Taking Your Doodles to the Dog Beach!

[Karen Kennedy]

Feel like you need to get outside and enjoy your Doodle. Well sometimes you just have to get them out and running up and down the beach is a fabulous way to let them burn off that access Doodle energy!  Doodles love the beach! They just love romping around in the sand, digging in the sand, making new friends, they just feel so free there. There are some fabulous dog beaches in Florida where you can bring the dogs off leash but you must follow their rules posted. Most dog beaches are not long stretches of beach line dedicated to dogs only, but more like a smaller 1/2 mile stretches of beach that lots of dog owners and doggies trying to enjoy.

Dog beaches are fun and relaxing but can also be stressful so here are some good tips to make it fun for you as well as your Doodle. 

• Before you go make sure your dog can be recalled back to you fairly consistently.

•Don't bring an aggressive or fearful dog to the dog beach. (I know this is not the personality of Doodles but just make sure they won't be scared to be around other loose dogs and people they don't know.)

•Bring leashes, water and doggie bags (even thought most dog beaches have dog bags)

•Try not to let them drink the water. My dogs were used to the lake in MN then I brought them to FL and they thought they could drink and they got a bit sick.

•If you are not sure at the reaction of your dog keep them on the least to start.

Don't worry about them getting dirty or sandy... they will! Most dog beaches have a water sprayer so you can spray them down after getting sandy and wet in the ocean.

Here are a couple great dog beaches in FL:

Ft. Desoto, St. Petersburg FL - This is my favorite, very clean, there is a fenced in area you walk through to get to the beach and it has a small and large dog area. It also has a nice spray down area, dog bags always stocked and is beautiful. The photos below were mostly taken there.

Brohard Paw Park, Venice FL- This is a nice dog beach, it also has two fenced areas for large and small dogs, a spray area, the sand isn't as nice as the Ft. Desoto beach but the dogs love it.

Waltons Rock Dog Beach, Jensen Beach, FL -Off leash dog park with covered picnic tables, restrooms, and plenty of room to roam.

Bonita Beach Dog Park, Fort Myers Beach, FL - Dog Beach is a strip of beach land on the outside edge of Lover's Key State Park along the Fort Myers/Bonita Springs line. It’s an off leash beach to let your dog run free and frolic ...

There are a few more but these are my favorites. Bring a blanket, chair, umbrella, cooler, all your Doodles and go for the day and enjoy. You will see the dogs so love going in and out of the water, fetching frisbee's from the water or anything you can throw. One of my Doodles digs in the sand and then plops down in the hole and roll in it, the sand is cooler when they dig down a bit.

Here are some pictures of my dogs at the beach. Enjoy and Merry Christmas.

Karen

[Karen Kennedy]

wow, Bonita Beach sounds great, I'll have to try that one out for sure. I love that you can go out far at low tide.Thanks.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Somehow taking the dogs to a 'water' place is so neat, even if the dogs aren't water-loving dogs

[Ann Kendig]

Karen great info, we have been to the Fort De Soto and it is beautiful.  We have spent the most time at Bonita Dog Beach. It is more rustic than the others described in that it has no bathrooms or spray off stations but it also very beautiful. Here are some photos of Bonita Dog Beach.

 The last time we were there was a couple of years ago at this time and a local vendor brought his goodie wagon it had hot dogs, chips and pop.

A sunset shot as the tide is coming in.  This beach is a sand bar so at high tide it gets a washing as it goes underwater.

We have seen dolphins at this beach.

[Karen Kennedy]

Thanks for commenting everyone, great pics!!

Karen

[Kimmy & Chewie]

Great tips thanks for sharing Karen!

Chewie loves the beach too.

He seems to like the feeling of sand under his paws and loves doing zoomies up and down the beach.

Also likes to put his nose in wet sand... which is quite messy.

But h

[Bonnie and Kona]

Kona is absolutely happiest when he isn on the beach (he is his mama's dog!). He never stops smiling. Owen is a happy-go-lucky guy all of the time but Kona is generally more serious... until he hits the beach. He would fetch sticks out of the water until our arms fell of if we let him. 

There are posting against dogs being off leash at most beaches but Carmel CA has the best dog beach anywhere! You see every kind of dog and almost none are leashed. It's heaven! Why we don't drive the two hours to get there more often I don't know. sigh.

Sheri, Hoping you and the doodles get to enjoy your vacation next year. hugs. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Good ideas. But it's important to note dogs can get more than a little ill, with vomiting and explosive diarrhea, from salt water so avoiding ingestion is very important.

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

Here in NE FL there are a few beaches that you can take your dog to.  They are not listed as "dog beaches" but you can bring then as long as they are on leash.  Since some of the beaches don't have a lot of people on them right now you can get away with being off leash as long as their recall is good...

Bailey loves the beach.  We go several times during the summer months as well!!

[Doris, Knox & Flash]

Karen, these are great pics! We took Knox to a beach when he was nearly 18 months old and he had an absolute blast!
@Sheri - I so hope that your plans for next year will become a reality!
@Nancy - Ned, Clancy and Gordy are lucky boys!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

We were supposed to be leaving in a week and a half for a month at Flagler Beach in FL.  The part of the beach where we were staying and the town itself are supposed to be very dog friendly.  I had visions of the girls running and playing on the beach and chasing the seagulls and watching the crabs and trying to figure out what they were.  DH had visions of two Doodles covered in sand and salty ocean water (I personally liked my vision better).  Unfortunately our plans got put on hold because of Sophie's Chemo.  I just hope that after the completion of her chemo in May that she can stay in remission long enough for our trip to take place next year.  In the meantime, thank you everyone for sharing your photos of your Doodles enjoying the beach.  If I can't be there at least I can dream while looking at your photos.