Cody Hears a Crab

There are some downsides to long leashes...

The beach held all sorts of interesting things for Cody and Sappho. Sappho took a particular interest in the driftwood and seeking little mammals or birds to hunt. Cody explored the mudflats and found a new interest - waves! It was a pretty still morning, but as the boats went by they created a wake that turned into small waves on the shore. The waves would slide over the mud and when Cody heard the sound of the waves he race down to the waters edge to watch them come in.

A boat passes by...

The waves start to come in.

Cody goes out to play in them!

The other big fun on the beach was the discovery of little creatures hiding in the rock crevices. Once Cody discovered something lived around and under the big rocks he'd bounce from rock cluster to rock cluster, occasionally digging into the sand to try and get to his prey.

Cody hears a crab.

Attempting to lock position...

Calibrating...

Locked!

Another barnacle covered boulder held promise.

This time he attempted to dig his prey out.

Three hours and four miles in it was time to head for home with two happy, tired puppy dogs who smelled strongly of fish. Both crashed out on their way home and thankfully the glorious rat terrier coat made it so a quick rub down and time was all that was needed to rid them of the smell!

Beach Combing

This weekend Cody, Sappho, and I headed up to one of my favorite places - Deception Pass. This breathtaking area can get pretty busy during the summer, but this time of year you can often get solitude if you go early enough and avoid the favored spots.

Incredible beauty!

We aren't very picky about our spots - we want isolated, solitary, and full of interesting smells and sights. We started our morning with a mile walk to a beach far away from the main spots and was rewarded with a completely empty beach.

You may notice the pups are are retractable leashes. I do use them in certain areas, but I don't trust my hands to hold them firmly so they are looped through the waist belt of my pack. This gives the dogs about 16 feet of freedom without tripping over leashes. In my pack I always carry separate five or six foot leads as backup.

We started down a beach covered in pebbles, large rocks, barnacles, old clam shells, and even some oyster shells. The tide was out so the dogs got in some tidal flat explorations.

They frequently checked in, knowing that voluntary check-ins often get rewarded with treats!

The beach was covered in sea life from seaweed to barnacles to even jellyfish. I picked some as we went along to show the dogs. Sappho wasn't much interested, having a more refined palate than her coarse foster brother!

A barnacle covered rock?

Not interested.

How about an oyster?

Hmmm....

Maybe just a taste...

Cody didn't actually bite it although he did think about it!