Jump!

Posted on July 28, 2022 by Paul

A couple of weeks ago Poppy had her first birthday and we decided to give her a little go at agility-style jumping. As you can see she ended up doing very well, but it took a while to get her there. The biggest obstacle was that we haven’t yet taught her to appreciate the virtues of a tennis ball, and all the agility training we did with Beanie and Biggles relies on being able to use a tennis ball as a marker/lure. Without that extra visual cue, she just didn’t see the point of jumping when she could easily run round the jump.

Although still only 9 months old, Monkey has regularly demonstrated his jumping ability by leaping over low fences intended to protect our horticultural projects, so we let him have a go too. He has a stronger prey drive than Poppy, so when I ran and jumped over the bar he followed me instinctively, and in turn Poppy followed him.

This soon progressed to the two of them chasing after a tug toy thrown over the bar, and eventually I could put Poppy in a sit-wait behind the bar and recall her over it – not at all bad for our first agility session with the new pups! However, towards the end of the session both Susan and I started getting the feeling that we were being watched, and not in a friendly way. Ever had the experience as a kid where you were doing something a bit naughty and then felt the eyes of a disapproving teacher boring into the back of your head? That’s exactly how it was for us, and when we turned round to look for the source, we saw The Beanster up on the deck, staring intently at us. Susan described the look on Beanie’s face as being like Halloween’s Michael Myers watching his next victim just before the kill; personally I likened it to a scowling Clint Eastwood in the build up to a Spaghetti Western gunfight. Regardless, we both knew we were in trouble and that we should bring Beanie down and let her in on the action.

Now close to 15 years old Beanie hadn’t performed an agility jump in over 2 years, but she seemed eager to try. I honestly wasn’t expecting her to manage it, but she cleared the bar. It was certainly not her best performance – as a youngster she used to sail over the bar even at its highest setting – but she was keen to go again. Her second attempt was better and by her third pass, she was flying over the bar confidently. We stopped at this point for fear of overdoing things, but it was fantastic to see her in flight again.

To finish, here are a few shots of Poppy’s Dinner-time dance and a bit of slow-wading at the beach, which is I think one of the habits that has kept Beanie in good shape.

Voodoo rituals are part of dinner time in Poppy’s world.

If you don’t do the dance, dinner might not happen!

It’s a serious business for sure!

Thanks to her efforts, this dinner was served

A bit of slow wading in shallow and then deeper water keeps Beanie lifting her feet and gives her a gentle resistance workout

Of course it does mean that I get very wet feet

All Change

Posted on July 13, 2022 by Paul

Over the last few months – against all our initial expectations – Beanie seemed to be the most accepting of our new generation of pups, leaving Biggles as the grumpy old loner. More recently however, Beanie has made it very clear that she’s had enough of Monkey’s SID projects (Spherical Ideas Department). His puppy license has either expired or been rendered null and void and he’s been on the receiving end of some forthright telling-offs. Despite this, the moment he sees Beanie it’s obvious that some very unwise ideas are forming in his head; his tail goes bolt upright and trembles, and silly expression comes over his face that says: “I think I can do it and run away fast enough before Beanie bites my bum. Yep, I’m gonna do it!”. We have no idea what the “it” is, but we don’t want to find out, and more particularly we don’t want Beanie to find out, so we’ve re-tightened up our supervision of Monkey both in and out of the house, and taken steps to ensure that Beanie can have guaranteed Monkey and Poppy-free periods in the day.

As part of this we’ve partitioned the deck at the back of our house so that Beanie (and/or Biggles) can come out and snoop on the proceedings, safe in the knowledge that neither of the pups can molest them. We jokingly refer to this arrangement as Beanie’s Penthouse Suite and private veranda, as she accesses the deck through our second, “posh” lounge.

Early indications are that this is restoring Beanie’s patience with Monkey, but in the meantime, Biggles has suddenly started bonding with Poppy and Monkey. It’s very common to see the three of them out in front, shoulder-to-shoulder on walks, and in the garden Biggles has shown signs of wanting to join in with some of Poppy and Monkey’s activities. He’s even turned up with them when it’s their midday crate time, although that might have more to do with the treat they get on entering their crates than any blossoming friendship.

All this may make it seem like Beanie is becoming the pack outsider, but in reality I think it’s just underlining her status as leader; when the throne is yours you don’t want or need to go fraternising with the plebs.

In other news, Monkey has been getting better at cocking his leg, but he lacks confidence in the manoeuvre and only does it when he thinks no-one is watching him. Oddly he has no such reticence when it comes to letting Mr Pinky out of his furry sleeping bag, no matter how inappropriate the timing.

Beanie has now made so many pilgrimages to the grave of the unknown seal on the beach that she permanently smells of rotted carcass. She may have hoped that her perma-stink might protect her from soppy cuddles, but it hasn’t worked. Come to think of it, it may the fact that she smells soooo good that’s been attracting Monkey and encouraging Mr Pinky out into the opening. I guess too much of anything – even essence of departed seal – can be a bad thing.

Finally, Poppy is starting to find her voice. She’s howled at the postman and a sweet old lady who was wearing a bright red raincoat. Unfortunately for Poppy, her voice is entirely in line with her diminutive stature. She needs to get some lessons from Beanie on how to deliver the perfect howl of death, because the current howl of a slightly irritated gerbil isn’t impressing anyone.

It’s so unfair!

Posted on July 6, 2022 by Paul

When your sibling has a really good chew and you don’t, and you don’t feel able to steal it, how should you deal with the situation? It’s simple: just lie on your side and howl your head off :)