Boothbay Region Land Trust Trails – By Coal

Apr 12, 2013

Coal here,

My coat IS very soft and furry. Thank you for saying so. I am only as Dog made me, and I am glad you people enjoy rubbing it so much. Sometimes in the winter the rubbing builds up a static charge and it zaps my nose. So watch out. I wouldn’t want my nose to zap you because of my furry coat.

We have a very strict policy here at Chez Labrador. The Labs get walked/swum at least an hour a day. When Don is grouchy or there’s a big storm, we just stay on Hendricks Beach in Southport and he throws the tennis ball for less than an hour. I chase and swim after it every time. But after 20 minutes, Max and Auggie will stand next to Don completely soaked and whimpering to get back in the car. “Lame” is what I call that dog behavior. And I am 9 frickin’ years old!!!!!!!

Sometimes we go on “SuperSpecial Walkies.” And the BEST is when we all go for Walkies and Don and Liana give out treats a lot and we meet tons of other dogs and people. Max loves the smells of the chipmunks and other animals, Auggie loves running around like a little pup. Sometimes there are frisbees and tennis balls and mud and fantastic smells. My favorite is fetching the tennis ball at Porter Preserve beach. Sometimes I get so excited, I bark at the tennis ball while I’m swimming after it (Editor’s Note: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckQzZ9xK5AI). This seems to make Don laugh even harder than when I do my “Snaggletooth.” Don is funny that way.

But when Don is on his game, we walk all over the place like a real pack. We usually go to “Boothbay Region Land Trust Preserves” for walkies (Editor’s note: http://bbrlt.org/). Most often we go to Porter’s or Oven’s Mouth or Penny Lake Preserve. But lately we’ve been going to Gregory Trail because Two Salty Dogs has adopted it. Can you believe it?!?! I was adopted, too! Gregory Trail must be so happy to be part of our family!!! I will take Gregory Trail under my wing and teach it all the things it needs to know to be a part of this pack. Like when the best time to take take a nap on the good dog bed is – without Max or Auggie shoving you around. And NO touching my stuffed penguin. I repeat…..NO touching my penguin.

Gregory trail is a fantastic little bit of walking off Sawyer Island Road. It’s about ¾ of a mile long and parallels the ocean for a nice stretch and it overlooks the Botanical Gardens. And, get this, there’s a shipwreck on it! No other BRLT trail can boast that! A shipwreck! Of course Don and Liana yell at us dogs when we get even close to it. I think there’s treats in it. Why else would they yell at us to get away from it? Of course, YOU should stay away from it. Leave shipwreck treat-recovery to the experts, people. Collectively, us three labs have over 15 years of experience in getting treats out of difficult places.

We are VERY fortunate to have these Walkies in the Boothbay area. Nothing is better! But the very best part about the BRLT trails is that everyone is so considerate! Sometimes complete strangers will give me a delectable treat if I turn on the “sweet old dog” charm. People are also pretty good about cleaning up after their 4-legged friends with the free poop bags the BRLT has in every trail’s kiosk. Most of the dogs I meet are super-friendly and don’t run roughshod over the flora and fauna. And heaven forfend that wet, muddy dogs would jump up on people. It’s just not heard of within the circles of civilized canines. If your canine does this, PLEASE leash him or her! Please!

So, leashless or leashful, almost everyone can enjoy the benefits of the BRLT! And if you see people not being considerate – let me know. I will bite them. Well, probably not that hard. Actually, I probably won’t bite them at all, but I’ll bark at them until they get the message. Or I get sleepy. I get sleepy a lot. But let me know. At the very least I’ll get Auggie to confront them. I promise you that. And the AugMonster will let them know how we ALL feel about bad dog behavior.

Coally-Coal-Cole…. – OUT!