We took Hoku and Kai down to the Coronado dog beach this morning. It’s considered by many to be one of the best dog beaches in Southern California and is basically a little stretch of sand with a fence that separates it from the naval base on one end, and just a sign on the other end to indicate where the beach is for people only. I was pleasantly surprised at how clean and not smelly the beach was. And also how well-mannered and friendly all the dogs were.
It was Hoku’s first time at an off-leash beach and in typical shiba style, kept a healthy distance from the water while Kai dug holes and played in the waves with all the other normal, water-loving dogs. Hoku found other ways to entertain himself though and realized a new passion in life for chasing low-flying sea birds towards the naval base fence, which we discovered has perfect, shiba-sized holes. Luckily, Hoku stopped running when he reached the fence, but Kai proceeded to help himself through and take his time exploring the other side while us humans tried to lure him back with treats.
Overall, it was a fun morning for the pups though Hoku lost his leash-free privileges after running after the birds for a second time and continuing to ignore our calls for him to come back to us. I would say that Coronado dog beach is almost perfect. I so wish it was completely fenced off and that the naval fence didn’t have such big holes in it. We really loved spending time with Hoku at the beach (such a nice change of scenery from our usual hikes and walks) but unfortunately can’t completely relax there knowing that he might run off. If we ever decide to go back though, Hoku 100% needs to work on his recall with distractions!