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The weather has been quite spectacular here in the Monterey Bay area, so I decided to take Ozzie for a walk on the beach. He had such a relatively successful time at his first dog training class, and I thought he deserved a bit of a reward. It was a sunny day, temps in the high 60’s, fresh air in abundance, so we hit the road and drove the short distance to the coast.
Once in the parking lot at the beach, I opened the door to the car, and Ozzie jumped out, full of pep and enthusiasm. He pulled and tugged at the leash in his hurry to get out to the strange light colored substance just off the parking lot. "What?" He put the brakes on so fast he nearly did a somersault. Turns out he isn’t too sure about sand. And those sea gulls!?!?!? "Holy cr*p!" (I’m interpreting loosely here, based on his body language).
Then he noticed the water. The sound of the waves was surprisingly loud, and they were very very large. He trembled and shook for a moment while he considered it, and then turned and ran for his life back to the car.
Just then a crazy homeless person came rushing up to us, scooped Ozzie up in a bear hug, and said "OOOOH, an Airedale! He is going to get just HUGE, isn’t he?" Oooo-kaaay. Now totally panicked, Ozzie wriggled and squirmed and finally got out of the man’s clutches and continued his race to safety. So I guess now I know he doesn’t bite when he is scared, which is a good thing. Ozzie I mean, not the tramp. I said calmly to the person, "I think he is a little scared of the beach, so ‘Buh-bye’ now’".
We got back to the car, and I thought, "No way. We can’t be deterred from enjoying this fine day, just because of a few mishaps right down by the beach. Come on, Ozzie, let’s walk on the nice safe boardwalk". After he pulled himself together, looking at me doubtfully, he allowed me to drag lead him towards the boardwalk. That went a bit better, (kids on bikes, babies in strollers, old folks out for a stroll) but there was an alarming barking sound just up ahead. We rounded a bend and there was a rock out in the bay, just covered with seals, all barking their heads off at the fishing boats and the sea gulls.
That was the final straw. Our day at the beach was over.
We are back home now, and it took awhile for him to forgive me.
Aw, come on Oz. No harm, no foul, right? Live in the moment. Give us smile honey….
32 Responses
Poor Ozzie! Just to many new sights and sounds for the poor little guy. He would rather stay home and chew on something that he is not supposed to chew on. lol
What beautiful pictures. Sorry that Ozzie didn’t enjoy the beach more, but it sounds like he was very well behaved, at any rate!
Very funny story! Poor Ozzie, I hope he’s calmer today.
Poor baby… Weren’t the smells at least good? Jeeves always appreciated the smells… I signed “Remy” up for puppy school! We are going to Adobe for puppy preschool in 2 weeks.
You’ll have to give it another try sometime. I am sure he’ll get to love it. Sounds like he needs to get out a little more often and I am sure the dog classes will help him get used to new things.
Can you imagine what was going through Ozzie’s doggy brain??? I mean, a haircut, puppy school, and that beach incident–all within a couple of weeks? The poor dear will probably have post traumatic syndrome now. But at least he can still show those chompers. Good boy!
Can you imagine what was going through Ozzie’s doggy brain??? I mean, a haircut, puppy school, and that beach incident–all within a couple of weeks? The poor dear will probably have post traumatic syndrome now. But at least he can still show those chompers. Good boy!
Poor Ozzie. And poor you.. no fun day on the beach.
OMG that was too funny. Poor Ozzie, I don’t know about him but I would have loved to see those seals.
Too funny, what a stressful day for Ozzie
Too funny, what a stressful day for Ozzie
Awww, poor guy. Too much, all at once. In my experience, dogs LOVE the beach, but come to think of it, a couple needed some urging at first. I don’t think Pippin (my current dog) thought too much of sand right away, either.
I think Ozzie is more of a curl up with a quilt kind of dog!
Love ossies day at the beach it gave me a good laugh poor baby.I think he likes to stay at home where his mum is curled up on a quilt. how lucky you are to be able to get so close to the seals.
