Living with a Labrador

Recently Mark and I took Brodie Brown to the beach…and if you live in California there is only ONE dog beach to visit. That is Carmel Beach at the end of Ocean Ave in Carmel, California. This is the most amazing off-leash beach on the California coast. The views are spectacular; Pebble Beach golf course and resort sit at one end, and as you walk along with your pooch you gaze into the Pacific Ocean and marvel at the million dollar cottages that dot the roads of Carmel. Aside from the views, you have the interesting tourists to watch; many from foreign countries with cameras and kids strung across their bodies, the interesting dog breeds, and the crazy surfers who must be cold blooded and not affected by the frigid temperatures of the Pacific.

Brodie loves to run on the beach, jump into the surf, chase a ball and of course retrieve. He isn’t much bothered by other dogs, he is pretty indifferent about their presence and doesn’t even stop to sniff – he would prefer the ocean and his tennis ball. Mark and I typically walk the full length of the beach and allow him to run & play and at times we have left like ‘regulars’ or ‘locals’. When we arrive early mornings with coffee in hand and run into a lady who must be patient beyond normal human boundaries, as she has 5 yellow English Labradors – all hers, all pets (she isn’t a breeder). I know because I have stopped and asked her. I have also rudely said “why?” as in – why would you have 5 Labradors? She loves the breed and loves her dogs! There is the Frisbee chasing Border Collie, and the few Pugs that cruise low to the ground but seem to love the sand and ocean just as much as the big boys. One warning – you must have voice control over you dog – I have seen embarrassed owners yelling, chasing, pleading with dogs who won’t listen, an excited Standard Poodle and an exhausted older owner trying to coax her back onto a leash, a Great Dane who thought “come” actually meant run as far away as possible from my owner. Make sure you dog comes on command, if nothing else, at least does a recall to your side for any issue or danger or simply when it is time to go.

We visit Carmel frequently, once or twice a year, and that tradition was started long before Brodie Brown was in the picture. The Mission Ranch was our first ‘overnight’ trip together. Back in the day, that signaled the end of a relationship for me, after the first overnight trip and things started looking serious (read: exclusive) I ran – and fast. But my first trip with Mark to Carmel was fantastic and I didn’t run; 12 years and 2 Labradors later. We are no longer able to stay at Mission Ranch, they do not have a pet friendly policy…but many other places do. We have tried a variety of locations, but find the Cypress Inn to be most pet-friendly and most entertaining. You never know when you will run into a celebrity, a dog lover, or an interesting person in general. At the Cypress Inn they host ‘Yappy Hour’ starting at 4:30 where you can sit with your dog on the patio known as Terry’s Lounge – water & biscuits are provided (for the dogs!).

On a recent Thursday afternoon we found ourselves at Cypress Inn drinking a bottle of Bernardus Sauvignon Blanc while Brodie dried his coat, rehydrated and enjoyed some pets & ear scratches from strangers AFTER his beach time. It was relaxing, fun, and enjoyable – so we decided not to leave. If you do choose to travel up Ocean Avenue you will find the most dog friendly shop keepers and tourists – I have taken Brodie into all sorts of shops: apparel, jewelry, touristy, etc… He is reasonably well behaved and loves that he is ‘grown-up’ enough to go into the stores. All in all – a day at the beach like this can only happen in Carmel. SF Chronicle recently published an article on pet friendly cities – Carmel was certainly highlighted (link here for complete details). I highly encourage anyone who is in the area to spend some time with you dog on this beach – it is heavenly – and when you are done, enjoy the town, Yappy Hour and all that Carmel has to offer my fellow Labrador lovers!

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Great summer day, we were on the river and prepared to spend the day cleaning and getting our houseboat ready for the season. It was the last weekend in July and the season was quickly passing us by….we didn’t let that bother us, we just moved forward and wanted to spend what summer we had left on the boat.

It was around noon when we arrived & assessed. The houseboat was a wreck, worst I’d ever seen; cob webs, layers of dirt, mud nests created by the wasps, bird droppings – general filth. Mark needed alone time: to pressure wash, scrub, and clean without an 85 lb Labrador making a dirty situation muddy. Brodie Brown loves the river, loves the houseboat and loves to swim. The only way to make both of them happy was for me to take Brodie swimming, away from the filthy houseboat. I decided to go the beach! No joke, a real sandy beach on the river – owned by our friends who graciously allow us access to their private property. Brodie and I headed out in Mark’s pick-up truck for the beach.

