A Year at the Races in Glorious Technicolor!

We keep bumping into people that ask us about the Beagle racing. It’s hard to describe just how much fun it is for dogs and their two-legged companions, so I thought I’d put together a montage of the highlights from last year. It’s brought back lots of great memories – I’d forgotten we had so many lovely sunny days!!

Make sure you’ve got your sound switched on for full effect (or off if you’re at work!)

Beagle Racing 2008

It’s quite a big file so may be slow to download. Use this link if you prefer to download the whole file to your hard drive and play it from there:

Download Video Clip

Fast Progress!

Here’s another little clip of Beanie showing off her new found skill with the weave poles. She’s now chaining on other bits of equipment and will happily tackle the poles without me beside her – which is great news for an out-of-shape old handler (me) trying to keep up with a super-fast little doggie!

And yes, once again that is the Biggley Boy in the background complaining about being left out of the fun. We do play with him too….although listening to the fuss he makes when it’s someone elses turn you wouldn’t think so!

Who Says Beagles are Slow Learners?

As you know, Princess Beanie has taken a liking to agility and is proving to be quite good at it.

The most difficult bit of equipment for a dog to learn is the weave poles as it’s nothing like anything that a dog would do naturally. I’ve included weave poles in our practice sessions at the barn, but I’ve got Beanie through them by holding a lump of sausage in front of her nose. It’s not really much use, as although she negotiates the poles she’s oblivious to them. All she see’s is sausage. She needs to learn to tackle the weave poles on her own without my help. Our teacher, Carol, introduced us to the weave poles last Saturday, and Beanie’s Dad made us some out of pvc piping on Tuesday night so we could practice at home. Here’s a little clip of Beanie after just five days practice….

What a little star! I think that by the end of the week she’ll be flying through them on her own. Those Collies think they’re smart, but they won’t be a match for our little Beagle!

And yes, that’s the Biggley Boy you can hear in the background. He doesn’t like to be left out of anything!

p.s. Excuse the floor – we had a washing machine leak in November and the floor has been up since then. Still waiting for the insurance to get sorted out!