Salty Dogs

For all of the wonderful restaurants and places to go in Savannah that welcome dogs with open arms, I've always been amazed at just how un-dog-friendly Savannah's Tybee Island is.


Tybee is only 15 minutes out from Savannah, so it's the perfect "getaway" from the stresses of city life.(I'm totally joking about city stress...I live in Savannah!!) During our first visit to Tybee, John and I rented an adorable house through Mermaid Cottages, which features a really nice selection of dog friendly homes. We actually had a tough time choosing between all of the places that allowed dogs, which, led us to believe that Tybee was going to be dog-central!

Mimosa Cottage

This place had it all: a fenced in yard, a denim couch that hid all of the dog fur nicely, even a screened in porch to protect us from the bugs. We also picked it because it was super close to Memorial Dog Park and not too far from the beach itself. We pictured going on long walks with BD, followed by some romping in the dog park, and then maybe even taking him into the ocean at night when dogs would likely be allowed on the beaches.


We were wrong. Very wrong, in fact. As we soon found out after arriving, the Memorial Dog Park had been closed for quite some time--in fact there were no remnants of one having been there ever.  We also learned that gators are pretty prevalent on the Island's Marshes (which are everywhere), so we constantly had to be on the look out for gators, which LOVE to eat dogs apparently.

hmmmm....maybe this should be BD's costume for Wag-o-Ween

But the biggest blow was that dogs are not allowed on the beach. Ever. And Violators are subject to a $290 fine on the first offense. From what we heard talking to locals, this was true and The Fuzz was not afraid to hand those tickets out. So no water, or sand, or waves for Barksdale.

We still managed to have a great trip and have been back to Tybee for a few more vacations since then. Even though Tybee Island is no Dog Wonderland, it is still a great place to go if you are a human. That being said, there is a local movement to expand dog rights on Tybee, especially when it comes to letting them on the beach. 

A local man named Bill Gillespie has started a group called "Dogs on the Beach!" which is active in handing out petitions, organizing group events, and getting locals involved in opening up the beaches to dogs. You can see the facebook page here and join if you want to be updated.

I'll leave you now with some great pictures of dogs on the beach. Because, after all, what in the world is better than doing the doggie paddle with your best friend?