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!