Tourist Dogs

 

I spent the better part of last week in Costa Rica with my family, excluding Rugby unfortunately. It is about time that I can go pick him up but not quite, so this is me trying to waste time until I can see him again. :p

Of course I would pay attention to the dogs while I was down there, that is to be expected I suppose.

I am not sue exactly how I feel about the Costa Rican Dogs, but maybe I will have formed an opinion after sharing them all and sorting them out in my head.

First, there is the most blatant, obvious difference between the local dogs and tourists who brought their dogs with them. 

The first day we went to breakfast I could see a handful of local dogs playing on the beach, enjoying the sand and the sun and the open space in the best way….without human interference. I sighed since I could just imagine how much fun Rugby would have doing the same, and had I brought my camera along with me to breakfast I could have caught that moment and brought the idea back with me. Every morning after that I walked the beach looking to capture something similar.

Imagine how my hopes were crushed when I went out the next day and the only dogs that occupied the beach were the ‘tourist’ dogs.

This golden-doodle (or maybe a labra-doodle, who knows)…This doodle was just introducing himself to this mixed breed when I arrived. He had left his game of fetch to come over, and somewhere in the process the little one stole his ball.

It started out as seemingly good play, with the little one playing keep away from the doodle.

 

The doodle was lacking in some manners though, so it quickly went south, with the little one spitting out the ball for a quick second to share some nasty words with the doodle.

 

The problem at this point was that the owner of the doodle was very much annoyed that their ball had been taken, but was unable to call her dog away from this ‘play.’ She was ignorant to the fact that her dog was being rude, and deserved to be yelled at by his new acquaintance. The owner of the little dog, even if she could stop the play, didn’t want to.  She must have missed her dogs increasing discomfort, or ignored it?? 

They tired enough to take a small break at which point the doodle’s owner drug him away by his collar, and demanded her ball be given back. The other owner obliged, grudgingly and took the ball from her dog.

I moved on, and soon enough ran into another tourist dog. This dog walked onto the beach more or less ‘heeling’ if you can call it that on a leash. As soon she was unhooked she took of to say hello to me. I was kneeling, to take a picture of her and when she got to me I gave her a quick itch on her chest and that’s it - in hopes that she would not keep wanting itches and would instead continue running so I could take her picture. She kept running alright….

Just not in a ‘zoomie’ way, but in a “I’m free and I am going somewhere…FAST” way.

 

Her owner was in hot pursuit. Maybe her fun could have been had in a safer manner if the prong collar she was wearing fit her better, or if her owner had brought along the remote to the e-collar she also had strapped on her. Either way her owner didn’t have time to chat as she followed her dog down the beach. The only thing she had time enough to get out was a smile in my direction and “She sure does love the beach.”

 

I was much more lucky our last day when I went to the beach and saw lots of local dogs and took pictures. Those are the pictures worth seeing, but seems I have wasted enough time and I am going to go get Mister Rugby now. :)