Lisa and I took our fiendish dog down to Hollywood Beach today, which is a mere mile or two from our apartment. It was in the 50s today, and we wanted to give Carly a chance to run around on the long leash, hopefully chase some ducks or other waterfowl. Last time we took her down there, it was dark, and she was much confused by the dark apparitions of ducks out on the water. She also seemed a bit confused by the beach itself next to the lake, muddy and wet.
Today we enjoyed ourselves. Carly did chase seagulls, met several other dogs with varying degrees of malice. It's terrible how having a problem dog makes me upset to see other people out walking with their dogs off-leash. It's illegal, so I'm hardly in the wrong here, but I know that's what everyone would like to do with their dog. So I feel a little bad when I think "Can't you just keep the dog on a leash?!"
Far more eloquent discourse on this subject is available at the darling wife's site.