Biggles was at the vet having “the snip” this morning while we took Beanie to the park. She didn’t seem to miss Biggles on the walk, but she was decidedly mopey when we got back home and she realized her brother was still AWOL. By 3pm though Biggles was back home with us – albeit without his two favorite non-squeaky balls. Beanie was very happy to see him but she immediately picked up on his delicate state and was very gentle with him.

Biggles isn’t the only one saddened by the loss of his pocket billiards set

As you might expect, Biggles spent most of the afternoon sleeping, but by teatime he was almost doing somersaults in anticipation of food. He was so excited by the time his bowl arrived that I actually had to pick him up and restrain him to prevent him from straining his stitches. The next week or so is going to be a challenge, that’s for sure.

The next 10 days of convalescence may be pretty dull for him, but at least he had a great park session yesterday thanks mainly to Beanie’s sister Bella. Here are some of the photos:

Of course the Beagles weren’t the only ones having fun!

And one last shot – the last ever to feature Biggles’ little conkers!

Finally, we got an unwanted chance to test the new “emergency recall” command we’ve been working on for the last three days. Right at the start of the walk, Beanie again did her pickpocket act and grabbed a polythene bag from someone’s pocket. She started tearing it up as though preparing to eat it. I fought back the urge to rush in and try to get it off her (which would probably have made her swallow it), and instead composed myself and tried the recall. It worked brilliantly! While I was following up the recall with a loads of highest quality treats and an exciting game, Kirby’s Mum Sheila quickly secured the bag, and Beanie didn’t even notice it was gone. It’s extremely encouraging to see such a simple training method working well after only three days. If we keep this up daily it should be almost hard-wired after a while. Just for reference, here’s the method we’re using for our emergency recall:

1) Choose the cue you’re going to use. Go for something that’s not likely to be heard outdoors, and preferably something that either puts you in a happy frame of mind (and so gives your voice a happy tone) or is incapable of changing due to the stress in an emergency situation (e.g. a whistle)

2) Use the cue to introduce a really, really fun session to your dog. It should involve their most favorite food(s) and games and be as exciting and over the top as possible. The dog doesn’t have to do anything to get this fantastic reward except thoroughly enjoy his/her self. Keep repeating the word during the session to build the association.

3) Never, ever abuse the cue. It is strictly for emergencies only.

4) If/when you have to use it for real, follow it up immediately with treats, praise and games just as you would during training so that you don’t weaken it.