Sometimes I just want to quietly walk along the beach, alone, sipping my coffee and watching TempTide wrestle. Most of the time, I like to meet up with some of the regulars – Sean & Kelly, Wayne, Carol, Pete & Muriel, Jane, etc. – and talk and laugh away while our dogs chase discs and balls, wrestle, bark (okay, don’t love that part so much) and entertain themselves and us.
Once thing I never want is for someone to interrupt my conversation or mood by standing a few feet away and listen in, waiting for a time to rudely insert themselves in to the mix. I’m all for meeting new folks at the beach. I’ve met some great people this way (see list above). But there is just something wrong about the guy that stands a stone’s throw away, listens to a sometimes personal conversation and then chimes in with an opinion that wasn’t requested.
Then you have the guy (or gal in this case) who visits the beach sparingly with their dog and doesn’t control it. A girl this morning could not (would not) keep her 9-month old intact Pit Bull mix off Dude. It mounted him over and over again. Dude is usually pretty easy going, but he’s not going to just sit there and let someone try to dominate him. The human lamely noted “stop it” to her dog, but I’m sure you can guess how well that worked. So while we’re all annoyed with the constant interruption of having to pull her dog off Dude repeatedly to avoid a fight, she starts chatting it up with us like we’re old friends. When you get your dog under some kind of control (or at least get it fixed, for Christ’s sake), then we’ll have a chat.
The worst of all are the mostly men who sit at the top of the jetty and let their dog run around the beach free to do what they want at all times. Charge at every dog it encounters? Sure. Repeatedly mount others? You betcha. Their response to “can you please get your dog off mine?”… “What do you expect. It’s Dog Beach!”
So, like it says on the sign. If you can’t control your dog or allow it to be aggressive, go home.
