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Salty dog heaven

Dogs can count on one paw the beaches where they can get wet and wild with nary a finger-wagger to answer to. Fort De Soto is tops.

By PAUL SWIDER
Published April 12, 2006

The premier dog beach is at Fort De Soto, but there are a handful of other options, including some that are technically illegal. Only three sites officially let owners unleash their dogs in the water, but that is still enough of an attraction for those with diehard swimming dogs.

"She requested this beach," said Kevin McGann, who drove his 7-year-old black Labrador, Sasha, two hours from Orlando to enjoy the dog beach at Fort De Soto. McGann said he has found nothing comparable closer to home and has been kicked off several east coast beaches. The park's 200-yard expanse reserved for dogs and the people that serve them is a paradise for pet owners, but not recommended for others.

"You can't get mad when sand is kicked in the air or the dog shakes water or sits on your towel," said McGann, Sasha sitting calmly beside him while dogs of various shapes and sizes raced around the bayside beach on a recent Saturday.

"People choose," said Ello Tucker, who came to Fort De Soto from Tampa with Max, a 9-year-old Akita. "You either want to be near dogs or you go to the people beach."

Most who come to Fort De Soto agree that the attendees are well-behaved. Owners must have dogs under voice control and be responsible for their dogs' actions. And, of course, clean up after them.

"This is nice, to be able to let the dog go without a leash," said Dan Payette, who brought Kramer, a 3-year-old Louisiana Catahoula Leopard, all the way from Port Richey. He said they usually go to Honeymoon Island, but the dog beach there requires dogs to be on a leash, even in the water.

Dogs are allowed to run free on Shell Key also, but one must take a boat to get there. Dogs aren't allowed from mid April to mid June because of nesting birds, and are always restricted from the bird sanctuary part of the island.

The only other place that allows leash-free swimming is the Belleair Causeway, but that area is small and doesn't have the adjacent fenced dog park with shower that Fort De Soto does.

Some dog owners take their pets to the impromptu beach along Gandy Boulevard, but they fear the nearby high-speed traffic or the pests dogs collect when they scamper through wild underbrush.

"It's surprising there aren't more dog beaches," said Todd Walden, who had his family and 9-month-old boxer, Prissy, at Fort De Soto. "They love it out here. It wears them out so they'll sleep like babies."

The county maintains six dog parks but only one dog beach, not counting Shell Key, said Leah Hoffman, the parks and recreation operations manager. She said there are no plans for another dog beach largely because finding an appropriate parcel is harder for a beach than a park, which is hard enough. But the Fort De Soto dog beach is a recognized gem, she said, and is a Top 10 finalist in Dog Fancy magazine's contest for best dog beach in the United States.

Dog owners can also take their pets to the beach on the Courtney Campbell Parkway, but they must be on a leash at all times. Another leash site is Bicentennial Park in Madeira Beach, tucked quietly between the Tom Stuart Causeway and Madeira Beach Middle School.

"Fort De Soto's nice, but it's a long ride," said Bill Oberholtzer, who was letting Shelby, his year-old border collie-Australian shepherd mix, burn off energy at Bicentennial. "Everybody's real friendly here. There's a few mean dogs, but it's not a problem."

Just southeast along the Intracoastal Waterway is a tiny illegal secret in Abercrombie Park. A long, thin, green corridor from Park Street to the water, Abercrombie doesn't have a fenced dog park, although dogs are allowed on a leash. They're not supposed to swim, but in the obscurity of the oak-shaded 20-foot beach, some of them sneak in the water.

"There's only a couple other dogs that come around here," said Andrea, who didn't want to reveal her last name lest she get busted for letting her boxer, Maggie, swim at the park. Maggie, she said, has trouble with other dogs, so a quiet, secluded place is ideal. She said St. Petersburg police usually leave the park alone, unless they're chasing kids cloaked in the park's shadows for their own illicit purposes.

Michelle Gilbert lives near Abercrombie but would rather take her two dachshunds to Fort De Soto so as not to run afoul of the law. While dog-sitting in the Old Southeast, however, she did take Talia, a friend's rescue from Hurricane Katrina to Lassing Park, where dogs are not supposed to swim but have been known to disregard man's laws.

"It would be nice if this were an actual dog park," Gilbert said. "It shouldn't be against the law to let dogs walk in the water."

Clint Footlick, St. Petersburg's park operations manager, said dogs are kept off public beaches mainly because people are intimidated by a romping wet pooch. He conceded that where no one complains, dogs and their owners can bend the rules. The city has no plans for either more dog parks or a dog beach.

"We don't have that many beaches," he said. Owners could let dogs swim in lakes, but "that's not very wise. We have a healthy population of alligators."

Dog parks have cropped up throughout the area in the past several years, mirroring a national trend. Keeping track of them all is hard, but a self-described "dog-friendly" real estate agent, Amy Elftman, has created a Web site to inform people.

"I get more responses from my dog site than my real estate site," said Elftman, whose list is at home.att.net/~amyelf/kodi.html.

Paul Swider can be reached at 892-2271 or pswider@sptimes.com or by participating in itsyourtimes.com.

[Last modified April 12, 2006, 07:50:33]