Mandy and Bill at Picnic Point beach last week. (Bill is the one in the jeans.) People often ask if Mandy goes in the water when we take her to the beach, and the answer is "No." She lived the first 11 years and 9 months of her life in Kansas, and her maiden voyage to the beach was in May, 2010. She's been several times since then, and just loves it. There's so much to do and see and smell, and we let her dawdle along as much as she likes since the whole point of going to the beach is to have no agenda while you're there. You can teach a Westie to do almost anything as long as you're doing it yourself, but she's not excited about getting her feet wet, and at 12 years old there doesn't seem to be any point in teaching her to swim. It's not that we try to keep her OUT of the water ... she just has no interest in going IN, and we're quite happy to have a dry dog in the car after spending an afternoon at the beach! West Highland Terriers were originally bred to be ratters, are not natural water dogs, and aren't much into fetching, either. If someone throws a stick into the water, Mandy sits down and looks around as if to say, "Well, THAT's gone. What are we going to do next?" She may look calm and laconic in this picture, but I assure you, it was just a momentary lull in the action. Mandy keeps busy at the beach the entire time we're there! It seems to be her new favorite activity. (I don't consider napping in a chair to be an activity, so the beach wins the prize!)