A couple of weeks ago Poppy had her first birthday and we decided to give her a little go at agility-style jumping. As you can see she ended up doing very well, but it took a while to get her there. The biggest obstacle was that we haven’t yet taught her to appreciate the virtues of a tennis ball, and all the agility training we did with Beanie and Biggles relies on being able to use a tennis ball as a marker/lure. Without that extra visual cue, she just didn’t see the point of jumping when she could easily run round the jump.

Although still only 9 months old, Monkey has regularly demonstrated his jumping ability by leaping over low fences intended to protect our horticultural projects, so we let him have a go too. He has a stronger prey drive than Poppy, so when I ran and jumped over the bar he followed me instinctively, and in turn Poppy followed him.

This soon progressed to the two of them chasing after a tug toy thrown over the bar, and eventually I could put Poppy in a sit-wait behind the bar and recall her over it – not at all bad for our first agility session with the new pups! However, towards the end of the session both Susan and I started getting the feeling that we were being watched, and not in a friendly way. Ever had the experience as a kid where you were doing something a bit naughty and then felt the eyes of a disapproving teacher boring into the back of your head? That’s exactly how it was for us, and when we turned round to look for the source, we saw The Beanster up on the deck, staring intently at us. Susan described the look on Beanie’s face as being like Halloween’s Michael Myers watching his next victim just before the kill; personally I likened it to a scowling Clint Eastwood in the build up to a Spaghetti Western gunfight. Regardless, we both knew we were in trouble and that we should bring Beanie down and let her in on the action.

Now close to 15 years old Beanie hadn’t performed an agility jump in over 2 years, but she seemed eager to try. I honestly wasn’t expecting her to manage it, but she cleared the bar. It was certainly not her best performance – as a youngster she used to sail over the bar even at its highest setting – but she was keen to go again. Her second attempt was better and by her third pass, she was flying over the bar confidently. We stopped at this point for fear of overdoing things, but it was fantastic to see her in flight again.

To finish, here are a few shots of Poppy’s Dinner-time dance and a bit of slow-wading at the beach, which is I think one of the habits that has kept Beanie in good shape.

Voodoo rituals are part of dinner time in Poppy’s world.

If you don’t do the dance, dinner might not happen!

It’s a serious business for sure!

Thanks to her efforts, this dinner was served

A bit of slow wading in shallow and then deeper water keeps Beanie lifting her feet and gives her a gentle resistance workout

Of course it does mean that I get very wet feet

The heatwave is well behind us now and we’re in the grip of a “coolwave”; it feels like we’re well into Autumn and yet it’s only part of the way through August! This may not be a popular view but I actually prefer this weather to the unrelenting, energy-sapping heat we’ve had this summer, and Beanie & Biggles seem to feel the same way. They’ve been much perkier (and peskier) on walks, and when I took them for a run on the beach this morning the chilling wind ensured we pretty much had the whole thing to ourselves.

Trips to the enclosure have seen a vigorous return of the “hunt the Beanie” game, where Biggles tries, and usually fails, to chase down his sneaky sister.

Of course the jungle-like foliage doesn’t help

Yep, she’s doubled-back and lost him again!

Now it’s cooler the Beanster’s been putting more energy into keeping the local squirrel population in check.

Got him!

A harsh interrogation ensues…

…And Mr Squirrel agrees to show Beanie where he’s begun hoarding his supply of nuts. Go get ’em beanie!

Mr Fox got a good “doing” as well. He needed some stitching therapy after this encounter!

The cool weather has also prompted us to get our agility gear out for the first time this year. With such a long break since our last session we figured Beanie & Biggles might have forgotten how it all works, but we needn’t have worried. Even as Susan dragged the collapsed tunnel down to the flatter part of our garden, an eager little Beagle somehow made her way inside it. Jumps were likewise no problem for our team of flying Beagles!

The weather was so nice today that we decided to have a little agility practice in the garden. I shouldn’t really call it practice as we aren’t practicing for anything – just having some fun together.

The big drawback of Paul handling Biggles is that we don’t get any lovely actions shots of our little boy (for those that don’t know, dad Paul is the photographer in the family). However, our boy Biggles is determined and come what may he always finds a way to get a little bit of the limelight:

And suddenly, as if by magic, a Biggle appeared!

I’m going to try taking over handling of Biggles. It will be tricky as Beanie and Biggles are like chalk and cheese and it’s all my fuddled little brain can cope with trying to keep up with Princess Beanie. Adding Master Biggles into the equation will no doubt cause a meltdown but we can but try!

Beanie in action:

And Master Biggles: