Back when Monkey was a smaller boy than he is now, his big sister Poppy took him up Loudoun Hill. I had to get my hand under his bum to give him a boost up the more difficult bits, but he made it.
Now a very much bigger boy, Monkey has escorted his titch-of-a-sister Daisy on her own little adventure up the same hill.
Somewhat embarrassingly I still had to put my hand under his bum and give him a little boost up as we traversed a big step right early in the walk. Given that he’s such a big boy and an extremely good jumper, I have to put this down either toa sudden lack of confidence in his own abilities, or a desire to get his behind patted by a humie. I think the odds favor the second explanation because The Monkster certainly appreciates a bit of hands-on action in the bum area, but regardless, little Daisy was so eager to make progress that she scrambled up that big step all by herself.
I was the one needing help on the way down; a week earlier I’d damaged my knee in a rather embarassing trip accident that shouldn’t have happened to anyone under the age of 70. Monkey and Daisy were of the opinion that best way to help that knee heal was to pull erraticly on the steepest bits, forcing me to apply the emergency brake every couple of steps. This is probably one of the reasons why there are no Beagle physiotherapists. In due course we got to the bottom without aggravating my injury too much, and there was lots of contented snoozing that afternoon as both pups processed all the different sights and smells they’d encountered.
Once the snoozing had concluded, it was back to business as usual!
Note the little tan spot on daisy’s tummy. She’s our first Beagle to a have a tummy marking, and she’s also our naughtiest Beagle; could that spot be where all the extra naughty is stored?