Brodie was frantic when I put him back into the truck – how could we be leaving already? He didn’t get to swim? He paced back and forth in the backseat of the truck and was likely thinking “what a bitch” & how “life is unfair” because he didn’t get to swim. I imagine those thoughts circling through his brain until we arrive at the beach and his memory kicks in. There is much debate in the animal world about memories and emotions in dogs – I have no doubt that Brodie knew he had been here before; celebrated both his 1^st and 2^nd birthdays at this beach, and spent countless summer weekends, having more fun than most Labradors get in a lifetime. He ran full speed toward the water and leapt off the dock that was permanently installed as if it were just for him to show his fearless jumping skills. He has no anxiety when it comes to water – his motto is “jump in and see what happens” as opposed to one toe at a time.

We met some friends at the beach – our friend Amy was celebrating a human birthday and she & her family hung out with us. We laughed and caught up on life – watched the kiddos play & fish. Brodie loves kids and is not gentle per say but can sense when someone is smaller and less durable than he is. He knows not to knock them over, listens when little voices say the magic words “drop it” referring to his ball, and knows in general that kids need to be treated differently than a full grown humans. I am proud of him for his behavior when it comes to children – so proud.

Brodie swam for HOURS, likely 2.5 or 3 hours. Running, jumping, retrieving, swimming, seahorse (another blog for another time will describe his sea horse maneuver). I eventually realized it was time to return to the houseboat & spend the remainder of the summer afternoon with Mark. Once we made it back to the houseboat Brodie wanted to swim more – but I didn’t want our nice clean houseboat to be demolished by a wet Labrador. I gave him the command to do a down-stay on the back deck and hoped we could keep him out of the water. He was tired and struggled to keep his eyes open but had fits of awake-ness in which he shot me dirty looks for not allowing him in the water. The night was peaceful and dry for all 3 of us – we took a walk on the levee road after dinner and enjoyed a cool breeze which carried the sounds and smells of summer enveloping us all in happiness.

The night was difficult – Brodie was restless and he wouldn’t settle down. Up and down the small set of steps inside the boat, sleeping fitfully, whining, and needed 2 or 3 bathroom runs (which isn’t enjoyable at 2:00 AM nor 4:00 AM). He got up in the morning ready to swim though. The look on his face when he wakes up and realizes he is still on the boat is like a Christmas morning surprise for him – you can see his facial expression turn from ‘ordinary’ to ‘I am still here and I get to swim’. I let him out of the sliding door and he jumped right in; no hesitation. He swam for a bit, maybe an hour, but Mark and I had things to do; we loaded him up with all our things and headed home.

At home in the driveway he played and played while we cleaned and cleaned – more projects, more work, more everything. It wasn’t until our neighbor came over to play ball with him that we realized his tail was not right. Seeing him in a full horizontal stance was startling – he could NOT pick up his tail, it had a little crooked curve to it and then laid limp almost at a 90 degree angle. It was the oddest thing to realize he couldn’t lift his tail nor wag his tail – it took my brain a minute to process what I was seeing. A happy, healthy Labrador, playing ball – with one slight problem – no tail action, then I put that data together with his restless night and realized he was likely experiencing some discomfort – although not enough to stop playing.

It was my neighbor who said he heard of this problem before “Swimmers Tail” in Labradors and other water breeds. I googled it and felt better – not long lasting, typically after over extending with play or work, and will heal itself in a few days or a week. I had owned a Labrador prior to Brodie (my Bailey Boy) and he had never experienced this injury so I had no first hand experience. But there was plenty written about it – and all the information consistent – he was going to be fine. I have him some doggie aspirin (dogs can consume enteric coated aspirin at human doses given their weight) and followed the advice I found online – REST. Having a Labrador rest isn’t as easy as it sounds, but 3 days later his tail was back to wagging and all was normal again. There isn’t anything I would do differently; the swimming is great for him and he genuinely loves it – so I won’t restrict him from it unless it becomes a habitual problem – and we have learned a new phrase – Swimmer’s Tail.

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