This morning I took Beanie to Bellahouston park instead of her regular haunt. It tends to be quieter, so there’s not usually much dog-play but it gives me a chance to spend more time walking with Beanie and controlling her off-lead. I felt it was a good idea to do this now, given that Beanie’s home environment has been shaken up a little with the arrival of Biggles.

The walk started uneventfully, and between the torrential showers there were some pretty nice moments…

Beanie behaved herself as much as a Beagle can, and all was going well. Until that is we ran into some of her old Bellahouston chums: Ellie, Maisy, Barnie and Buster. Barnie and Buster are Border Terriers, and Beanie just loves them to bits.

Beanie and Buster, at one of the many unofficial watering holes

This morning, even though she’s spayed, little Buster wanted to love Beanie to bits too. He had his “lipstick” out almost the moment he clapped eyes on her. Of course Beanie didn’t really know or care what he was trying to do; as far she was concerned, it was all a good excuse for chasing and wrestling. I hope Buster enjoyed his rumpy-pumpy session with Beanie, because it’ll be his last. His owner told me that tomorrow he’s getting the op!

During the course of all this activity, Beanie became more than a little muddy:

Before..

..and after

As a Beagle, Beanie is usually pretty much self-cleaning but this, this was a whole new level of mud-caking that required toweling and wipes at the car and a bath when she got back home.

Biggles of course got to dodge all the rain, mud and icy-cold wind. But he didn’t get to dodge a quick game of tug when I got back:

I bet I’ll need to hold on a heck of a lot tighter when he’s as old as Beanie is now!

Susan took Biggles for his first check-up at the vet today while I stayed home and did my best to clean up Beanie after a rather muddy park visit.

Biggles got his first vaccination jag, which apparently he barely noticed thanks to some strategically placed treats. He was weighed and came in at a whopping 4.2 kilos – that’s pretty hefty considering he’s only seven and a half weeks old. By comparison, Beanie weighed about 3.6 kilos when we got her at just over eleven weeks old! He really is going to be a monster of a Beagle when he grows up.

He’s due to get his second round of vaccinations once he’s over ten weeks old, and shortly thereafter he’ll be able to take his first steps outside our house and garden. In the meantime he’s got the green light to meet other vaccinated dogs, and indeed he bumped into Beanie’s pal Sophie at the vets. Poor Sophie’s had a rough time since her spaying op. She had a reaction to her stitches and now faces another couple of weeks of enforced rest before she can return to her normal, very active life. Truly a nightmare for a Beagle!

Back at home we had some wonderful, peaceful moments like this:

We also had some not so peaceful moments, as you can see and especially hear in the video below.

Surprisingly it’s Beanie making all the racket this time. I think she was a little irked to find Biggles in her play area just outside our office. Biggles is a little rascal though – you can see him having a naughty nibble of Beanie’s ear just before the noise pollution really starts up!

Despite the occasional hiccup I think things are progressing well. The same can be said of Biggles’ house training. A lot of the time he’s actually going to the door to be let into the garden when nature calls – absolutely amazing given that he’s a male, a Beagle, and not even eight weeks old yet! Of course sometimes it goes very wrong. This morning Susan had the not so pleasurable experience of having some fresh puppy poo squelch between her toes when she didn’t quite get him to the garden quick enough after his breakfast.

[Note: depending on your connection, the above videos may not run smoothly until played for a second time]

I am totally knackered, so this will be a short post!

The first night with Beanie & Biggles couldn’t really have gone much better. We kept them in separate crates in our bedroom, but still in sight of one another, and though Biggles tends to be very vocal when he’s awake he made very little noise through the night. We’re giving him regular pee-breaks during the night – about every two-and-a-half to three hours, to avoid any in-crate accidents. He had no choice but to go to the loo in his crate on the way home yesterday, so we’re being really careful to nurture his desire to keep his den clean.

He’s had a couple of short outings today in a purpose-built carry bag lent to us by KathLeen and Neil of Mochuisle Beagles. The first was out to the main road to introduce him to traffic sounds, and the second was a short sponsored walk round Queen’s Park in aid of Canine Concern Scotland. The weather was horrible for the latter, and as I’m still feeling very fragile from yesterday’s dose of Ghandi’s Revenge I was rather envious of Biggle’s cosy little home from home. He protested at first when I carried the bag via the handles, so I ended up holding it in my arms, so that the see-thru side was close to my face. That calmed him down, though he did seem a little frustrated at not being able to get out and explore his surroundings. He loved all the attention he got from the other dog owners though!

As the day progressed, he really seem to be settling into his new home. Yesterday he slept very lightly, but this evening he’s having really good, deep sleeps. Beanie really seems to have taken to him, and plays with him very gently, often letting him roll her over onto her back. We’re limiting their play to just a few minutes at a time, and they’re both spending much more time separately with us than together. Even so, I’d swear he’s already starting to pick up on housetraining by copying Beanie.

Anyway, here are a few photos from today:

A small shoe for the little boy…

And a big shoe for the one-year old girl!

If you take a close look at the third picture, you might think that Biggles’ paws look almost the same size as Beanie’s. If so, you’d be right! And when you hold him, you can’t help but notice that he’s suprisingly heavy for his size, and that his skin is really loose on his body. From what I’ve heard, that probably means he’s going to be a really big boy when he’s fully grown. How long before he’s bigger than Beanie?