Another coin in the tickle meter!

Posted on February 12, 2011 by Paul

If your doggy had pocket money and understood that it could be exchanged for goods and services, what would he/she spend it on? Or perhaps I should ask what would he/she spend it on if they were NOT allowed to use it to buy more treats?

I think Biggles would use his hard-earned pennies to buy more tummy tickle time. Actually when I say tummy tickle, I guess I really mean chest massage, but whatever you want to call it, it’s his favorite thing when he’s lounging on the sofa. A good tickle session is accompanied by wild, rolling eyes that make him look like a possessed child from a horror movie. And if you stop before he’s ready, he’ll drag you back in by contorting into an even more alluring pose.

With Beanie things aren’t so clear cut. She might spend some of her pocket money to buy a longer lie-in on a morning..

Getting out of bed is sooo over-rated!

She might even contribute to our decorating fund, because smearing muddy paws over a dirty wall soon loses its appeal. On the other hand if it’s been recently painted, well a girl’s just gotta do and all that..

I’m pretty sure she’d also invest some of her cash in more toilet rolls. You just can’t beat a good toilet roll when you’re in the mood for it..

Come to think of it, maybe Biggles would consider swapping cash for loo rolls too..

Oh yeah, money well spent!

Anyway, a couple of other noteworthy things happened this week besides me getting RSI from excessive tummy tickles, our bedroom wall getting wrecked, and the destruction of multiple bog rolls. The first thing is that Beanie and Biggles have once again helped us to personal best times while canicrossing at the Strathclyde parkrun 5k. Susan & Beanie soundly broke the 30 minute barrier (her first time with Beanie alone), and me and the Bigglet actually dipped below 23 minutes – which was even faster than the time I set when I ran with both our Beagles!

The other noteworthy event is somewhat.. “intimate”. Beanie has long enjoyed humping Susan’s leg, and this week she had what I can only describe as a “pee-gasm”. Just as her humping reached a crescendo, she peed on Susan’s leg. Not just a few little drops shaken loose by her exertions mind you, but a full-on wizz that left the lower portion of Susan’s jeans rather soggy. I bet you won’t see that on any episodes of Caesar Milan’s Dog Whisperer UK series!

56 legs, 7723 steps and a Belgian Bun or two

Posted on February 6, 2011 by Paul

We had an absolutely brilliant group canicross run this morning at Eglinton park, despite rather grotty weather:

The group photo was taken before the run of course – before we got rain-soaked and mud splattered! Including me behind the camera we had ten humies (Lorraine, Jordan, Susan, Brian, Tracey & Caitlin, Morag, Lyndsay and Alice) and nine dogs (Mylo, Poppy the Pointer, Beanie, Biggles, Bundy, Poppy the Lab, Jet, Suko & Beamer)!

We’d been for several walks at Eglinton over the past couple of weeks to work out a route that would suit runners of different ability ranges, and eventually came up with 4k, 6k and near-enough 10k courses that overlapped each other so there’d be a good chance that the various groups of runners would bump into one another from time to time:

http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/GammyKnee/4kk08ic6e3iaol8r

Biggles and I did the 10k (well, 9.8k) version shown above, while Susan and Beanie did the 6k. It worked out really well, because the 10k group met up with the 4k-ers at one point, and the 6k never fell far behind the 10k-ers. That’s just what we wanted – different groups doing different distances yet still feeling that we were all part of the same run.

I was very proud of my little Biggles’ performance. Ten kilometres is at the upper end of my range, but his enthusiasm and timely pulling assistance really kept me going, and I’m certain he loved every minute of it. Some of the time he got to run alongside Huskie Suko and feel like a proper big boy, at other times he got to run with his pal Bundy (who has never pulled his tail, unlike his naughty sister Beanie!) and all the while he was following in the tracks of Poppy the Pointer. We’d met Poppy and her owner Jordan at last week’s Strathclyde parkrun – they’re very capable runners and acted as the pace-setters for our little group, which was ideal because Biggles, Bundy and Suko are never that keen on taking pole position.

The Beanster also had a very good run. She’s really learned what canicross is about and takes her “job” very seriously; she stayed directly in front of Susan through the whole run, refusing to be led astray by sniffs and other doggies. What’s more, because of her agility training she was able to follow Susan’s left and right commands faultlessly at every turning point.

Amazingly the good behavior from our dynamic duo continued when we all went to the cafe for refreshments and a good chin/tail wag. Dogs are allowed inside the cafe (rare in Scotland!) and with Belgian Buns and other goodies on the table I was expecting chaos, but apart from a little woofing when other people came through the door it was remarkably peaceful. What’s more the cafe staff won’t have to worry about sweeping up our crumbs because Beanie has already done the cleanup, and very thoroughly I might add!

Some shots from the 6k route – taken on a previous day when it wasn’t quite so wet:

Plentiful fresh horse poo may be available from the large, stringy-tailed dispensers near the start of the route. Eat it or roll in it, whatever’s your pleasure!

On the way up to the standing stones. A harder climb than it first appears!

After all the hilly bits, a nice stretch of easy running

One of the more attractive bridges on the course

The ruins of Eglinton Castle in the distance

Another easy run leading to the final bridge

The start of the home “straight”, although in reality it’s kind of winding! Less than a 1k to go!

Gone In Forty-Odd Minutes

Posted on February 1, 2011 by Paul

In the film Gone In Sixty Seconds, Nicolas Cage’s car “Eleanor” is fitted with a cylinder of nitrous oxide to give it an extra boost in emergencies. I’ve got an emergency booster too; he runs on methane rather than nitrous oxide and his name is Biggles. Today on our canicross run round Whitelee wind farm he really came through for me as we attempted to reach the top of a particularly testing hill!

Rather than running a circular course, the eight of us (Lyndsay & Suko, Carol Rogers & Jack, Susan & Beanie and me and The Boy) just set off on one of the major routes from the visitor center and ran as far as we could for 20 minutes, then turned right around and ran back. The route took us through some undulating terrain with one long, pretty steep climb on the return leg. I was really dying on that hill, but The Biggly Boy got a timely burst of enthusiasm that helped me keep going all the way to the top.

By the time we got back to the starting point we’d clocked up nearly 7.5k. That’s quite a distance when you’ve only got short white furry legs and your dad is tied to you like a millstone, but there was no sign of flat batteries when we got back home; as I served up his breakfast he jumped up so high he nearly headbutted me, and though he did crash out in style on the sofa later, he couldn’t resist coming to investigate any time one of us went into the kitchen.

Beanie on the other hand snook into ~~our~~ her bedroom and disappeared under the covers for a couple of hours. I don’t think this was indicative of extreme knackeredness though, it’s just what spoilt princesses do on an afternoon. Beauty sleep must never be neglected!

Here’s a little snippet of video from our run: