Does your dog like water/the beach?

[ckthomas00]

My 9 month old Cairn has never been to the beach - and outside of a bath - has never gotten wet or been swimming. Just wondering if the Cairn breed likes the water, specifically the beach.

My family is going on vacation to the Outer Banks, NC and I get to bring Bruski. My dream is to have him go to the beach with us everyday and just hang out - go swimming, etc. I'll make sure to provide plenty of shade and water....

The reality is that he'll have to be leashed at all times and will probably bark at everything and everyone!!!

Have any of you had beach experiences with your pups?

Thanks

PS - new to the boards! Seeing everyone's picture makes me want to post mine... here is Bruski at only 4 months old.

[tlwtheq]

My 9 month old Cairn has never been to the beach - and outside of a bath - has never gotten wet or been swimming. Just wondering if the Cairn breed likes the water, specifically the beach.

My family is going on vacation to the Outer Banks, NC and I get to bring Bruski. My dream is to have him go to the beach with us everyday and just hang out - go swimming, etc. I'll make sure to provide plenty of shade and water....

The reality is that he'll have to be leashed at all times and will probably bark at everything and everyone!!!

Have any of you had beach experiences with your pups?

Thanks

PS - new to the boards! Seeing everyone's picture makes me want to post mine... here is Bruski at only 4 months old.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As with all other traits, love of water varies by individual. Olie's OK with water, you can't keep Teddy out of the water. They've each been that way from the first day we've known them. We don't know about Sweet Pea yet since she's so new to the family.

Oh, and by the way, the Outer Banks is a wonderful place to take Bruski on vacation.

We took our first OBX vacation in 2003, and have been going back ever since. We go really far down, almost to Hatteras to a little town called Avon to the same place every year. Olie and Teddy get plenty of swim time in on the Pamlico sound...we decided the Atlantic was a little bit too wild for such small dogs.

You just want to make sure you've got your poop-scooping strategy worked out...we have a dedicated knapsack equipped with one large plastic bag, and lots of smaller bags that you just put on your hand and use to pick up the mess. You stick those in the larger bag, close the larger bag, place in the knapsack and then find a trash can when you leave. It works great. (Sorry to spend so much time talking about poop...there's a lot more to the OBX than that...you and Bruski will love it. )

Tara, Olie, Teddy and Sweet Pea's Mom

[savannahsmom35]

Savannah seems to love the water. She doesn't like getting in water where she can't touch the bottom, but if she can touch, she is there!

PS - liking or disliking a bath is no indication of how the dog will like water. Savannah could do without baths but she LOVES playing in the sprinkler and wading on the top step of the pool. She will even swim in the pool when the DH puts her in and she will come back for him to put her back in but as for her jumping in on her own, hasn't happened yet.

[ParNone]

Both of mine LOVED water. Not to swim in, but to chase. Moving water was always their preference. Sprinkler, creek, river. They'd attack the sprinkler water to the point that I had to put a time limit on'em, cuz Maddie would drink it til she bust if you'd let her. Here's a pic from their younger days:

I also use to take Maddie down to the beach and let her off leash. She use to love to chase the birds into the surf. She'd get knocked over by a wave and come running back out of the water to me, but always ready to give it another go with the next flock of birds. Here's a couple of pics of her last trip to the beach, a few months before she passed away:

Wish I had some pics of them pouncing and attacking some creek water. It was just too cute.

Les...

[Kramersmom]

Kramer loves the water. The pool is his favorite, he loves to take a bath as well. When he see's the bubbles he goes nuts!

[kayharley]

Elliott adores water whether it's from a hose, sprinkler, bathtub, icemaker or even rain (actually the mud that comes from the rain is prefered)

Madison does not like being wet but will jump in their kiddy pool...go figure.

Winnie also will go in the pool. Years ago when we had an inground swimming pool, Winnie would dog paddle around but enjoyed basking on a raft best.

