Beaches and Dog Parks

The dogs and I love swimming so finding dog friendly beaches is a priority for me when we go camping.  Some of my observations are - the dog beaches are about as far away from the camping area as possible - in our favourite campground it's about a 6 - 8 km bike ride,  the parking lot for the dog beaches is usually full to overflowing even when the human only beach parking lots are half full.  Also noticed from our early morning wanderings outside the designated dog area to the two legged only part of the beach - the dog beaches tend to be far cleaner.  Maybe why I see so many people on these beaches without dogs.  Dog people appreciate the opportunity to frolic in the water with their four legged friends so we tend to be responsible and clean up after ourselves and our dogs as we don't want to lose the privilege.  This still makes me scratch my head though - at the provincial park we were at this weekend not only was the dog beach far far away from where everyone else swam but appeared to be in one of the most ecologically sensitive areas of the park as it was a mating area for some endangered frog - dogs were to stay out of the pond area.  Now this didn't appear to be a difficult task - why frolic in a stagnant pond when there was a huge lake mere metres away - but still - The dogs can't read.  Maybe once again the park people think dog owners will be more responsible than the general public.  It was windy and threatening rain when we were there so my guys just ran on the beach - Rylie's one foray into the water resulted in him being toppled by a wave so he wisely decided the beach would do.

We have been to several dog parks in the area but our favourite bar none is the London off leash dog park.  It's always busy - probably one of the busiest parks in the city I'd guess.  It is a lovely park area but the major difference between it and other parks we've been to is that people walk through with their dogs instead of just stand at the entrance and let the dogs go off and play.  It's rare that I've been there and couldn't identify what dog is with what person.  My dogs love it there and we've always had good experiences.