My love affair with the ocean started when I was just about a year old. For me it was love at first sight. How can you not love a place that has beaches for miles just begging to be dug up or waves that bring ashore critters to hunt and chase?
Check out this video from my very first encounter with the ocean just after I had celebrated my first birthday!
Do your pups enjoy the ocean too? 
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!
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.
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.
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!
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….
As you can see I was a bit hesitant at first – those waves are quite intimidating!
So instead I decided to build a sandcastle instead!
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!
Just as I was getting back into my hole digging fun, mom said we need to take some family photos on the beach.
As you can see I was less than thrilled!
Even my pal Shilah got in on the action with some modeling shots!
I’m friends with that beauty right there!
After out mandated photo shoot I decided to coach Shilah on her first dip in the ocean.
Ultimately I had to show her the ropes, being that I’m much older and wiser!
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)
I found him quite intriguing as he didn’t smell like the groundhogs and bunnies I was used to hunting in my own backyard.
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.
And as the waves started to take him back to the ocean I suddenly wasn’t too scared to brave the waves myself.
Ok well I was about as brave as you can be without your life vest on!
My trip to Higbee Beach was one of my favorite adventures of all time, and you can bet it won’t be my last!
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!
As you may already know, I’m on an imagination adventure while my pal Minnow the Painting Pony is performing at Pony Penning all week with my mom. Yesterday I went to outer space and today I’m on a journey Under the Sea!
I made sure to pack my flippers, and it’s a good thing I’m an excellent swimmer because I’m deep deep under the sea.
I haven’t seen any sharks yet, but if you spot any I hope you’ll warn me!
Just to be safe I rolled in the stinkiest thing I could find before going Under the Sea – so that I’ll be extra un-enticing to any sharks that come along. I hope.
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.
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?
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.
I may not have the ocean in my blood, but I was extremely excited about my trip to the beach.
This is my super excited crazy run that I do when I can hardly contain my excitement.
My ponies had a super excited crazy run too!
In fact it was so exciting that “Super Ammo” made an appearance!
“Super Ammo” really enjoyed protecting the beach from intruders – but wind & super capes don’t always mix.
The wind threatened to pick me up and blow me away!
Good thing my mom and the ponies saved me though – or I may have drifted out to sea.
Eventually I decided wind or not, I wasn’t going to let it spoil my 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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!