A nose for trouble

His name is Ozzie, our family's beagle. He's a cute, 6-year-old dog who my kids conned me into adopting two years ago. I was a reluctant participant at first but the dog's adorable, dumb, puppy dog look soon won me over.

Ozzie

If it wasn't for that look Ozzie wouldn't have lasted the two years we've had him. While he's shown the family much affection and endeared himself to my kids he's also gotten himself into some mischief. Take, for example, the time he clawed his way through a basement door, chewed some of our kid's toys to pieces, eaten a vacuum cleaner nozzle, and destroyed a couch cushion. Woof, woof.



Our last dog could be trusted but Webster was a corgi, not a beagle. While corgis are herding breeds, beagles are hunting dogs, governed by their noses. They are part of the hound family and can sniff out anything, anywhere, anytime.

 It's this nose that landed our faithful companion in trouble last weekend. He got into some mystery garbage and that garbage didn't sit well with Ozzie until about 5 in the morning when it shot out of him and all over my son's bedroom. Quite the visual, I know but it's better than the smell, trust me! His timing was perfect too as my 8-year-old son Tavish was having a sleepover with his buddy Anthony. The look on their faces as they raced out of Tavish's bedroom was priceless. I would have laughed if I had known there was someone else who would have cleaned up the mess. Unfortunately I'm the only one in my family who can clean up these types of spills without creating more spills, if you know what I mean.

Two days later the dog did it again. Thankfully he's on the mend now. No more accidents . . . please.

What's the moral of my story? Life's not perfect, sometimes it gets messy but you've got to take the good with the bad. I can't fault the dog for being a dog. If I'd wanted a cat I could have got one but they come with their own set of issues as well.

Besides, who could stay upset with that face? He is a cutie, don't you think?