Dogs at Wingaersheek Beach: odd days, October 1 to April 30

At low tide Wingaersheek opens into flats and sandbars that pull a dog a long way from you very fast. A recall that works at fifty feet on a quiet street may not work at three hundred feet with a dog running the other way. Practice on a long line first, reward every return, and call your dog back before it reaches the water, not after. Keep an eye on the tide as well; the channels between the bars fill as it turns, and a dog on the wrong side of one is a real problem.

Cold is the other factor. From December to March the sand is cold, wet and scattered with shell and ice, and salt water at those temperatures stings cracked pads. Keep the session short on the coldest days, check between the toes for cuts when you get back to the car, and dry the belly and legs before the drive. A dog that gulps salt water on the flats is often sick on the ride home; carry fresh water and offer it before your dog is thirsty enough to try the bay.

Good Harbor, on the east side of the city, is Wingaersheek's mirror image: even dates, and closed after March 31. Plum Cove and Cressy Beach are smaller neighborhood beaches that take dogs in the off-season without a date rule, and they have their own page. Long Beach straddles the Gloucester and Rockport line, so its rules depend on which end you park at.

Beyond the sand, Ravenswood Park in West Gloucester is Trustees land that welcomes dogs and is a short drive from the Wingaersheek turn-off, which makes it the wet-day or plover-season alternative for the same dogs. The Cape Ann dog beach calendar lists every town's dates on one page, so you can plan a week rather than a single morning.