Higbee Beach – My Trip to the Dog Friendly Beach

The main reason for my camping excursion to Cape May last weekend was to hit up one of the all year round dog friendly beaches, Higbee Beach. I’ve been to the beach a few times before (this was my first trip to Higbee), but every time I went it was either rainy or cold, and I never got to really have a true beach experience.

Be forewarned, my mom went a little photo crazy and took way too many photos of me at the beach – and I didn’t have the heart to leave any out of this post!

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Even though the day started out a bit rainy, by the time my pal Shilah and I were ready to hit the sand the weather had cleared and at 70 degrees and a bit overcast it was the perfect weather for us dogs to be on the sand.

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Now as a general rule of thumb I’m usually always kept on my leash when I’m away from home (aside from where I’m let off leash at the family farm). But since mom and dad knew that I wouldn’t get to fully enjoy the beach without being able to run, mom decided that I could be trusted enough to ditch the leash this one time. Now you’re probably thinking by the looks of this photo – that maybe it wasn’t the best idea.

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

But not to worry, I remembered all of my training and came running as fast as I could as soon as mom or dad called. After all, I didn’t want to loose my off-leash beach privileges!

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Running free on the sand was one of the greatest experiences, I highly recommend it to all you dogs out there! But one other thing on my doggie bucket list was to touch the ocean too….

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

As you can see I was a bit hesitant at first – those waves are quite intimidating!

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

So instead I decided to build a sandcastle instead!

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

I even got to meet some new pals, like this short-legged (like me) Jack Russell. He was very fun to play with – until he peed on mom’s beach chair!

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Just as I was getting back into my hole digging fun, mom said we need to take some family photos on the beach.

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

As you can see I was less than thrilled!

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Even my pal Shilah got in on the action with some modeling shots!

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

I’m friends with that beauty right there!

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

After out mandated photo shoot I decided to coach Shilah on her first dip in the ocean.

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Ultimately I had to show her the ropes, being that I’m much older and wiser!

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Then as luck would have it I found a horseshoe crab that had washed up on the beach! (Not to worry, no horseshoe crabs were harmed – and this one was not living when I found him)

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

I found him quite intriguing as he didn’t smell like the groundhogs and bunnies I was used to hunting in my own backyard.

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

After Shilah and I full inspected and tasted our horseshoe crab friend, I started to get concerned that he might float back out to sea.

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

And as the waves started to take him back to the ocean I suddenly wasn’t too scared to brave the waves myself.

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Ok well I was about as brave as you can be without your life vest on!

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

My trip to Higbee Beach was one of my favorite adventures of all time, and you can bet it won’t be my last!

Higbee Beach - Dog Friendly Beaches in Cape May via Ammo the Dachshund

Shilah and I were dog tired after our day in the sand, but we wouldn’t have it any other way!

Anyone else frequent dog friendly beaches? Tell us where it’s located in the comments!Ammo the Dachshund

Dog Friendly Dining in Cape May

Even though I went camping during my weekend adventure, doesn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy some fine dining too!

Dog Friendly Dining in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

So one rainy morning my pal Shilah and I hit up the Blue Pig Tavern for some breakfast.

Dog Friendly Dining in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

I wore my rain gear just in case, but we were able to sit outside under a covered pavilion which kept us nice and dry.

Dog Friendly Dining in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

Shilah was quite excited because this was her first outdoor dining experience!

Dog Friendly Dining in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

Don’t worry though, I showed her just what to do at a fine dining establishment, because a well behaved dog also gets extra treats!

Dog Friendly Dining in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

Shilah at least had the “cute begging for food face” down pat by the end of our breakfast…..she’s a quick study!

Next time we might have to check out the Rusty Nail, as we hear they even have a doggie menu complete with doggie beer! What fun!

Stay tuned tomorrow as I share more of my adventures in Cape May at the Beach!Ammo the Dachshund

Dog Friendly Camping in Cape May

Over the weekend I went on a mini 3-day vacation to Cape May, New Jersey. While the main purpose of the trip was to soak up some sun at the beach (which I will get to in another post), I also got to log some camping hours – which is one of my favorite things to do!

Dog Friendly Camping in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

My friend Shilah the Husky decided to come on this trip with me too – and it was to be her very first camping trip.

Dog Friendly Camping in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

Shilah and I waited patiently for the cars to be packed, and oversaw that everything necessary made it into our caravan (squeaky toys, dog food, and cookies of course).

Dog Friendly Camping in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

Then we loaded up the tightly packed car and made the 2 1/2 hour trip to Cape May, New Jersey.

