South Bay Pets
dog beach paw print closer .jpg

It's fall. And we needed something different, a change of scenery. 

So I took Cowboy and Tess down to the Huntington Dog Beach today. Previous generations of my various dogs have gone there through the years, but so far these 2 had not been to the ocean -- so I figured it was time. 

We all had a great afternoon, I love walking along the beach in November. The temperatures were in the low 60s but it was sunny (of course, this is L.A. after all). 



The down side? All those quarters you need to feed the meters when you park.

But it's well worth it. 



Tess, who has lately become obsessed with watching the ground for whatever movement she can spot (bugs and whatnot), was thrilled when she'd see the fleeting shadows of the seagulls flying overhead. So she spent a lot of her time, well, watching for -- and chasing -- shadows. 

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She's even taken to lifting one foreleg up, just like those pointer breeds. 


 

dog beach tess general.jpg








My dogs didn't really plunge into the surf (in my experience, it usually takes 2-3 visits to the beach before they start doing that). 

But here's Tess checking it all out at the left. 













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Cowboy? I figured he might just be spooked by it all. I mean, he's been known to get all skittish when we so much as walk by the Port of L.A. choreographed fountains.

But he did good, although he still is not great about coming when called (remember, he came in 3rd in his obedience class, compared to Tess' 1st place finish). So we have some more work to do there. I'm way too attached now to let him wander into harm's way. 





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The dog beach was started by a guy I used to know at the Long Beach Dog Park back in the days when I lived over there. 


It's been a smashing success, and relies on donations. It's a mile-long stretch of beach just beyond Bolsa Chica off of Pacific Coast Highway. 

As you're driving (south) on PCH just past Seal Beach, look toward the ocean and at some point you'll see the dogs all romping below. Surfers and dogs amicably share the territory. 




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Leashed.


This was after Cowboy insisted on testing the limits and wandering off too far. 

I guess we all know that feeling. 

Leashes are sometimes good for all of us, no? 













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Tess gravitated toward anyone she saw with a ball thrower since I hadn't brought ours. (She's at the right, pretty much harassing this guy and his dog who are trying to play.)




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So check it out next time you have a free afternoon and want to breathe some fresh, ocean air.


We all came home happy, sandy and, yeah, a little wet. 

They have a Web site and a pretty cool video you can watch for more information. 



 

st. nick ferals.jpgCheck out the Humane Society's video about feral cats being rescued from San Nicolas Island off the coast of Los Angeles.

The organization DoGreatGood.com made the project possible.

You can read more about it at this Humane Society page  -- they have more pics also.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 H/T:

st. nick ferals 2.jpgCritter News 

 

For those of you following the debate about allowing leashed dogs  in municipal parks in dog park drawings 4.jpgRedondo Beach, the Los Angeles Times published a story today.

 

 

The Daily Breeze story on the same issue ran Thursday.

 

 

bison.jpgOur Daily Breeze colleague Kristin Agostoni has written a front-page story today about an effort by the Catalina Island Conservancy to control the bison population on the island off our coast.

She reports that the original 14 bison were brought to the island in 1924 by a film crew working on a silent movie. The footage with the animals wound up on the cutting room floor, but decades later the bison's offspring still roam on Catalina. They once reached about 600 in number.

The conservancy is trying to reduce the annual growth of the herd from nearly 10 percent to 4 percent -- about equal to the mortality rate -- and has embarked on a birth control program that uses a vaccine for the females. That could avert having to ship excess animals off the island by stabilizing the numbers.

Read more about it in today's story headlined "Reining in the herd".

(And be sure to check out the accompanying online photo gallery.)

 

Photo above: The Catalina Island Conservancy is introducing a contraception plan for its female bison with a vaccine that will control the buffalo population. A male bison waits in a holding pen before the vets and scientists put it through a series of pens to draw DNA. (Scott Varley/Staff Photographer)

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Here it is, that time of year again. Already. 

santadog.jpg smaller.jpgThe first of several pets-with-santa photo sessions takes place this Saturday (Nov. 21) to benefit the Peter Zippi Fund for Animals.

