How to walk a dog on a rocky shoreline

On ledges the leash is a safety line, so set it up for that job. Clip a standard leash of four to six feet to a harness with a handle, which lets you steady or lift the dog over a gap; leave the long line and the retractable lead in the car, because both let a dog reach an edge before you do. Trim the nails first if they click on the kitchen floor, and look at the pads. A dog with a cracked pad belongs on a soft trail today.

Check the National Weather Service Boston forecast and a tide table the night before. A falling tide and a light wind give you the widest band of dry rock, while the same ledge at high water in an onshore breeze can have waves washing over it. Then check whose rock it is. Halibut Point is leash-only under both DCR and the Trustees, Gloucester's regulations require dogs to stay under the owner's control, and Rockport prohibits jumping from rocks on all of its beaches.

The method is to slow everything down and do the stepping yourself first. A dog follows your line, so the line has to be one a dog can take on four short legs with wet feet, not the hop you would make alone. Use one cue for each step down, wait for all four feet to land, and pay calm footing with food at your knee rather than tossing a treat ahead onto the rock.

At Halibut Point the trails lead to the overlooks and the ledges; stay on them, keep the quarry on your far side, and remember the state asks visitors not to take tide-pool animals or throw rocks. On Eastern Point, the Dog Bar Breakwater is best admired from where it meets the shore. Wherever you are, leave by the route you came out on, because it is the one you already know the dog can manage.

On a stormy week, or when the light goes before you get home, our dog walking team can take your dog out from your door for a solo walk of 20, 30 or 60 minutes, at $25, $35 or $55. Walks start after the free evaluation, held on weekday mornings between 6:30 and 9:30 AM, and we will tell you whether we cover your address, which depends on where you live and the season.

After a granite morning, the grooming studio at 210 Eastern Ave can finish the job with no evaluation needed: a bath priced by size from $55 and a nail clip for $16. A pad cut that keeps bleeding, a limp that does not ease or a dog that swallowed sea water and starts vomiting is a job for your vet, and the Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital in Woburn is open 24 hours.