Beagle Dog Trophy Race

Posted on September 8, 2008 by Susan

Yesterday was the Beagle Dog Trophy Race. There were four contenders :

– Murphy (Recent Derby Winner)
– Milo (Last Year’s Trophy Winner & 2nd in Recent Derby)
– Bailey (Only 2nd visit to the racing)
– Benny (First time at the racing this year)

When Milo arrived he didn’t know it was an important race for him today. He had won the trophy last year and was supposed to bring it back so that it could be presented to this year’s winner. Poor Milo – his mum & dad hadn’t even got his name engraved on it yet!!! His mum was sent home to fetch the trophy and a little bird tells us that she was frantically polishing the dust off with her jumper en-route back to the track!

Based upon past performances I think we all knew it was between Murphy and Milo, but they are so close in ability that it was anyone’s guess who the winner would be. It was a close race but Milo won, keeping the trophy for a second year. Murphy was a close second followed by Bailey then Benny.

Milo is presented with his trophy

Milo, Murphy and Bailey

After the important race of the day was over we just had a series of fun runs. First Beanie had a race against three bitches and won by several yards. So a promising start.

Milo’s little sister Jess was a bit naughty in her first race and started playfully jostling race favorite Inca half way down the track. Of course, Inca was only too happy to abandon the race for a bit of mischief. When it was time for Jess’s next race her mum held her back for a few seconds so that Jess was out of harms way and couldn’t scupper the other dog’s chances. Well, that was the plan, but in actual fact Jess rose to the challenge and came VERY close to winning. She finished in second place despite starting several yards behind the pack!

Next Beanie was up against Milo and Murphy and got well and truly trounced by them. In recent weeks she’s been keeping very close to them and loosing by less than a dog’s length. But today she was probably several yards behind them. She won her next race, but she was quite sluggish. She made up speed later in the races, but she started slower than normal every time. It could be because she was pooped after Saturday’s mega run in the park. But we are keeping a close eye just in case her recent change to a raw diet isn’t suiting her as well as we thought!

We finished up with a fun run with all the dogs racing together. Murphy was first, followed by Beanie. Although to be fair Milo never does well in the fun runs as he always seems to be more interested in naughtiness and nonsense on his way down the track!.

Beagle Hill

Posted on September 6, 2008 by Paul

Both Susan and I were in need of an uplifting couple of hours with Beanie at the park this morning, but as we entered the so-called “puppy field” at the lower end, it looked deserted. Then we caught sight of the infamous Labradoodle duo Zack and Amber. Beanie gets along brilliantly with Amber – she’s playful and very fast, so I figured Beanie would at least get plenty of good quality chases. I wasn’t wrong!

Before long another Doodle called Lola charged onto the scene and immediately joined in the fun:

And it just kept getting better and better. Tess and her pups Tara and Clara arrived, quickly followed by Beanie’s sister Bella.

Clara, Tara and Bella

I was amazed at how much the pups had grown in the two weeks since I’d last seen them. Their confidence had grown too – they were totally at home with the other, much bigger dogs and even gave Beanie a chase!

And as for Tess, well just take a look! I’ve never seen her so full of energy!

Bella also seemed much happier and more playful than last time. She made a beeline for Beanie when she arrived and the two set off on a mad dash round the field:

Beanie and Bella

Beanie is still a lot faster than her sister but Bella is catching up. With any luck she’ll put in an appearance at the Beagle Racing. It’d be quite something to see the two of them chasing the lure down the track! There’d be a lot of pressure on Beanie to win of course. In fact I think Beanie already feels a little threatened by her new, high speed, high energy sister. What makes me think that? Well, how about a few attempted humpings for a start:

A perfect demonstration of lateral head-humping. And she keeps hold of the ball too!

Robbie the retriever – now fully recovered from his previous exposure to the Beanie Chase Workout – also joined in the fun:

He seems fitter and faster too, but not quite fast enough to bite Beanie’s bum:

In a brief moment of non-chasing, the two sisters spotted another Beagle heading their way: Baxter.

Baxter’s a very handsome, well behaved boy. He knows that you don’t get a treat unless you sit patiently. I just wish Beanie would follow his lead:

How to do it (Baxter), and how not to do it (Beanie)

So, that was six Beagles together in the park. Almost enough for a small hunting pack!

The retriever community was quite well represented too, though:

You splash me..

I’ll splash you right back!

But as Tess’s mum Louise said, with so many Beagles romping up and down the field, maybe they should call it Beagle Hill!

[NOTE: I’ve put these photos and few others up on Flickr – just click here to see the full set!]

Retail Therapy

Posted on September 5, 2008 by Paul

I felt the need for some RT this week so I upgraded my camera. I’m not up to speed with it yet (it’s got more bells and whistles than a pet shop) but I gave it a try on my favorite subject. The image quality is way better than on the previous camera – click each photo to see a larger version. You can see the dew on the grass and even the water droplets thrown up by Beanie as she’s running in some of them!

Is it teatime yet?