Rob and I love the beach here. We take the dogs there every day, which they love. But recently our beloved beach walk has become marred by tons of crap that is being dumped their by the harbor authorities. I thought mucking up the coastlines was a no-no in California. Apparently I was wrong.
We used to take the to the park -- Cemetery Park -- where they peed with delight on the graves on Ventura's founders each and every day. I'm not sure if it's something they put on the grass or what, but first Rascal would chew his paws after he was at the park. He would rub his belly on the grass, which made it itch, so bright dog that he is, he'd rub it more.
Then Fuser started limping every time we took him to the park and his paws started getting red. The vet and I agreed that it appears to be an allergy of some kind, so long story finally over, we decided to take the dogs to the beach for their daily constitutional.
Chris once observed that he couldn't imagine the endless boredom of our dogs' lives. But we pointed out that they experience such boundless joy that they can live their lives with going to the beach as the highlight and they're at the zenith of doggie aspiration. Their second favorite thing is going to bed because they all snuggle under the covers or on top of the down comforter. And a good cuddle or bellyrub will never be turned down.
Our dogs enjoy food as much as the next dog, but they're not food-obsessed because we let them graze. The worst thing you can do for dogs, we've found, and for people, is to make them feel deprived. Then they become obsessed with whatever they feel they're not getting. That's why diets never work in the long run.
What our dogs go crazy for is their daily walk to the beach. They get so excited when Rob and I started getting ready, it's like being in the vortex of a furry tornado. When we put Stash's harness on her, they go completely bananas. Titan emits a piercing skull-splitting shriek/bark and jumps around knocking everything off the coffee table. Rascal starts barking hysterically and they all run to the door and back to us in frantic circles.
Occasionally, we have errands to run prior to the beach run, although we did learn our lesson about taking too long with pre-walk errands when we went to Fry's in Oxnard one day and on the way back Rascal shit in the car. They save up their poopies for their walks and if they don't get to the beach in short order, well, you can't hold them responsible, they say.
We take the dogs down to the beach at Ventura Harbor, which is one of the few where dogs are allowed. Most beaches don't allow dogs. They say it's because the fecal matter contaminates the ocean. But most people will pick up after their dogs. It's just that the world is divided between dog-lovers and assholes, and it seems the assholes are in charge and make the signs.
The beach at Ventura Harbor is one of the nicest, IMO, because there are no houses crowded up next to it. It's pretty wild and it extends down to the Santa Clara river mouth. It's a great place to see sunsets over the Channel Islands and birdwatch. We all love our daily walks there.
Well until recently. Each year, the Harbor Commission or whomever, has the harbor dredged. It isn't a natural harbor and it tends to fill with sand and other crap during the year. The dredging is done in the winter or early spring to avoid tourist season. They have a big dredging boat that is basically a giant vacuum that sucks all the crap up from the bottom of the harbor and sends it down a pipe that they extend down the beach. Then they dump the crap by the Santa Clara river mouth. This year they have a couple of bullzoders and they appear to be making some kind of makeshift jetty our of all the crap they're dredging up. But a bunch of the crap is drifting down the beach, back toward the harbor and being dumped all over the once-beautifil beaches where we walk the dogs.
Now the beach smells bad and the dogs are forever finding all kinds of nasty treats in the debris. Usually when there's a lot of debris on the beach, they come and bulldoze in into the sand. I'm hoping they get this bulldozed soon. Because until then our beach walks are a whole lot less enjoyable for us. The dogs aren't complaining, though. They LOVE trash.
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