It was a white Christmas, then it wasn’t.

Posted on December 4, 2010 by Paul

Our regular “parkrun” in Glasgow celebrated its 100th run and second anniversary this weekend, and was expected to have a really high turnout – not the most ideal conditions for running with dogs. We went along anyway – not to take part, but so that I could get some photos of the run and the two Bs could get a walk in one of their favorite old parks. As it turned out, a particularly heavy fall of the white stuff cut the number of participants down to below even the normal weekly level..

The run begins..

And the leaders head off on the first of three one-mile laps round a huge snow-covered field

As the tail of the pack went past me, I noticed three familiar figures tagging on at the end..

Despite being dressed more for an arctic expedition than a run, one of the marshals and two eager little Beagles had managed to talk Susan into joining the run. She only did one lap as heavy duty walking boots aren’t the best footwear for a 5K, but it was still appreciated by Beanie and Biggles; they got the rare chance to run as a single team rather than separately. And they loved it!

As we headed back home we planned to celebrate an anniversary of our own. It was exactly one year ago that we moved house and began our new life in Ayrshire – something worth marking with some Christmas cheer, and all the more fitting given all the snow on the ground. However when we got home, the snow had all but gone. Our area had only received a light dusting at best, and a short burst of above freezing temperatures had dispatched the last of it.

Still, the lack of snow didn’t get in the way of our decorations. The presence of our Beagles did get in the way of course – repeatedly – even though they both insisted that they were there to help.

Beanie’s chewing the tree, and Biggles has already been exiled for doing the same

Baubles! I can definitely help with them Mum!

Biggles seems hurt that we don’t want his “help”

And Beanie’s gone off to the other side of the room in a huff!

The sad life of the unappreciated Beagle

Our trees eventually went up..

..but I’m doubtful about how long they’ll stay up. This one in particular could be taking a fall before long:

The red “tablecloth” round that tree looks so tempting…

When it does, Biggles will be the chief suspect. The reason is that Biggles fancies himself as a magician. On several occasions he’s successfully made freshly baked peanut butter cookies disappear, and has even magicked away a loaf of bread. Now, he’s trying to master the tablecloth trick. His version of this entertaining classic comes with a twist though; where run-of-the-mill magicians merely withdraw the tablecloth leaving everything else intact, Biggles prefers to dump everything on the floor then chew as much of it as possible, aided by his glamorous assistant Beanie.

Click here to see the full set of shots I took at the 100th Glasgow parkrun.

Dr. Biggles and Mr Hyde

Posted on November 26, 2010 by Paul

We’ve always let our pups out of their crates and into our bed for a few minutes of snuggles before we get up, and they love it, but now it’s getting really cold they’re particularly eager to get under the covers with us on a morning. While they appreciate us sharing our bed with them, they’re not quite so generous; we often end up getting pushed out of bed as they stretch out. Clearly the bed’s not big enough for four of us, but sometimes it’s not even big enough for two of us, and a squabble breaks out..

It seems peaceful enough at first..

Then our two bedroom gladiators lock eyes..

And suddenly the fight is on!

It’s a no holds-barred punch up and it brings out a side of our little boy that others rarely see

The transformation begins…

and the normally mild mannered Dr. Biggles becomes..

Mr Hyde!

In addition to chewing each other, our pups also like to chew rawhide, paddywhack, pigs ears and tripe sticks. In a bid to save a bit of money I ordered up a big 5Kg box of paddywhack rather than getting the small, overpriced packets in the supermarket. It came just a couple of days ago and I’m happy to say it looks like a good deal, but there is a slight problem; unlike the stuff in the supermarket packs, this paddywhack hasn’t been cut into small chunks. I’d never tried cutting paddywhack until now, and the stuff is like iron!

Scissors? Forget it!

Garden shears? Not a chance!

I ended up breaking out the power tools. Really. I spent a good fifteen minutes stood out in the freezing cold cutting up the foot-long strips of tendon and ligament with my jigsaw. By the time I’d finished the blade was nearly blunt – and this is the stuff we give to our doggies for a recreational chewing session! It shows just how powerful our Beagles’s chewing gear is – if I tried to crunch down on this stuff I’d be spitting out broken teeth for sure.

