No Dogs Allowed On Beach?

When I first overheard that there were no dogs allowed on beach after we got to St. Pete, I was so very sad! Sure, I got to swim in an awesome cement pond this last summer and swim in the surf on the Outer Banks, but we’re in Florida now and beaches are everywhere!

We got in the car one time and drove, and drove and drove…and I got to hang out the window and stuff. Then we were slowing down and I just knew we were going to a park. Woohoo!

Another dog park!

So we drove and drove again after I got to say hello to the gate keeper and finally parked. I could see the fence and the other dogs! Yay! There were other dogs (sometimes there isn’t anybody to play with) running and playing in the dog park!

We got out and I was trying so hard to obey and heel, but I get so excited knowing I will soon have new friends to play with. But we didn’t go to the first gate. I guess mom knew of a back gate so I just kept trotting along the fence as good as I could..

At first I was confused because mom wouldn’t turn the right way to go into the park, but I was being a good girl to heel up nicely and then…there it was! Could it be? Was she going to take me on the beach?? But it’s not allowed!

We walked down the sand to the beach and mom made me sit, like she always does (I don’t like this) and took off my leash. Then I had to wait like an hour…she kept saying stay, stay…I was, already! Finally, mom said, “Go ahead!” I ran as fast as I could to get to the water and jumped right in after the Frisbee mom threw!!

When I got out, I looked around and there were ALL kinds of dogs…EVERYWHERE!! Later, mom said this is the only beach close by that is JUST for dogs. This is awesome! Boy this was fun! I guess mom and poppi were wrong…dogs ARE allowed on the beach!

Fort De Soto has the only dog park where dogs are allowed on the beach in a designated area. There are also 2 fenced in areas near the beach for large and small dogs with water stations - view dog park- (beach entrance is at the far southwest corner of dog park, not shown)