Chasing the Shadows of the Mongrels of the Sea

When I reached the beach, I noticed that I was quite late on my arrival to have my regular reflection-hunting routine. So I think of other interesting subjects that I can share for this community. Then I saw a dog walking along the riverbank, and an idea came up... Shadows! So I waited for the dog to go closer as mongrels, owned by the residents in this coastal area, frequently roam the beach every morning when there are no surfers around. After minutes of waiting, there she is and I immediately took a picture of her as she might go away to join the orher dogs at the other side of the shallow river mouth.

To my delight she stopped for a while and sat down, perhaps to bask in the rising sun for a while.

So I inched myself closer to her to have a few clicks of her as she enjoyed the early morning warmth of sunlight.

Then she stood for a while of which I did not wasted a rime to have another shot.

Then she sat on the sand again as another dog, a male, walked by.

Perhaps it is her way of showing she like this spotted dog to be her mate and she stood to approach him and smelled his private parts while the male dog pees. However, he just walked awayfor sure, he is not in good mode to mate.

And another spotted dog walked towards the place where I stand a little bit distracted by my presence, she aimed herself to flee but it's too late as I already pressed the shutter on, good thing, I am just into shooting stuff with a phone camera and NOT by means of any weapon that can cause harm... I dislike the idea, anyway.

Another spotted dog showed up at my vantage point so I waited for her to get closer as I found the color combination at her face looks cute and there she goes!

She is of medium build, and her size reminds me of my beloved pet dog, KitKat, who passed away last month. We used to enjoy walks along the riverbank, like in this photograph of us. We were on our way to a family picnic under a mango tree during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, a simple joy that helped keep our bodies and minds sound.

Then let's proceed to the main story, as I don't want to sound too dramatic, because for sure, KitKat is now running free in heaven and happily with other fur babies in the afterlife, and I have a lot more to be shared here about the mongrels of the sea. And here it goes... As I walked on the sandy beach to have a nice vantage point towards the dogs, I saw that the first spotted dog howled perhaps to remind the pack that he is the alpha male.

Then he walked towards my direction so I pressed the shutter on each time he inched himself closer.

The alpha male headed to the portion of the river bank where the residential area is located for sure, he live at one of the houses that are built in that place.

Then he smelled the ground as if he sensed something approaching.

Then he peed on the sand to mark his territory and to establish his presence of being the alpha male in the vicinity.

Then he went away from the beach and walked along the sandy river bank.

As the alpha male walked towards the residential area, another male dog arrived and smelled the ground as if he is probing the place to determine if the place will become his territory.

Another male dog showed up to the scene but like the previous dogs that I photographed, his tail is in upright position which indicates that he is not hostile to the rest of the mongrels that roamed the beach.

Then came another dog, a female and she stopped for a while to where I stand and maybe observing my moves if my presence is a threat to them.

So I just remain standing and minding my thing snd that is to take photographs so she resumed her walk with her tail upright.

The first dog once again passed by to my vantage point and I took another shot of her.

She approached the other female dog, at first she is somewhat hesitant to get close.

But she persisted when she sensed that their is no resistance from her counterpart.

Feeling comfortable with the presence of the other dog, she sat down.

Until another dog, also a female one, joined them and they roamed at the sandy beach.

The second male dog seemed to like joining the female dogs to roam at the beach and headed to their direction.

But he stopped when he sensed that the alpha male is just around somewhere along the river bank.

So he backed off and quickly change its course and headed to another direction far from the place where the female dogs roam.

To end the story, the first female dog once again passed by at my vantage point so I immediately take a few clicks of her before I headed for home as the sunlight is getting warmer.