a99kitten's Musings

Home after a 2.5 hour Angelus beachfest. He had a pretty darn good time! Played and played with lots of dogs we’d come across and it was super low tide so good tide pools to cool off in. Then went over to the harbor beach and ran and played chase off-leash with a 2 year old black lab. He seems like he *might* be a little tired. At least for now.

He got cheesed on his walk yesterday as post-op Storm couldn’t go very far and I had to keep an eye on him. Like a good big brother, he was patient…for a day :) This morning he said RUFF! We took Storm out too but he only wanted to go a couple blocks so we brought him back. I could tell Angelus seemed bummed thinking that was going to be the extent of his walk like yesterday.

But as soon as I just let Storm inside and kept him out, he knew we were going for fun! He got his spring back in his step :)

Took him to Surfer’s beach. It is gloriously sunny and warm and super low-tide. So he had lots of tide pools to cool off in and it was early enough that the beach wasn’t crowded with tourists yet.

We walked to the point where dogs are no longer allowed (they are not allowed on State beaches because CA is a stupid reactionary state) and met another doggie who LOVED playing with Angelus. Angelus was  on leash and the other doggie was off but they were having a good time!

I have let him off leash there before (technically it is leash-only but the harbor patrol don’t care if you have good control) but there are a lot of ways off the beach and up to the bluffs and Highway 1 and that freaks me out too much so I don’t do that anymore.

Plenty of people do let their dogs run off leash and I’m all for your dogs having a fun time and think the no dogs allowed rule on the other beaches is stupid. BUT – if your dog is agro with other dogs or doesn’t listen to you, then he should be on leash. Not a big deal. But I’ve had a few instances where aggressive dogs run up to Angelus and start crap with him. Angelus never starts a fight. But he doesn’t back down from any dog. Not ever. So if a dog comes up to barking and teeth bared, he will respond.

Generally, I will put myself in the way. And have stuck my arm into a few scuffles. But no one is hurting my dog. Anyway, today I saw this brown pointer running willy nilly all over the beach and you couldn’t see who was with him. No person was around in the general area. Then Angelus started playing with his dog friend and I was talking to his owner as we walked down the beach. Then I saw up ahead the brown pointer again and he was chasing and barking at a little dog who was on leash as his people tried to get away.

Then he came charging at Angelus. Angelus just stopped and waited. At first the other doggie just stopped and sniffed. But then as we started to walk away, he growled, bared his teeth and tried to bite Angelus! And then Angelus turned and growled and that started the scuffle that I grabbed the other dog and pushed him back.

Then I see the dog’s owner come up (who had been calling the dog for a good 10 minutes, with NO response, as he bothered the little dog and then Angelus – clearly the dog saw him as pack leader and listened well…)

He then has the nerve to say to me after his dog attacked my dog “well, if your dog wasn’t on leash, my dog wouldn’t have done that.” Ummm…what did you just say? Yes – you are correct in that the leash creates anxiety. However, it’s usually the dog ON leash that has the anxiety and not the attacker!

And if this were a dog park where all dogs were off leash, or an off-leash dog beach, I could understand the annoyance of dealing with leashed dogs (I have it too).

BUT, to actually say out loud to someone whose dog was just attacked by your dog that it was basically their fault. When in fact the beach is technically leash mandatory anyway…wtf?

In my head I imagined a swift and hard kick to his man-parts. And then Angelus peeing on him as he writhed in pain on the ground. But luckily for him, I used my Jedi control and did not lead down the path to anger…(although really..sometimes it is justified.)

I tried to be calm. I said simply “well, this is technically a leash-only beach and my dog might take off up the beach.”

He says in response “well it’s not like he could go anywhere.” That was it.

I said “No, pal. This is a leash-only beach and I don’t care if your dog runs around having a good time but dogs shouldn’t be allowed off-leash if they don’t respect their owner/parent enough to listen when called. Or charge up to other dogs and bite them. Plus they can run up to the bluffs or Highway 1 at a number of spots. And considering your dog doesn’t listen to you AT ALL and was clear down at the other end of the beach with you nowhere in sight – you have nothing to say here except “I’m sorry”. It’s people like YOU that give dogs and dog owners a bad name and cause stupid laws to be enacted so we all can’t take our dogs places. Jackass.”

And Angelus and I walked away to go enjoy more tide pools and beach fun time…