The older I grow, the more I know how short life is. It’s going to sound silly but no one in my life illustrates this point to me more than Jeter. At a mere 18 months, he has probably already lived more than 15 percent of his life, a realization that makes me want to give him the happiest life ever. Two weeks at the beach are bound to earn me quite a bit of credit, don’t you think?
This is his first vacation and I had some trepidation about his behavior, imagining him knocking the not-quite-three-year-old down the stairs with his exuberance and gnawing on various objects made of wood around the house. I wasn’t sure if he would go crazy when we left him alone and bark or misbehave. To transition him, I brought a couple of roasted marrow bones (long, not round!), his toys and his bowls from home.
Other than an incident with an abandoned bag of Smart Food, he has been stellar. We start our day with a walk and breakfast followed by a longer walk and a swim. He naps on the deck where he has his choice of sun, shade or tabletop and has been lovely with all of the kids. There have been other dogs to play with on the beach and he loves swimming in the bay and playing monkey in the middle whenever there’s a game of catch in which he can insert himself.
Jeter has tried to come paddle boarding with me but refuses to commit to sitting on the board, preferring to leap off and climb back on repeatedly. He also enjoys high tide bridge jumping impressing everyone with his fearless enthusiasm to be near his people in the water. All of his time spent in the water necessitates a post-swim shower and I’ve been getting Jeter accustomed to a quick rinse in the outdoor shower. It’s growing on him.
Our first evening here I picked three ticks off of Jeter, (although I think I may have picked the same one off twice) and the green head flies feasted on him prior to the full moon high tide, drawing blood on more than one occasion. Despite these aggressive parasites, I’m pretty sure Jeter would happily revisit the beach every year of his life and I’d love to be able to make that happen for him. It’s definitely a dog’s life.