[tena]

Sophie's only experience with water has been a mountian stream, she adored that, kicking her feet and flattening her belly into it. I've never taken her to the ocean....I'd like to though.

[mrskti]

Let's see, does Ellie like water...hmmmmmm....

Dori hates it...

[SARpartner]

Dusty likes water, the muddier the better........as long as I don't ruin it with shampoo.

[abe's dad]

We took Abe last year before we adopted Scuffy, He had a blast walking on the beach but the water, he wasn't so sure of. I took him out with me into the ocean and he was hanging on for dear life at first. After we were in the water for a few minutes he relaxed a little and would swim between Valerie and me. We are going back in July and taking both of the fur boys. We go a little farther south to Oak Island it is down near Southport NC. We love it there and have been visiting for the past 5 or 6 years. Hope you have a great time just remember to take a bunch of pictures.

Here Is Abe enjoying the breeze

[kjwarnold]

Willie hated water; he didn't even want to go outside when it rained and get his precious feet wet.

Packy, on the other hand, loves living at the lake and wades or goes swimming every day. His favorite activity is standing on the dock and whining at fish swimming by. Yesterday, it just got to be too much for him, so he jumped in after them. He didn't catch one, but it did surprise him when he went under water. Usually I have a life jacket on him when he's going in deep water. He was fine though, swam to shore, went back up on the dock and started whining at the fish again! He's turning into a real fisherman!

[Barney's Mom]

OBX bound! I LOVE IT! the original post was one I would have been posting around August! We too are headed for the Outer Banks and wondering how Barney would react. He is curious about hoses and sprayers, but still a bit tenative. He loves to dig, so I wonder if he would really like digging for those wonderful sand crabs with us!

For tlwtheq:

My husband has been researching places to stay in OBX. Before we got Barney, we would always stay in Kill Devil Hills because it was close to Nags Head pier, my husband's favorite haunt. Now that we have to look for places to stay that allow dogs, have you found that Avon and Hatteras are more dog-friendly? Since we always go in the Fall, I thought the rules might be more lenient as far as allowing dogs on the beach, since it isn't high season. Can you recommend any homes to rent? It's just my husband and I, and our daughter. And of course, our pup!

Now, for anyone else out there, how do we survive the 18 hour drive with an

active Cairn?????

Thanks for all the great water advice everyone! I loved the doggies on the beach pictures!!

[Eliz222]

I've never taken ours on 18 hour drives, but on the long rides we have taken, my two just sleep. We stop about every two hours and let them walk around (at rest stops) and go if they have to.

I love all the water pictures! Scout does not like the water from the hose, but give her a kiddie pool and she will just walk over, step inside, and slowly lower her body in the pool...even if it's freezing cold water!

Finch loves the hose and I have to keep her inside, or tied out so she doesn't hog the hose when I am watering the garden. She likes the swimming pool, but will not lower herself into it. It's Finch's HUGE drinking bowl!

[tlwtheq]

For tlwtheq:

My husband has been researching places to stay in OBX.  Before we got Barney, we would always stay in Kill Devil Hills because it was close to Nags Head pier, my husband's favorite haunt.  Now that we have to look for places to stay that allow dogs, have you found that Avon and Hatteras are more dog-friendly?  Since we always go in the Fall, I thought the rules might be more lenient as far as allowing dogs on the beach, since it isn't high season.  Can you recommend any homes to rent?  It's just my husband and I, and our daughter. And of course, our pup! 

Now, for anyone else out there, how do we survive the 18 hour drive with an

active Cairn?????

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's a little bit of a drive down to Avon, but it's definitely very dog-friendly. We rent a place through Surf or Sound Realty, name of the house (all the houses have names) is Kotuku, and it's listed as # 243. It's a block from the ocean, and there are no houses blocking the view, so you get the lower price but still get the scenery. This particular house doesn't have a lot of fancy stuff (no DVD player, no hot tub, no swimming pool access) but we don't care. We're there for the beach time with the pups. Let me know how it turns out. (I think Kotuku rent goes down to $475 weekly after the season ends. You do have to pay $70 extra per pup...but it is soooooo worth it.

I mean, how can you argue with this?

Tara, Olie, Teddy and Sweet Pea's Mom

[tlwtheq]

Let's try this again....

[mrskti]

oh my gosh, that looks fun!!!!

[mrskti]

OBX bound!  I LOVE IT!  the original post was one I would have been posting around August!  We too are headed for the Outer Banks and wondering how Barney would react.  He is curious about hoses and sprayers, but still a bit tenative.  He loves to dig, so I wonder if he would really like digging for those wonderful sand crabs with us! 

Now, for anyone else out there, how do we survive the 18 hour drive with an

active Cairn?????

Thanks for all the great water advice everyone!  I loved the doggies on the beach pictures!! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We take our dogs to florida all the time in the car or motor home from along the IL, WI border and they do terrific. We have them in the same crate and take toys, treats and real bones to chew on. We dont have to stop as often as we did when they were tiny, so we can go for quite a while. ALso, here's a tip....if you can stop at hotels along the way for their potty breaks, it's a lot cleaner than the rest stops. No one hardly picks up after their dogs at rest stops and it can get pretty nasty. So we've started stopping at hotels and going around the back, we always clean up and sometimes we get lucky and theres a field along side so they can run a bit...on a long lead of course. Stop at the hotels that arent in the busy areas, there's always someplace along the way. THe back of the cracker barrels are good too.

[Dawnya]

Daisy LOVES the water.

We have a small plastic kiddie pool for the dogs that she lays down in and like to drop toys in so she can go under water to get them.

Have fun!

[ckthomas00]

Thanks for all of the replies - it's so nice to find a group of people that love their Cairn as much as I do!

We go down to OBX every summer on a huge family vacation where 20 family members all rent a HUGE house in Duck or Corolla. I've found that the beaches are extremely dog-friendly as you get away from the "touristy" areas like Kitty Hawk and Nags Head. I live in Va Beach, so its only a 2 hour trip for us.

We got Bruski last October, so this will be his first trip with us. I'm a little apprehensive b/c he's a pup with so much energy, likes to bark, etc. I love him to death but hope I'm not babysitting the entire trip!! I'm anxious to see how he reacts to the beach.... whether he'll enjoy the water, the sand, how he'll react to other dogs, kids running around, etc.

We took him to a crowded art festival yesterday and he did great - he did "lash out" at one dog that was getting a little too pushy for his liking... sometimes he can be so unpredictable - fine with some dogs and then snaps at others...

I'll be sure to take tons of pictures at OBX!

[Teri9672]

Tabitha hates the water, but Teona doesn't mind it at all.

[Lesley]

We took Abe last year before we adopted Scuffy, He had a blast walking on the beach but the water, he wasn't so sure of. I took him out with me into the ocean and he was hanging on for dear life at first. After we were in the water for a few minutes he relaxed a little and would swim between Valerie and me. We are going back in July and taking both of the fur boys. We go a little farther south to Oak Island it is down near Southport NC. We love it there and have been visiting for the past 5 or 6 years. Hope you have a great time just remember to take a bunch of pictures.

Here Is Abe enjoying the breeze

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is encouraging to hear - we are planning to take Rusty to Bald Head with us on our family vacation. I was wondering how he would like the water. He does go out in the rain and it doesn't seem to bother him. Thanks for the picture - we love the Southport area of NC

Lesley

[curlyantillysmom]

Hello I have 2 cairn terriers Curly is 2 yrs old and Tilly is 7 1/2 months old.

We got them a plastic swimming pool a small one and they both love going into it and seeing which one can get the wettest LOL. Curly and Tilly have both been to the beach at ocean shores ,Wa and love it .

Jane