Each morning on our vacation, we went to the beach, sun or clouds, rain or shine. I  brought a folding chair we got at a Target on the way, Maria sat on a smaller chair or a blanket on the beach.

The beach was clearly a popular dog-walking spot, there was a parade of dogs and dog walkers.

It used to be rare to see a dog on the beach, their access was often restricted to early mornings or early evenings, or they were banned altogether.

People told me they couldn’t bear to leave their dogs and wanted them to have a “magical” experience on the beach. I did think how happy Zinnia would be to plunge into that cold water.

The dogs did seem to have a blast on the beach, running, playing with each other, chasing after balls and toys. Some people just wanted to walk with them, and seemed annoying by the dogs running freely.

(Couple walking a dog on a beach. Shutter almost wide open, with the tripod.)

Dog owners love to tell the stories of their dogs, and I love to hear them, I often start conversations with people on the beach who are with their dogs.

They open up, brag, beam, talk about how much they love them, tell me how they got them, and what the dogs are like. It always makes me smile, even though some of the stores go far beyond reality or anthropomorphizing.

And I am always interested in seeing how difficult – and rare – it is to see a well-trained dog. We love them to death, but few of us have come to terms with training. Lots of dogs were clearly pandemic dogs purchased to keep people company and make them feel lighter.

Lots of them were badly behaved, rushing up to people walking, barking at them, lunging at other dogs when the people clearly wished to be left alone. Lots of people shouting at their dogs to come, while the dogs blew them off again and again.

I worry about these dogs as the pandemic eases.

I’m an outlier when it comes to taking dogs on vacation, as usual. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it, and I don’t disapprove of it in any way – I love watching the love between dogs and people and seeing how it works.

And it’s what I feel myself.

Yet I do have the sense that this idea that we can never be apart from them triggers enormous anxiety in people and dogs, and is one reason more than half a million dogs in America are on Prozac or other anti-anxiety medications.

I am glad I have never had a dog with separation anxiety, one reason is that I make sure from birth that they learn to trust other people and feel safe with people other than Maria and me. And leaving them behind is no big deal in our lives.

We do it every day.

I’m entitled to have some time by myself, and they are entitled to know that other people will love and care for them and feed them. Zinnia doesn’t need to ride with me every place I go. She doesn’t need to go on vacation either. That’s what I need and what Maria needs, not what she needs.

Our dogs hardly seem to notice when we leave and we make no fuss about it, we pack our bags and walk out. We don’t say goodbye, or slobber and look back a half dozen times, and they don’t really know the difference between our going on vacation or to the movies.

 

I believe humans create separation in dogs, not dogs.  But they don’t want to take responsibility for it, they almost always spin it on the dogs. “Oh, he missed me so much he tore apart the sofa!”

People told me again and again that they brought the dogs on vacation “for them” not for the humans. Phoo on that.

We need to feel loved and missed, and the dogs can’t tell us otherwise, as kids can and often do.

The more anxious and guilty the human is, the more likely the dog is to need medication. They need to be taught that they are safe when we leave them, not that they are not.

Almost any vet will tell you that.

I just want to be unencumbered on vacations.

We need a break from them, and they need a break from us.

These vacations are about Maria and me, not Maria and me and Zinnia, Bud, or Fate. I don’t see the value in bringing it home along with us. The idea is a change of scenery. I need it to be different.

It’s refreshing to be apart from the dogs, I don’t have to walk up eager to get them outside, and I can sleep late. I can go out to dinner without worrying about the dog back in his crate in the motel.

And I can get lost in books, something it’s hard to do when I’m home, writing and taking photos and blogging and tending to the farm.

Still, I am very happy to reunite when the time comes to go home. And they are happy to see us.

It was a pleasure to watch the dogs on the beach and try to figure out how to capture the experience.

I decided a creative thing to do would be to try and capture the feeling of dogs on a beach in a creative way, using the Leica and trying managed overexposure to create an iconic feeling of something most of us can relate to, dogs on a beach facing the sun, mist, and wind.

I think these three photos captured the experience well.