Flyball New Year Walk 2010

Posted on January 24, 2010 by Paul

Great day today! All the regulars from the Lomond Flyball Club met us at Irvine beach for their New Year walk. We haven’t seen them for a while due to the house move, Christmas and of course the recent deep freeze so it was great to get together with everyone again.

Beanie & Biggles were initially a little overwhelmed by the huge gathering of dogs but once the walk got under way they got into the swing of things.

Obviously this was an off-lead walk for most dogs, and we were sorely tempted to let our two run free as well. It’s been quite a while since they’ve been off-lead together rather than singly – the temptation to go off on their own high-speed adventures is usually too much for them to resist. This time however they seemed genuinely interested in joining their buddies Robbie and Sam, who are both pretty well behaved off-lead.

Robbie

Sam

Surely with them as role models our two would behave themselves? Eh, no.. not really. As soon as Susan unclipped their leads, they shot off down the beach straight past their pals. Little Robbie wanted to follow them but once he got too far away from his Mum, he turned around and ran back. It could be said that our two did the same, if you allow for the fact that their idea of “too far away” is very different from ours!

The look on their faces says it all. “Yep we’ve been naughty, and it was NICE!”

Of course treats are nice too..

..but that mouthful of chicken comes at a price. Beanie & Biggles, you’re nicked!

That was the end of their off-lead antics for the day, but they still had a good time walking with the group. We even ran into a couple of other Beagles – two boys, both young like our two, but way, way larger. And much, much better off lead!

Yep, well behaved Beagles. Just rub it in why don’t you!

On the other hand, their hunting skills were woefully lacking. They completely neglected their woofing duties when some horses passed by, leaving Beanie & Biggles to do all the work. That’s a heavy burden on young shoulders, but they have a strong sense of duty, our two.

Given that we were walking with fit flyballing dogs there was bound to be some impressive acrobatics:

But even the professionals can get into squabbles about who’s supposed to be doing what!

After the walk everyone headed back to our house for hot cuppas and some nibbles. To avoid the nibbles being nibbled illegally I had to put Beanie & Biggles in their crates. They took this remarkably well, though there was a bit of wailing when the hot sausage rolls came out of the oven. They got even with me when we let them out of their crates though. There were a couple of sausage rolls and cakes left over from the gathering and I fancied my chances of polishing them off, but I didn’t realise I hadn’t closed the kitchen door properly until it was too late.

“Hi Dad!”
Leap
Gobble

And it was all gone.

Flyball starts up again in February, and we can’t wait to see the gang again for our first training session of 2010.

Big Foot & The Amazing Telescopic Sock

Posted on January 16, 2010 by Paul

A couple of days ago – just as it looked like we were finally going to be rid of the ice and snow – the sky turned grey and down came a fresh layer of the white stuff. In a way it was kind of welcome; it’s way easier to walk on fresh snow than on partially thawed ice, and my bum, back and left knee were still sore from a couple of Beagle-induced falls. Anyway we headed to the beach and set off on our morning walk.

It was quiet, really really quiet, and as the three of us left our tracks in the virgin snow I began to wonder if we were the first on the beach that morning. I quickly concluded that was unlikely given that I’m a lazy git who needs a nuke to get me out of bed, but still, where were the other tracks? Eventually we did find evidence of other walkers, and evidence of.. something else..

The paw prints in the upper half of the shot belong to Beanie and/or Biggles, but who or what left the huge print in the lower half? Last year after a fresh snowfall we ran into a Yeti, clearly this time we’d crossed paths with Big Foot! Beanie & Biggles immediately locked onto BF’s trail and together we set off in pursuit of our prey.

He went that-a-way! Possibly..

The thing is, Beanie and Biggles aren’t quite the ace trackers they think they are. Many’s the time I’ve been pulled along the beach as they follow horseshoe prints that are clearly going in the opposite direction. When I petition them for an emergency re-sniffing they ignore me, instead getting into a squabble about who’s baying correctly (Biggles is certainly the loudest, but I think he’s a bit of a babbler, and so apparently does Beanie). And so it was this time. Our hunt descended into in a big play fight, and by the time I’d broken it up and untangled the leads, the three of us had forgotten all about Big Foot.

OK, so we didn’t find Big Foot, but Beanie & Biggles have made one of my socks big enough to fit him. The initial sock grab was made by Beanie. Biggles is a member of Sockaholics Anonymous and has been on the wagon for some months now (though he has developed a tea towel addiction) but he fell off the wagon spectacularly when his big sister waved my extra smelly foot garment in his face.

By the time the resulting tug of war was over my sock had tripled in length and had numerous holes for enhanced ventilation.

This isn’t the only undergarment that has received some Beagle modifications. Yesterday I became aware that my left arse cheek wasn’t quite as well contained as the right one, and subsequent examination revealed a large ventilation hole in my underpants. If the hole had been any further to the east it could have hampered by ability to deal with those really insistent personal itches.

The Secret Life Of The Dog

Posted on January 10, 2010 by Paul

In case you missed it, there was a really interesting programme on the Beeb on Thursday. It examined the relationship between humans and dogs and highlighted some interesting discoveries made recently:

The hormone involved in the bonding process between humans and babies may also play a part in the bond between humans and dogs
All dogs have their roots in the wolf, but there are genuine behavioral differences that have been brought about by selective breeding rather than through nurture
Dogs have mastered some pretty amazing human interaction skills – they readily understand the action of pointing and appear to study our facial expressions

I think one part of the program will bring a smile to Beagle owners in particular. It covers an experiment where wolf cubs were raised in the house just like regular pups to see if they’d grow up to behave like domestic dogs. They didn’t, and the person raising them commented on the behavioral differences she observed. For example, whenever she opened a cupboard the cubs would magically appear between her and the cupboard contents; they would jump onto tables, steal things and run off, and act very possessively over certain items. “Dogs don’t do this” she said. Apparently she’s never encountered a Beaglet.

Anyway, you can still catch the programme online via the Beeb’s “iPlayer”: http://bbc.co.uk/i/pssgh/