Beanie had her usual good romp in the park this morning.

She also helped introduce a newcomer to the pack: Tyson, a 17 week old German Shepherd.

This was Tyson’s very first time off-lead – in fact his training class discourages any off-lead walks until the dog is a year old. That sounded pretty crazy to us after all we’ve read about the importance of socialization, and our own experience in letting Beanie off lead early. Tyson’s owner was naturally a little nervous at first, but he clearly loved the new experience. He met a few of the regulars – Kirby, Zack, Amber and Stella – and though they were mostly absorbed in their own games, he seemed to get on well.

It’s obvious he’s going to be a very big boy though – he’s nearly as big as 7 month old Kirby already, and just look at the size of his paws!

If all goes well there’ll be another new pup in the park in a couple of months time, and he’ll be ours. Yep, we’re getting another Beagle, a boy this time, to give Beanie a permanent playmate. We’re home with her all day but still it’s just not the same as having another four legged pal to play with.

Until recently the plan had been to get a boy when Beanie was older, around 18 months (she’s just coming up to 1 year old now) but a few things convinced us to bring things forward. Recently Beanie’s sister Bella has been coming to the park and it’s simply wonderful to see the two of them playing together. She has so much fun that we have to practically drag her back to the car when the walk’s over, no matter how much energy she’s burned up! Also, the timing would be great for next year. Biggles – we’ve had a name for him for some time already – will be past the 6 month stage by next Spring, and will be better able to participate in outings with Beanie. And, last but not least, we’ve had a death in the family – the third in 18 months, and we know from our experiences with Beanie that there’s nothing better to blow away the feeling of death and decay than a lively new puppy.

Biggles is currently about four weeks old, and lives way down in the South of England. He has the same dad as Beanie – Sheriff, aka Redcap Renaissance:

That’s not by chance! We particularly wanted a boy sired by Sheriff, as we think Beanie gets some of her looks and athletic ability from his side of the family.

Biggles’ Mum is Valsacre Concerto of Shercroft:

Interestingly there’s a fair chunk of Australian Beagle in her ancestry, but there’s also some Newlin in there, which we’re very happy about. In fact it was Beanie’s breeder Liz that told us about Biggles’ litter.

We don’t have any photos of the little fella just yet, but that should change soon. It’s a very exciting time, but it’s also made us acutely aware of aspects of Beanie’s behavior that we’d like to discourage through training. We don’t want Biggles picking up naughty habits from his big sister. After all, as a Beagle he’ll likely develop his own distinctive brand of naughtiness, and we wouldn’t have it any other way!