The Irish "Beach Boys" Vacation Tail

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Well we're back from our two weeks at the beach, and the Doods have lots to tell. Overall they were great....although we did have a few "fresh episodes" the first week and we had to join the Naughty Doodles group. By the second week they had adjusted and were able to go out and play in the water off leash in the morning and later in the day when most people had left for the day. There were some grouchy beach people that didn't seem to be very happy with wet Doodles shaking sand all over their blankets (and them too)....can you imagine. So, we restricted them to swimming on the "less populated" hours. I use the term "swimming" very loosely....they would NOT get their tummies wet. Murphy did a couple of times (accidentally) when he was chasing the ball, but he was not happy when that happened. He just left the ball in the water, and Mom had to go chase it. They loved the waves and playing around the edge, but these beach boys are definitely not swimmers. I was thinking before I left that I should pick up life jackets....yea sure. There were lots of other dogs who swam like true water dogs...my sissy boys just watched them. They made a Poodle friend (Daisy)...she even swam with the water dogs, but my guys were not impressed. They actually didn't like her much come to think of it. Here are a couple pictures of the boys in the water...

Yes, Murph thought the whole ocean belonged to him, and he was not going to share it with his little big brother.

Look how skinny Murphy's legs are when he's wet! Guinness loves eating seaweed...it never made him sick.

Notice how Murph is always in front....do you think he's the "boss" of his brother???

The beach house is loaded with "socialization opportunities". That's the nice way of saying that there were always people coming and going from the cottage (toddlers leaving the door open so the Doods could run "free"), strange noises (kids shrieking right outside), fireworks, seagulls "buzzing" the cottage, the ice cream truck playing some obnoxious music several times a day, a gang of little kids who came around every morning singing "donuts, fresh baked donuts" (they sell them cottage to cottage). And the dogs, so many dogs of all shapes and sizes to play with. What amazed me was that they were all friendly and well behaved...they were just "hanging out and having fun". So, with all these noises the Doods felt the need to be "on guard" at all times....
Guinness's favorite guarding spot was on top of the porch picnic table where he could watch us on the beach at all times to be sure we were safe...

Still guarding, but exhausted....here he is with my DS.

Murph did his share of guarding too, but he didn't need to use the picnic table to see..

Every morning we checked the tide chart to decide when WE were going to swim. Murph decided if he ate it, maybe we'd just stay in the cottage with him.

So overall it was a great vacation. The Doods (and their DM and DD) are tired today. It's good to be home...I won't miss sweeping the sand out of the beach house 10 times a day. We met so many really nice people, and they were intrigued with the boys. They could not understand how Guinness could be older and how they could possibly be the same breed.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I can't believe how big Murphy has gotten!! Both the boys look much lighter in color...is it called bleached blonde?? My Gracie Doodle would have been in the water all day long...over her head too! She loves the water and then she would come out and stand next to the boys and shake!!! What a great vacation and what great pictures. Now what? You are back home and the boys are going to get bored after all those friends and all that freedom...ha ha.

[Anna and Achilles]

Sounds like you all had a great time. The pics are priceless!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Karen, Murph thinks he's big enough to do ANYTHING! He has now taken to "herding" his brother, and he does it quite well. Murph will never get out of my sight, even when he's off lead....he is always looking back to be sure I'm there. Guinness tends to venture off a little on his own. When he tries that, Murphy will herd him right back to me. He did that several times at the beach, and people were amazed. That's how I could feel comfortable letting them off their leads. Guinness HATES it.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I love that Murph thinks he's big enough to block Guinness from the whole ocean! And that photo of Tim with Guinness lying on the table is wonderful! In fact, all of these photos are wonderful, and I'm very jealous!
Jackdoodle has a message for G & M:
Hey doods, JD here! I am really jealous of your beach vacation! It looks like you had the most fun in the whole world! I would love to get sand all over everything! I have to make do with plain old grass & dirt.
About that swimming thing; I don't blame you, I won't do it either. Dogs were meant to keep their feet on the ground. Tell your mom that if she wanted a pet who swims, she should have gotten a couple of goldfish. Bwahaha!
Gotta go before I get in trouble! Welcome home!