Let the dog in!

We took a day trip out to Dungeness Spit Sunday, kid, dog, spouse, the whole gang. The spit is a 5 mile formation with a lighthouse on it. I can’t tell you how long it takes to get there from Bainbridge Island because we stopped so many times, both ways. I can tell you from what we saw, the spit area is beautiful, open, windy and heavily controlled.

“I think they need to add another sign,” my spouse commented snidely as we drove around the paved area, past several campgrounds. You must understand, he is from Alaska and did not grow up around any “managed” areas. Wilderness was wild.

We drove as far as you can, dog whimpering, knowing something great was close. Angling around to a parking spot, we drove past another batch of signs including one that had a picture of a dog with a red line through it. Whaaaa??? Turns out, no dogs allowed on the spit, on leash or off. Why? Because birds live there.

“But our dog LOVES birds!” my spouse says (she loves chasing them, barking at them, flushing them out, pointing at them….). He would argue that a hunting dog would in fact help birds live longer by teaching them protective skills, as in, “hey, look out for that big, fuzzy thing running toward me!”

Say what you will about bird refuges, the interesting thing about this place is that you can walk about 50 feet away to where they allow BIRD HUNTING. So, while our dog cannot chase any birds, you can KILL them. Makes sense. It’s the same for me after a day at the aquarium, I guess–nothin’ like a good fish dinner.

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