Dog Friendly Camping in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

We arrived at our dog friendly campsite at Seashore Campsites in Cape May. This campground was a bit more modernized than where I’m used to camping, with activity centers, snack shops, pools and swimming lakes (all of which do not allow dogs to enter), but I did spot lots of other friendly dog campers.

Dog Friendly Camping in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

I even met this friendly dachshund named Theo!

Dog Friendly Camping in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

Most of the campsites were under lots of wooded trees, which made it quite comfortable to camp even in the summer, although the camping areas were pretty tightly packed – making it a little difficult to find open areas for a dog to do his business.

Dog Friendly Camping in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

I prefer a little more of a rustic camping experience personally, but I suppose to my fellow 2 legged campers it was nice to have warm showers nearby. (They can’t rough it like I can!)

Dog Friendly Camping in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

My pal Shilah took to camping quite well considering this was her first experience. I even let her borrow my x-pen to make her trip a little more comfortable.

Dog Friendly Camping in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

Dog Friendly Camping in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

Shilah and I took our camp dog duties very seriously, and we guarded the area from any possible intruders. Ok well maybe guarding isn’t the right word when all we did was stare at passerby’s and wag our tails – but it was fun nonetheless!

Dog Friendly Camping in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

One of my favorite things about camping is getting to sleep in a tent with my family. Something about being in nature is just so relaxing to me.

Dog Friendly Camping in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

Dog Friendly Camping in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

It also helps if you bring a comfy sleeping bag incase it gets chilly at night!

Dog Friendly Camping in Cape May // Ammo the Dachshund

When it came time to head home from our weekend adventure I was sad to go – but I know I’ll be putting up my tent again soon, because this dog loves a good camping trip!

Tomorrow I’ll be back to share some more of the fun I had in Cape May! Ammo the Dachshund

Going on Vacation

ammo the dachshund visits the beach

Next week I’m going on vacation, well maybe more like a stay-cation of sorts, as I don’t specifically have any plans to go on a big trip. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have lots of adventures planned.

ammo the dachshund trip to the beach

I plan to try paddle boarding, go on my very first airplane ride, and maybe even take a trip to the beach. It’s sure to be an exciting week!

ammo the dachshund trip to the beach

Being on vacation also means I’m going to take a little break from posting on the blog next week. While I’m sure I’ll check in every now and then, and continue to post on my Facebook Page, things will be a little quieter around here next week while I take a little time to have some adventures.

So I hope you won’t miss me too much, but I promise to return refreshed and with LOTS of adventures to share with you! xoxo 

Super Hero Beach Day

On Monday I decided to take a break from every day life and head to the beach with some of my pony pals. We took a two hour ride down to Cape Henlopen in Delaware for a little romp by the seaside.

ammo the dachshund visits the beach

ammo the dachshund visits the beach

My pal Boomerang was so excited to get to the sand that he couldn’t even make it all the way to the beach before he excitedly began to roll around in it. He certainly knows how to have a good time, doesn’t he?

ammo the dachshund visits the beach

Boomerang and Blitz (the two pinto’s in the front) have the ocean in their blood – their parents (just like my pal Minnow) were born wild on Assateague Island in Virginia. They seem to feel right at home on the beach.

ammo the dachshund visits the beach

I may not have the ocean in my blood, but I was extremely excited about my trip to the beach.

ammo the dachshund visits the beach

This is my super excited crazy run that I do when I can hardly contain my excitement.

ammo the dachshund visits the beach

My ponies had a super excited crazy run too!

ammo the dachshund trip to the beach

In fact it was so exciting that “Super Ammo” made an appearance!

ammo the dachshund trip to the beach

“Super Ammo” really enjoyed protecting the beach from intruders – but wind & super capes don’t always mix.

ammo the dachshund trip to the beach

The wind threatened to pick me up and blow me away!

ammo the dachshund trip to the beach

Good thing my mom and the ponies saved me though – or I may have drifted out to sea.

ammo the dachshund trip to the beach

Eventually I decided wind or not, I wasn’t going to let it spoil my trip to the Beach.

ammo the dachshund trip to the beach

ammo the dachshund trip to the beach

The “leash law” kept me from venturing too far out to sea, which is a shame because I had my inner tube packed in the car for just this occasion! Inner tube or not though, I had the best time at the beach with my friends and I’m counting the days until we can go back again.

ammo the dachshund trip to the beach

ammo the dachshund trip to the beach

ammo the dachshund trip to the beach

ammo the dachshund trip to the beach

ammo the dachshund trip to the beach

ammo the dachshund trip to the beach

Any other sea loving dogs out there? Or know of any other good dog beaches I could visit? I’m thinking I should take some surf lessons next time too! Yay! 

 

Halloween Weekend Adventure

Over the Halloween weekend I went on nearly a 400 mile excursion to visit a place that is very special to my pony friends, Assateague Island, Virginia.

