Sydney Goes to the Beach

Sydney (like most dogs) absolutely loves:

- People

- Going for walks

- Going for a ride

- Swimming

- Playing fetch

These things made us super excited about taking her to the beautiful (and many a pet-friendly) Hawaii beaches when we found out we were moving here.  They also made us super apprehensive.  When we first arrived, we hesitated taking Sydney to the beach for these exact reasons + a few others:

1. Sydney loves going for a walk almost to a fault - she pulls like you wouldn't believe.  She's been easy to train in so many ways, but there's something about her excitement getting in the way when she's in a new place. Not to mention when you add car rides and people in the mix. 

2. We were living in a hotel and all that that implies (one room/space, sandy/wet dog...no thank you)

3. We were renting a car at first (see #2)

Every time Dan and I went to the beach without Syd, we felt really guilty (especially because it meant she was stuck in the hotel room).  We knew she'd love it, but had no idea how she'd behave.  We'd enviously watch other dog owners and their dogs at the beach.  (I'm pretty sure one day we were obviously staring at this lady, jaws dropped) Perfectly trained dogs.  Totally ignored people walking by. Didn't take their eyes off their master.  Stayed nearby off the leash.  

After a while, we finally realized we had to try it.  We wouldn't ever know how she'd behave unless we took her.  We had it all planned out.  Our cars had made it safely to Hawaii, so we bought a sheet at Target and along with some towels, we covered the backseat of Dan's car.  We now had the apartment with a fenced in backyard + hose and planned to give her a bath before heading back to the hotel. And...Kailua beaches are pet-friendly!

So, here's a recap of Syd's first trip to the beach...

First, days prior, she sat very patiently while we switched out her old collar for a fun, surfer-dog, collar. She was pretty darn excited about it. 

Days later...arriving at Kailua Beach Park.  At this moment, we were regretting the decision.  The beach (sand+people+water) was now her sole focus. 

Nevertheless, we continued on.  But we knew taking her off the leash (or even letting go of the leash) was not an option.  

As I mentioned earlier, Sydney loves to swim. She would spend hours in my parent's pool during the summers, and we would frequently take her to Presque Isle in Erie (very far down where there were no people) and let her swim in the lake. She had also visited VA Beach, but never swam there. So even though she was a great swimmer, she had never swam in the ocean before. Her reaction to the waves (even though they were small) was so funny. You could tell she didn't know what to think of them at first. But eventually, she got used to them. She and Dan swam for a while and I sat with our stuff and took pictures. 

We could tell she started to get tired, so we all took a break to sit in the sand. Eventually, she calmed down, drank water, and rested. She even patiently sat while Dan buried her paws in the sand. So cute. 

After an exhausting (but better-than-we-had-expected) afternoon, we headed back to the apartment for her to get a bath. She loved her new backyard and ran around drying off for a bit.  

I think this will be her new favorite spot in the house...

After she was dry, we headed to our friends Kelly and Andy's house for dinner. They have a house in the same town as us, and they have two labs. One of my Erie co-workers had given me Kelly's name when she found out we were moving to Hawaii, and Kelly was an invaluable resource throughout the moving process. I emailed her a lot. With a lot of questions. And it was incredibly helpful because they made the exact same move (with dogs) just a few months before we did. Anyways, not only were they kind enough to invite us over for a home-cooked meal, but they also opened the invitation to Sydney so she could run around the yard with their dogs. Sydney definitely had a big day!

With Sydney's first Hawaii beach experience, we learned some things that worked and some that definitely didn't. We've since taken her back a couple of times, and each time she's done better and better. She's quite the wave-jumper now!

Keep Smiling...