Emily | July 2014. Photo by: Johnny Ortez-Tibbels ©

It’s pretty much a routine here that we visit the beach weekly. When it gets too hot to hike, we hit the beach to get our exercise and my dachshunds love it. They love the many smells and interesting things that get washed up on the shoreline. For those who don’t know, it’s not recommended that small dogs play fetch at the beach because the act of doing so puts your dachshund at risk of ingesting large quantities of sand. Some dogs will simply pass the sand without incident, but it can cause problems in others. For us the risk is not worth any potential reward. We have never been big proponents for playing fetch much anyway. Instead we prefer to run in the sand and surf which is great exercise for our low-bodied hounds and their little legs. We mention it here today, because during these summer months we see a higher frequency of posts on varied message boards on the hot topic of the season. The beach can be a fun and safe place for our sausage dogs, but we do need to be careful (like we do in all settings). Have a wonderful day dachshund friends.