On Sunday we went back for another dose of Beagle racing at Kincardine. Beanie was much more focussed on catching the lure this time and managed to outrun one of her adult competitors. After the final there was one more race - a complete free-for-all with all Beagles squeezed onto the start line. It was great fun though somewhat chaotic; a few Beagles had a go at eating the lure once it had stopped, while a couple more ran out of the race enclosure and gave their owners some unexpected and unwanted exercise. But again, Beanie hadn’t finished last - not a bad achievement for the smallest and youngest there, and what’s more it was only her second time. We had to leave before the raffle and dog shows though, because we had an appointment with a potential permanent playmate for Beanie.

We’d been thinking about getting a second Beagle for some time. At first the plan was to get another pup when Beanie was older - say five years or more, but gradually we came round to the idea of getting another playmate before Beanie reached adulthood. We contacted Beagle Welfare and heard of a 13 month old youngster, Lilly, who lived just 20-30 minutes from the racing venue and was looking for a new home. We just had to go see her.

When we first met Lilly it was in her home, and she didn’t appreciate Beanie encroaching on her territory at all. However, once outside the tension dissolved and the pair got down to some playful wrestling - surely a good sign. We arranged to take Lilly on trial for a few days, and headed back home with two Beagles.

We let both of them play in our garden for a while before entering the house, and everything still looked promising.

Unfortunately once we went inside, things went downhill very quickly. Lilly was extremely gentle and affectionate with us and enjoyed walking and playing outside, but she made it very clear that she wasn’t happy about sharing her new home with Beanie. Furthermore she wasn’t happy about us showing any affection towards our little pup. We tried to diffuse the situation by keeping them separate, but the antagonism between the two dogs continued to grow every time they met each other inside the house. Later the next day, after consulting our dog trainer and Beagle Welfare, we decided this just wasn’t going to work, and took Lilly back to her original home.

This story has a very happy ending though. Lilly’s family missed her so terribly while she was away that they resolved to have her back whatever the difficulties. So little Lilly is back in her original home for good, and we’ve had the sobering lesson that even Beagles don’t always get along. What’s more, it sounds like Lilly and her family will be coming along to the Beagle Races next Sunday, so Beanie and Lilly will be able to play happily without any territorial or pack hierarchy pressure.

Beanie and the other pups have had their first trip into the breeder’s garden, and she’s sent us a new round of pictures.

Not surprisingly it looks like a lot of the garden exploration involved chewing. In fact I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that the breeder’s going to need to replace her garden hose:

In the meantime, we’ve been stocking up on chew toys in the hope that Beanie will chose those over our leather sofa. We’ve got a couple of “Kongs” - hardy rubber toys designed to be loaded with food, and a rubber ball that also acts as a satisfying kibble delivery mechanism. From what I’ve read, it’s a good idea to use such toys for normal feeding, rather than using a typical doggy bowl. Wild dogs apparently spend the majority of their waking hours hunting/scavenging for food. Domestic dogs don’t need to hunt, but handing their food out in a bowl leaves their days very empty, leading to all manner of mischievous behavior (goodbye sofa, plants, shoes, any trailing wires etc.) and excessive dependence on human company.

We’ve also found a couple of puppy training classes nearby. These classes are probably as much about socialization (getting pups to feel comfortable around other dogs, people and children) as they are about training. That makes them pretty much essential, and we’ll definitely be taking Beanie along when we get her.

Over the weekend we received some new photos from the breeder. There were three female pups that hadn’t been picked at that point, and we were asked to say if we had a preference.

Pup #1 was particularly affectionate with everyone she met, but had very sparse markings on her body - she was mostly white. Pup #2 had classic tricolor markings and a sweet face, but was slightly smaller than the rest and was gaining a reputation as an escape artist. Pup #3 also had decent markings and a gentle expression but a rather domed head.

Initially we went for #3 but then spent the rest of the day having second thoughts. And third thoughts. Every time we reviewed the photos our favorite changed. In the end it didn’t matter because the decision was made for us by other people ahead of us in the list: pup number 2 was going to be ours. Here she is:

We drove over to see her today, and the photos don’t come anywhere close to doing her justice! She’s absolutely gorgeous, with a confident, inquisitive and happy nature. It was all pure chance, but I think we got the pick of the bunch. We’ve arranged with the breeder to pick her up just after Christmas - at that point she’ll be about 11 weeks old, and will have had the OK from the vet to explore the outside world. Needless to say, we can’t wait to get her home.

