Roscoe’s Beach Adventures

In light of everything that happened with Mittens these past days, I have decided to work even harder on giving Roscoe an amazing, fun-filled life with plenty of exercise. Poor guy hadn’t been able to enjoy a long walk in over a week due to the heat wave currently hitting South Carolina (thank God it’s finally cooling off a little) but I finally thought of a solution: sunrise beach walks.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure how it was going to go. Roscoe is an adorable but weird dog and one of his quirks is that he HATES water. Not just in an “I’m not going swimming Mommy!” sort of way… he actually avoided puddles for the first months we got him (he’s gotten a little better at that now) and when it rains, he’s very eager to get under cover. The first time we took him to the beach, he actually found a way out of his harness because he wanted to avoid the waves so bad. Silly dog didn’t realize he could just run away from them instead!

I do not expect Roscoe to ever be a water dog, but I do want him to be able to enjoy the beach since there is so much to smell, see, and chase after. And in two days, we’ve made so much progress! He has an extra bounce in his step when we get to the beach now, knowing he’ll get to explore lots and get tons of praise. This morning he even went closer to the water so his mommy could look for shells… he got lots of praise and pets for that one 🙂

I’m so proud of my little Roscoe! This morning he was even intrigued by the waves hitting the shore. Even after two days, I think he’s really starting to enjoy morning adventures with his mommy after dropping his daddy off at work.

Two special mornings with my little guy. Thank you Mittens for showing me the importance of taking the time for things like this. My dad was a pro at making time in his life to give her all the time and adventures she wanted and I want to do the same for Roscoe. I can’t wait to get my summer class schedule so I can hopefully pick at least one morning a week to keep doing this with him. It’s a great way to get his (and my) exercise in without dying in the heat.

It’s really fun to look for shells too and I’ve started picking some up to start a new project with. Might as well take advantage of shells from different locations since 1) we’re going to be somewhere by the water for the next 4.5 years thanks to the Navy 2) P and I like the beach anyway and 3) jars of shells are a unique and decorative way to tell a story. I haven’t decided what type of containers I’m going to use yet, but I found this pin on Pinterest that may end up being my inspiration. I like how there are different sizes since we will be spending more time at some beaches than at others.

xoxo

** Roscoe was leashed during our whole trip to the beach. I would never dream of taking a dog to a new environment, especially one they’re apprehensive of at first, not on a leash. We do go to the beach during a time where it is okay to have your dogs off leash from 5am to 8am. We use a retractable leash with him so that he can roam around us freely and as an added bonus, it easily edits out of pictures. It’s a great solution for any photographers out there in a similar position with their dog 🙂 **