Hugs Mary.
Oh. . . so many new things for a boy! They love it & dread it all at the same time! Don’t give up on Ozzie & the beach – he just needs to get used to it all & I’m sure he will. Bailey is the same way. . . He can be such a scaredy-pants at first with so many things – but I just go slowly at letting him get used to what is ‘new’. Usually at about the third or fourth time. . . he is a pro with what was so new & scary just a little while before. . . Don’t loose heart!
xo, Bren
So sorry to hear of Ozzie’s difficult first day at the beach. He is such a sweetie…hope his next beach experience it more delightful. I read the story aloud to my dh and his parents…all had a good laugh as we envisioned the scenes you verbally painted so well.
Ozzie is smiling!!!!
Hugs,
Traci
Gosh Nicole! I’m grinning ear-to-ear — you take the most adorable pictures of Ozzie! You’re quite the adventurer — I would have been scared that the homeless guy was going to take off running with my precious Ozzie! Beautiful pics!
Ok, now that you’ve found out the boy doesn’t care for the beach, what’s next? LOL!! I don’t blame him for the homeless person, that would have frightened me. Oh my. Just like a little kid, isn’t he? I still like the picture of him on your husband’s back. I am still laughing about that.
Ozzie is the best.I love hearing about his adventures.
One of my favorite books in High School was John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie. I so enjoy your travels with Ozzie, he is so gosh darn cute!!
What a beautiful area you live in! I would love to be that close to the beach. Maybe when Ozzie gets older he’ll learn to appreciate it. We live by a lake and our dog eventually learned to love it.
That is too funny. Poor Ozzie – being tortured like that by the people he trusts -LOL
I love that William Morris collection of fabric. I just ordered a fat quarter collection of it from Hancocks. I can’t wait to get it. That is a great pattern you have there. I’m looking forward to seeing the quilt.
Good Lord have mercy! LOL! Now you must know that I’m a Scottish terrier person. However, I am in love with Ozzie! Since I stive to be eccentric (see my post for February 16th) Ozzie is right up my alley. Eccentric is a good thing. He is just the cutest little guy. I don’t live too far from your neck of the woods. So if you are ever out again (brave soul) with Ozzie walking and someone comes running up and scoops him up ala homeless man, it might just be me! I promise I’m harmless! LOL
OMG what a day Ozzie had…what am I saying? What a day you had…glad everyone is home and smiling again.
Poor Ozzie! He just wanted a peaceful walk. VBG I love his smile photo. He’s a real cutie.
I think you missed your calling. You should seriously consider writing a book about your adventures with Ozzie. Your descriptions and comments made me feel as if I were right there at the beach. I just howled over the incident with the homeless guy. What could top that? Sea lions, of course. Thanks for a terrific story!
I think you missed your calling. You should seriously consider writing a book about your adventures with Ozzie. Your descriptions and comments made me feel as if I were right there at the beach. I just howled over the incident with the homeless guy. What could top that? Sea lions, of course. Thanks for a terrific story!
Poor Ozzie! Our Shona (a Rhodesian Ridgeback) is not very fond of the beach too…..as we had a few days at the beach last weekend, we did our very best to entertain her by jumping up and down and running around in the sand, while she was thinking: what the h….. are these people doing??????? She wants us to get our bikes and run: that’s her idea of a nice day in nature!
So Ozzie: she totally agrees with you: ‘stay away from the beach!!!’
Such a cute post…and the look in Ozzie’s eyes is so funny: you are right, I am thinking you are not rating high on the “trust meter” at that moment…just look at him! So funny.
O my gosh if that isn’t the cutest dog I’ve ever seen!
Bless his little punkin’ heart! How traumatic.
I have to tell you though, these seals are really amazing. I’ve never seen anything like that!
But of course this is about Ozzie and we’re happy he recovered.
Ozzie the Trooper Love, *karendianne.