So I’m sat in our office trying to concentrate on work, and Susan sticks her head in the bedroom to check on our two sleepy pups.  “Paul, you have got to see this” she says. Well, I’m used to being called through to view Beagle cuteness, and I really need to make some progress on work, so I resist. “No, honestly you’ve never seen this one before!” OK, I give in and head for the bedroom, camera in hand.

At first I didn’t see anything unusual; just Beanie wrapped up in her old quilt with her head in a sun spot. Then I looked closer and realized she was actually wearing the quilt like a poncho.

Yep, she’d actually nibbled a big hole in the thing, poked her head through and managed to get stuck. I clicked away on the camera while Susan extracted Beanie from her self-made straitjacket. The damage to the quilt was quite impressive!

That’s not the only destruction our two have notched up recently. Earlier in the week they disembowelled our duvet in a moment of boredom. We found the two of them on the bed, looking all innocent and waggy tailed with Father Christmas beards and handfuls (or should I say mouthfuls) of white duvet innards strewn all over the room. Beagles! Can’t have a moment’s peace with ’em, can’t wait to get back home when you’re out without ’em.

Beagle Racing – A Reminder!

On a side note, don’t forget that Beagle Racing starts up again on Sunday – click here for full details. All Beagle entrants should aim to be at Inch Farm by 2.15, and don’t forget that early on Sunday morning the clocks go forward one hour for British Summer Time, so that’s actually 1.15 if you forget to adjust your watch, as I probably will.

In a bid to minimize Beanie’s out-of-field excursions we’ve actually returned to having her & Biggles offlead together some of the time. This is ironic,  because we originally started keeping them separate when offlead to curb their habit of running off as a pack. Just at the moment though we’ve found it a little easier to control Beanie if we get her together with her brother and engage them both in a frenzied game of puppy ping-pong. In other words, we take positions at opposite sides of the field and take turns in calling them to us. With tasty treats at stake and each other for competition, they stay pretty focused and quickly burn off some of their excess energy.

Incoming Beagles and only seconds to get the treats ready!

It’s hard work (we have to a do a bit of running and inject lots of enthusiasm into the game), but they love it and it should help them to associate being with us with fun.

Still, it’s a big help when a fit, young and playful dog comes along. Recently this role was filled by Rosie, a Spanish Water Dog. When we first saw her she was carrying a nice red tennis ball. She didn’t hold on to it for long of course. It was Beanie who actually nicked the ball, but Biggles played his part by distracting Rosie just at the right time…

Once Beanie had the ball, it was chase time. She could certainly have outrun Biggles and possibly Rosie in a flat out sprint, but today she preferred to tease them by letting them get close, then confound them by abruptly changing direction.

Biggles falls for the quick turn once…

…and again. Feel the frustration!

At one point, Biggles and Rosie seemed to coordinate their efforts to catch Beanie, but she still found a way through.

Closing in…

The gates are closed, but Beanie still slips through

Into another hairpin turn…

Accelerating hard on the way out…

And it’s back round the tree! Again!

Even after all that chasing Beanie was up for a bit of ball retrieval (with her own ball this time, not Rosie’s) but Biggles was content to spectate.

Beanie waits for the ball’s treats to be retrieved..

Biggles sits this one out. Those treats do look tasty though!

And from the following day, here’s a video clip of our two hooligans harassing Kirby and her new German Shepherd pal. We put them on lead after this, to give the two shepherds a chance to bond in peace!

On Saturday we headed out to Muirshiel Country Park for a long, strictly on-lead walk. The moment we got onto one of the signposted walks Beanie and Biggles went crazy. They pulled like mad on their extending leads and kept tying each other up. We decided to leave the narrow paths and head out into the fields – with all that space our professional lead tanglers would be easier to handle.

It started out well – the ground was muddy but manageable. After a few minutes we came across what appeared to be drainage ditches. They didn’t look too wide, so I got as close as I dared to edge of the first one and jumped across. As my lead foot landed it sank straight through what had appeared to be solid ground. I was wearing waterproof shoes, but they aren’t very effective when you’re calf-deep in cold water. A few steps later Susan also had soaking wet feet. We squelched onward for a while, but eventually surrendered to common sense and headed back towards the signposted paths.

As we approached the edge of the marsh I was feeling quite envious of our all weather, all terrain Beagles, especially Biggles. He was strutting about so proudly, head and tail held high. But you know what they say about pride…

Suddenly Biggles disappeared from view. He’d slid into one of the ditches, and at first I couldn’t help but laugh. I expected him to come shooting straight out of the water, but a few seconds went by without any sign of him. I was about to run over to extract him when a paw reached up from the watery abyss. Then another paw appeared, and a mad scramble ensued as he hauled himself up the other side of the ditch. He shook himself off, put his tail back up and carried on ahead without even sparing me a glance. I’m still a beginner at reading Beagle body language, but in this case the message was abundantly clear: “Nothing happened. Move along!”

We’d had enough of the whole “off road” idea by now, and it was too windy for Windy Hill, so we headed out along the old mine track. In many ways this walk was much easier going; no mud, and no water-filled ditches. It did have hazards of a different kind though: sheep!

We’ve known for some time that Beanie’s quite keen on sheep, but she can’t hold a candle to Biggles. Every time he caught sight of one he went straight into hunting posture and started baying.

Beanie often joined in on the act…

but Biggles was nearly always the first to spot them, and the last to come out of hunting mode. While Beanie would often lose interest and wander off for a casual sniffabout..

..he stayed focused and was on the lookout all the time.

There’s no doubt about it: Biggles has a much stronger prey drive than his sister! At least now we know what he wants for next Christmas.

A few more shots from the walk:

A rare moment – no pulling!

Normal service has been restored

Power walking, Beagle style