Saturday, August 30, 2014

Scary beach?

A couple of days ago, Bill and Hiker went to the beach.  It wasn't too busy, the sun was shining and the tide was out.


Within a minute of our feet touching the sand, three young children came towards us and one little girl asked, "Can we please pet your dogs?" (A thank you to all who teach their children to ask first!) With permission granted, Bill and Hiker enjoyed the attention then we walked on.  A couple of minutes later, one of the little girls ran up and asked, "Can I walk your blind dog?" Now, with Hiker, there really isn't anything required but the little girl was quite pleased to be walking the blind dog.

After the girl left us to our adventure, Bill found his very own island.


 Then Hiker found a jelly fish. 


They had great fun running in the water and exploring.


On the way back to the car, Hiker suddenly decided that there was too much going on.  She began to shy away from seaweed on the sand, then away from the waves coming in. Then there were smells in the sand that seemed to startle her.  

It got to the point where Hiker refused to walk. No amount of verbal encouragement, no amount of pats on the shoulder (our usual methods to get through "scary places") would work.  What to do with a 30 pound blind dog that refuses to walk? Yes, I picked her up, wet and covered in sand and carried her to the car. 

We will go the beach again and if required, Hiker will be carried past the "scary" parts.  

6 comments:

  1. That is just so sweet with the little girl and all the smells etc. Maybe Hiker just got overwhelmed. We think you are all amazing. Have a super Saturday.
    Best wishes Molly

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sure sounds like they had lots of fun! How odd that the fear kicked in belatedly like that - sensory overload, I guess. I have a 40 pounder who's scared of LOTS of things, and I've had to carry her many times! Not easy :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congrats, carrying a 30-pound dog. Roxy is about 20 and she's hard to lift!

    What a great day out. It's nice when kids know how to approach dogs AND behave around them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Howdy Mates. What a great time at the beach and I bet the little girl was thrilled to be walking Hiker. Glad all went well and Hiker probably wasn't worried, he was just trying to help build up your arm muscles!! Take care all. No worries, and love, Stella and Rory

    ReplyDelete
  5. It sounds like they both had a fabulous time up until the "scary" stuff. I hope the jelly fish didn't sting Hiker! I've had Shyla shut down like that after an overwhelming outing. Things that were not scary at the start of the outing are too much for her at the end. Unfortunately, I can't lift her so we have to find another way! Kudos to you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Haha...you've got to love the stuff that dog people gladly do over and over for their pups. Kaya & Norman can easily get in the car but I always end up lifting Kaya's hind end and Norman front end and then his hind end too:)

    ReplyDelete