See my pal Minnow was born wild on Assateague 18 years ago, and every year he returns to neighboring Chincoteague Island to perform for a week during their annual pony penning. I never get to go because the island isn’t very dog friendly and sitting in the car is not a good idea in the summer heat.

ammo the dachshund rest stop

Even dogs need to take advantage of the rest stop!

But this time as all the ponies loaded up for a special trip to Assateague to ride on the beach in the cool fall weather, I was allowed to come! Yipee!

The even better news was that I got to leave behind a rare October snowstorm in PA for the still cold but way less snowy weather in Virginia. Score.

Upon arriving Saturday evening I got to attend a special picnic where mom got to meet up with her Chincoteague Pony Friends from all across the country. I even got to meet a bunch of my facebook fans in person for the very first time, and I wasted no time showing off some of my favorite tricks so that everyone could have a good laugh.

assateague island

The next day we were up early and headed across the bridge and onto Assateague Island with all my pony friends in tow.

Dogs aren’t allowed on Assateague (seriously?) so I spent my morning snuggled in a pile of blankets. Honestly I can’t complain, from what the ponies tell me it would of been too cold for me anyway.

riding ponies on assateague

Meanwhile mom got to live out her dream of riding the ponies on the beach. Boomerang and Blitz were excited to visit the island where their parents were born years earlier. It was a very special trip for everyone.

minnow on assateague island

Naturally mom spent hours on the beach taking pictures of the ponies. She promised me she’d show me all the cool photos once she has time to filter through the nearly 1,000 photos she took (and I thought she took a lot of photos of me!)

But here are a few she showed me last night that I thought were extra special.

chesapeake boomerang

chincoteague minnow

chesapeake lightning

I taught those ponies everything they know. Don’t forget that! 🙂

After our beach adventure we headed back to the mainland so the ponies could participate in a fun show. They won me lots of ribbons – but I won the most special one of them all…

The costume contest! Well, ok, Minnow might have helped some.

Then on Halloween morning we made one last drive out to Assateague so the ponies could say goodbye to the ocean before heading home to PA. I told them I had to be back home in time to hand out candy to all the trick-or-treaters in my neighborhood!

So how about that for a Halloween weekend adventure? Pretty exciting, right? I just might have to spend the rest of the week catching up on my sleep after this weekend fun!

 

P.S. More fun photos from our amazing adventure will be popping up on the Painting Pony Blog & Facebook page as soon as my mom has a chance to filter through them all! So make sure you check back soon!

Chincoteague Fries

If you haven’t heard…..My mom is back! After spending the week on Chincoteague Island with my best pony pal, Minnow, she returned on Friday – bringing gifts for me of course!

In my case, my beach fries didn’t come from the Fireman’s Carnival – but instead, this cute little shop, Howl Naturale, down mainstreet. (UPDATE, this company is no longer in business unfortunately)

It would of been way sweeter had I been there in person – and able to sample their wares myself, but either way I was more than happy to dive into my bucket of fries in the comfort of my own home.

chincoteague dog fries

chincoteague dog fries

chincoteague dog fries

chincoteague dog fries

Mmmmmm, it tastes just like if I was at the beach too!

Growing Up

Today is my best friend’s Birthday. Can you believe it, Trooper is turning 4!! They grow up so fast. I didn’t know Trooper when he was just a baby (we met when Trooper was 1), but mom says that he grew up at her shop just like I did!

Yeah, he was pretty cute back then huh?

But then Trooper grew up (don’t worry Troop, I still think you’re cute), and I came along….

And now we get to spend all of our Birthday’s Together. Sappy but true.

Happy Birthday Pal! Looking forward to spending many more together.

Beach Weather

A couple of weeks ago I spotted this…..

That’s a photo of my pal Cricket “sunning” at the farm. How you might ask? With a heat lamp of course! And you can bet that I begged and begged my mom until she finally relented and bought me my very own.

It’s like I’m at the beach at work! Pretty cool huh?

So while it’s a chilly 19 Degrees in Pennsylvania today I’m baking at the beach inside the shop!

I bet you wish you were me! 🙂

sandcastle image from here.

Jersey

I should get to be on the cast of Jersey Shore! I bet I could start some awesome “dog fights” with my reality cast members….I know you’d watch it! I just need a really cool nick name like “A-Dog” or “TheBullet”.

Here’s a little look back at my first (and only thus far) trip to the Jersey Shore with my pal Trooper. I was bummed it wasn’t sunny and warm – instead rainy and cold – but that didn’t stop me and Trooper from having a blast!

I’ll keep you posted on any upcoming tv offers to appear on Jersey Shore. 🙂

beach image from here.