This Coastal Connection is sponsored by Baths by Spicer Bros.
BETHANY BEACH, Del. — A morning walk through Bethany Beach can take a little longer when you are with Camper. The dog and his owner, Phillip Woehrle, rarely make it far before someone stops to say hello.
Camper may not be able to fully see the people gathering around him, but he clearly knows when his friends are near. And in Bethany Beach, there seem to be plenty of them.
Some people know Camper by name. Others are meeting him for the first time. Either way, he seems to treat everyone the same less like strangers and more like friends he has not smelled yet. That is especially important for Camper. He has one eye and is blind in the other, so he relies heavily on scent to recognize the people around him.
“He can smell his friends from a block away if they’re coming with the wind,” Woehrle said.
Camper got his name after camping trips with friends in Chincoteague, but over the years, his world has grown well beyond his own family. On a typical morning in Bethany Beach, people stop to pet him, call his name and ask how he is doing. Some are residents. Others are visitors who remember Camper from vacations years before.
On a typical morning in Bethany Beach, people stop to pet him, call his name and ask how he is doing. Some are residents. Others are visitors who remember Camper from vacations years before.
For some visitors who have lost dogs of their own, Camper offers a familiar connection. For others who return to Bethany Beach each year, he has become something of an unofficial vacation dog. Woehrle says the attention brings Camper just as much happiness as Camper gives everyone else.
“I know he brings a lot of joy to a lot of people,” Woehrle said. “And they bring a lot of joy to him, too. It goes both ways.”
There was no election or campaign to make Camper Bethany Beach’s unofficial mascot just years of walks, pets and familiar faces. Camper may not be able to fully see the people gathering around him, but he clearly knows when his friends are near.
And in Bethany Beach, there seem to be plenty of them.