We hung around at the breeders for a good while, holding and stroking our pup, and watching the whole litter at play. It was an amazing thing to see. For about half an hour there was a frenzy of sniffing, chewing, jumping and running around. The fresh newspaper lining their play area was ripped and chewed up in seconds, and the breeder herself was nearly tripped up by a determined assault on her shoelaces. Then quite suddenly the pups ran out of energy and fell asleep in a disorganized heap of paws, bottoms and floppy ears. All except for one particularly vocal youngster that is. He kept going like the Duracell bunny on acid. Whoever gets him is going to have some sleepless nights for a while!

You can see a short video of three of the pups here. Our pup is the one on the left, intently chewing on the legs of a rubber chicken. We’ve called her Beanie - a name that really seems appropriate after seeing her and her siblings jumping about.

We got an update from the breeder today. A few of the people above us in the list have canceled leaving three or so females in the litter that haven’t got a home yet. That means we’ll get some choice over our pup, which is good news. Even better news though is that the update contained a few images:

That’s the full litter of 10 at around four and half weeks old. Unfortunately one of the males isn’t doing too well, and may have to be put down if he doesn’t improve. One of the pups at the center of the photo looks quite a bit smaller than the rest - maybe that’s him. Let’s hope the little fella pulls through.

And here are a couple individual shots from the litter:

Prior to getting the breeder’s email, we went on a major shopping expedition for our new arrival. Maybe it’s a bit early given that we won’t actually be getting our Beagle for another 6 weeks or so, but we didn’t want to buy later and run the risk of hitting Christmas / New Year shortages. Actually the “shortages” idea is probably bogus but it’s the justification I chose to use for this latest retail therapy session.

Among our purchases were a sturdy and roomy crate, a ridiculously extravagant paw-shaped cushion(!) and a “puppy soother” - a pad that heats up in the microwave to ease the pup’s separation from the puppy pile. It’ll be great to see our little youngster on the cushion, though in all likelihood she’ll end up peeing on it. Speaking of which, I found it interesting that nearly all the products for house training puppies had a picture of a beagle on the front. Are they trying to tell us something…?

We had an exciting time this morning. One of the beagle breeders we’d contacted through the Scottish Beagle Club site invited us to come see a two and a half week old litter of 10 pups. With such a large litter, she said we’d be pretty much assured to get one of the female pups after Christmas, though we wouldn’t get our pick of the litter since we were pretty much at the end of the waiting list. That all sounded fine to us, so we jumped into the car and headed straight over.

Now everybody knows puppies are seriously cute, but still nothing prepared me for the sight of 10 sleepy little pups all piled up on top of one another. The cute-o-meter swung even further to the right when one of them rolled over onto his back in the throws of a doggy dream. But all that was nothing compared to how amazing it feels to hold one of those tiny, trusting bundles in your own hands.

The pups’ mother was on hand to meet us, though in classic beagle fashion she seemed much more interested in food. In fact it was up to the pups to get themselves out of the way when mum was looking for a comfortable position to consume her chewy stick. I suppose the sudden appearance of ten new babies would be enough to leave anyone feeling in need of comfort food.

All the beagles we saw at the breeders home lived up to what we’d read about the breed: happy, outgoing and affectionate dogs, with plenty of character and a tendency toward mischief. This left us in no doubt that we’d chosen the right kind of dog, and now it was just up to the breeder to make sure that we were the right people to own a beagle.

As expected the breeder wanted to make sure that we’d got a decent garden for our little chum, and fully appreciated the beagle’s penchant for escape attempts and “selective hearing” when on the trail of an interesting scent. She seemed satisfied that we’d done our homework and would be able to give our dog the attention and care it deserves.

So as things stand now we can be pretty sure we’ve seen our future family member, we just don’t know which one yet! That question should be answered in a few weeks once the breeder has decided which pups she’s keeping. That’s fine by me, in fact I’m kind of glad the decision has been taken out of our hands - how do you choose one from ten equally gorgeous little furballs?