It all happens at the VCA Coast Animal Hospital, 1560 Pacific Coast Highway, in Hermosa Beach. Hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Bring your pets to pose for a professional photo session with Santa. Photos can be loaded onto CDs or used to make unique, one-of-a-kind holiday greeting cards.

The $15 donation supports the Peter Zippi Fund's work with homeless animals.

 

I don't know who will be playing Santa. But good luck to you, sir.

 

santa and crazy shih-tzu.jpg(Photo from Dogster )

Chevron Refinery in El Segundo has donated $5,000 to help spay and neuter a feral cat colony that lives on its premises.
  
The donation to GRACE Animal Rescue Inc. will help the nonprofit manage the population of 200 felines that has developed from household pets abandoned on the Chevron property.

"In today's economy, when it's actually cheaper to kill, they chose life," said Vanessa Bell, executive director of GRACE. "It made me rethink everything I used to think about oil companies."

Read the full story in the Daily Breeze.
 





I don't know how they do it over there, but Long Beach is getting its fifth off-leash dog park. Opening festivities are set for 10 a.m. Saturday.

From Justin Rudd's latest newsletter:

new opening of the Uptown Dog Park in Long Beach
located at the western end of Scherer Park, 4600 Long Beach Blvd., this Saturday, Nov. 21 at 10 a.m.

And from our sister paper, the Long Beach Press-Telegram:

The Uptown Dog Park will provide separate areas for small and large dogs to play off leash. The fenced area is near picnic areas and a parking lot. Uptown Dog Park will be open from 5 a.m. to dusk; Scherer Park hours are 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

For more information about the opening of the Uptown Dog Park, call 562-570-6685.

Here's a map.

 

 

A little herding dog humor

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The (9/20/09) comic strip "Off The Mark" by Mark Parisi

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Policeman vs. kitty

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It's true.

vet pic.jpgApparently "a growing number" of U.S. businesses are giving their most valued employees the option of getting health care for their pets. Google, Disney, AOL, HSBC, Home Depot and eBay are among them.

"We know that pets can be an important and valued part of our employees' lives and we want them to have the option to enroll in this benefit," said Google spkesman Jordan Newman.

.....

Following the lead of the British market, the sale of veterinary insurance for animals has grown exponentially in the United States over the last decade, with more than a million U.S. policy holders in 2009, double the figure in 2002 ...

Check out the rest of the story.  

 

 

About the Bloggers

Daily Breeze reporter Donna Littlejohn has shared her homes with a succession of wonderful, funny, and occasionally difficult canines -- Muffin, Fritz, Ellie, Mercy, Pilgrim and now Cowboy, an Australian shepherd-border collie, and Tess, a border collie. From strong-willed terriers to weirdly obsessed Australian shepherds, they've invaded her world with boundless energy, wet noses, muddy paws and soggy tennis balls. But they've really brought so much more than that -- like laughter and joy, some unexpected life lessons, and more than a few tears along the way.

E-mail Donna at donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com.

Josh Grossberg grew up with the usual array of animals: goldfish, dogs, hamsters, parakeets and turtles. He now owns the loudest dog in the South Bay(Video: Rocket the Dog) and is the least popular person on his block. He spends his free time in dog parks, pet shops and always has an extra plastic bag in his pocket just in case. He also has a cat.

E-mail Josh at josh.grossberg@dailybreeze.com.

Photos

  • dog beach overview.jpg
  • dog beach tess shadow.jpg
  • dog beach me.jpg
  • dog beach tess ball.jpg
  • dog beach cowboy resting.jpg
  • dog beach cowboy tess faceoff.jpg
  • dog beach tess & cowboy partial.jpg
  • dog beach cowboy coming.jpg
  • dog beach tess general.jpg
  • dog beach paw print closer .jpg

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