when to stop! Make sure your dog is getting plenty of fresh water and shade breaks to hydrate and relax.
5. Clean up properly. Before heading out, make sure you clean up all your belongings (especially those poop bags) to keep the beach dog-friendly. Find some fresh water to clean the salt and sand out of your dog’s fur for a comfortable ride home. Oh, and don’t forget plenty of towels so you don’t bring the ocean back with you 😉
If you’ve taken your dog to the beach, what other tips do you have?
This post is a part of PetSmart’s #NewPetPartner Passport to Summer campaign. Stay tuned next week to see the fluffies’ summer passport! Want more tips for bringing home your new best friend? PetSmart has great sources here and here and follow @itsdogornothing.kelsie and #NewPetPartner on Instagram for more tips and tricks 🙂 Special thanks to PetSmart and Chuck It for the fun summertime toys!
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by PetSmart. It’s Dog or Nothing was compensated for helping promote PetSmart’s #NewPetPartner campaign, but we only share information we believe in and feel you would enjoy!
I live in Arizona, so I love to take my dogs to the beach when we visit California. Every now and then we don’t get to play at the beach because someone is there with an out-of-control dog, but for the most part people are responsible 🙂
It’s always unfortunate when one person ruins it for everyone else. Now that we live in Montana, we don’t have a beach to go to and we miss it!
I can’t wait to see the passport photos! How fun! Our boys naturally took to the water but the waves were a different beast. They needed time and patience, just like you recommended. Thanks Kelsie!
Atka naturally took to water as well. The first time we had him near water, he ran to the water and immediately started swimming. Perfectly. I was in awe. It took Mauja a bit more time to warm up to the whole water idea though 😉
Peep #1 says she has never seen many dogs at the beach. I wonder why. I bet they’d LOVE it, for sure.
Purrs,
Seville
Maybe the beach isn’t dog-friendly? Unfortunately, a lot of them aren’t : /
Just back from amazing beach trip in BC where dogs were allowed everywhere (away from cars etc). Good tips to make it fun and safe. Kilo the Pug is not a big fan of water yet and can get hot easily. I may try out our local dog beach with him during the week.
Oh that’s so awesome! I love finding such dog-friendly places.
Sadly, Katie has never liked water despite living on the North Sea as a youngster. Bailie and I can’t get enough of the beach. The main thing is to never force a dog to do something they don’t want to do. If you can’t get them to do it on their own, they may just not like it.
You are absolutely right. Kaeto had no interest in the water and was terrified of the waves. We’d either leave him at home or one of us would walk the area with him while Mauja played. It gave us quality time with each dog that way too 🙂
we live in Tidewater and the beach is what we do the day before we go to the groomer. Having 4 Bichons and lots of sand is NOT fun. But I must admit they love sniffing everything that washes ashore and they are fearless of everything except the …. waves!!!!
Those waves spook so many dogs! It took Mauja several trips to learn they weren’t as scary as they sounded 😉
I’ve never had the opportunity to take a dog to a beach before. I’m not sure what Ruby would think, but since Boca came from an island, she would probably know how to enjoy it!
I’m just imagining Boca in a potcake slouch sipping a dogarita 😉
I haven’t been to the beach in such a long time now. We used to take our shelties with us when I was younger, and they had a fun time. Shiner has never been to the beach before, but these tips seem like they would also be helpful for our lake visits!
Definitely! Atka has yet to be to the beach, but he loves the lake and river!
My dogs love going to the beach! These are awesome tips! Zoe was just like Mauja the first time we went. She did not like the waves and was worried about it. Now she doesn’t really care but still doesn’t like going to much into the water. She would rather run along the sand and sniff all the sniffs so that’s what we do.
That’s basically Mauja as well. She’ll wade for a bit, but then prefers to sniff. Atka hasn’t been to the beach and I think he’ll be nervous about the waves. If we can get him past that, I don’t think I’ll be able to get him out of the water 😉
These are definitely some great tips! I have to remember that just because I want Luna to like water doesn’t mean that she always does!
Great tips!! We love playing at the beach!!
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