Run Santa, Run!

Posted on November 22, 2010 by Paul

What’s the most surreal thing you can think of doing on a clear but cold Sunday afternoon in November? How about running along Ayr’s sea front with 100+ other people in a Santa suit? Yep, today was the day of the annual Santa Charity Dash in aid of Ayrshire Cancer Support, and the four of us were part of it.

The course was around 5K long and totally hill-free, but perhaps best of all, the race kicked off at the very civilized time of 3pm so there was plenty of time for the traditional Sunday lie-in. Once we’d finally emerged from the safety of our warm bed our thoughts turned first to breakfast, then to preparation for the run. Beanie and Biggles felt that their prep time would be best served by a rigorous warm up run round the garden:

Meanwhile we got our running gear together. The entry fee for the run gets you a cheap and cheerful one-size-fits-all paper thin Santa costume, but the pants looked a bit on the small side so we decided to try them on before the race to avoid any embarrassing surprises. The costumes were a bit tight in places though we did fit into them OK, but they certainly gave our pups a shock when they came in from the garden. Beanie threw her head back and howled for all she was worth, then having got over the shock, ran over to Susan and promptly tried to rip the bobble off her Santa hat!

That’s not the first bobble that Beanie’s attacked. Earlier in the week I got a doggy Santa hat and scarf set from Poundland for Biggles (Beanie already has her own full Santa jacket) and almost the moment I came in the door she snatched at the poly bag it was in. I wrestled it free and called Biggles for a test fitting, then noticed that his little hat was bobble-free. I turned around and Beanie was lying on the floor with the missing bobble between her paws, tearing it to shreds.

A sombre moment for Biggles, who now faces life without a bobble on his Santa hat

It was justified revenge I guess; last year when Beanie first went out in her posh winter jacket Biggles peed on it. Anyway, I took great care to protect Biggles’ scarf from damage. Speaking of Biggles, he used Beanie’s distraction to launch his own attack on Susan’s Santa beard:

Since he was doing so well with the beard, Beanie decided to join in:

Once the preparations were complete (and Susan’s beard was an inch and a half longer) we headed off to Ayr to join the growing crowd of Santas at the amphitheatre – the starting point of the race.

Biggles wore his Santa scarf proudly, and Beanie looked great in her Santa coat so I squatted down to get a photo:

As I did so I heard a brief “pop” from down below, and when I stood up again things felt kind of breezy around my groin. Yep, my economy sized bum had torn the stitches of my one-size-fits-everyone-else-but-me Santa pants. Fortunately I had shorts on underneath, and anyway I didn’t feel that my dignity had been compromised because I was already standing around like a tool dressed in a Santa suit in the middle of November.

In due course the race got under way, and things went pretty well apart from a short stop for a Biggle poo. I could hardly hold that against him given that our roles had been reversed last weekend (see previous post) but he still bayed like crazy when I delayed us further by fumbling with the poo bag.

The race finished in the town center to the sound of bagpipes, and after collecting our medal and water, we found a good position to wait for Susan and Beanie. We didn’t have to wait too long; Susan had a decent run after being thwarted last week by cramped calf muscles. As they headed up the street towards us, Beanie – who up to that point had been very well behaved – suddenly went into “spider-beagle” mode. She darted about from side to side, stretching out long and low to reach something by the gutter. Pizza! Yep, she’d scored a chunk a of discarded pizza, and now she was on the hunt for more. Me and Biggles joined Susan and Beanie for their last few yards, but Beanie barely noticed. Anything and everything within range ended up in her mouth, and soon she lucked out again with a couple of prawn crackers. Not a bad haul for a little Beagle dressed in a Santa costume! She was a nightmare on the way back to the car, so we went part of the way via the beach – less to pick up there!

I have to admit that this experience has given me new respect for the real Santa Claus. He never complains about how itchy his beard is, never loses the bobble on his hat, and never splits his pants. Let’s hear it for Santa!

Here’s a little video of the highlights from the day: