When I woke on Christmas morning one of my first thoughts was “I wonder if the pups will enjoy their snuffle mats?” That wasn’t my absolute first thought of the day however; the first one was “I wish Biggles would hurry up and jump into bed so I don’t have to keep holding the duvet open for him”(he often gives me the paw to say he’s ready, then mucks about scratching and rolling on the carpet) and the second one was “I wish Beanie wasn’t trying to ram her front paws up my bum”, but the snuffle-mat question was definitely third in the queue.

I didn’t get an answer until we’d returned from our morning beach run, and it was during the run that Biggles found out what it’s like to actually be a snuffle-mat himself. About 20 minutes in we encountered a stocky and wholly intact Beagle boy, and a round of bottom sniffing ensued. I think this other Beagle must have been a bit hard-of-smelling, because he wasn’t content to sniff from the usual distance; he stuck his snout right in there and then proceeded underneath towards the undercarriage area. So intense was the snuffling that Biggles’ rear legs got lifted clean off the ground, and yet despite all that effort the other boy came away without getting any treats. I’m happy to report that the snuffling which occurred later at home was much more productive!

There was some initial confusion over which package belonged to which Beagle

But once they had a mat each, the snuffling got properly under way

Beanie hunted down the treats hidden in her mat very quickly

But Biggles was no slouch either!

Some dogs need to be taught not to cheat by shaking the mat or overturning it to release the treats, but our two just stuck their noses in there and got to work in a thoroughly orthodox fashion. Perhaps snuffling comes more naturally for Beagles, but certainly the mats kept Beanie & Biggles thoroughly engrossed until the treats ran out. I shot a little video of them in action – it’s not exactly riveting viewing for spectators, but I think it’s very satisfying and rewarding for the participants. I’m aiming to make a habit of holding back some of the kibble from their regular meals and delivering it via the mats instead of their bowls.

(The whining in the second part is Biggles complaining that he’s not getting to empty Beanie’s mat as well as his own)

It goes without saying that we got them regular toys as presents too. Beanie has gone through several “skinneez” stuffing-free toys recently, so I got her an extra tough fox with puncture-proof squeakers, and Biggles received a floppy, squeaky Santa. Both these toys were completely ignored while the mats were out, but the next day Beanie discovered the new fox and the first of (hopefully) many robust tugging sessions followed.

Initially Biggles seemed throughly disinterested in his Santa. I demonstrated its squeakers in front of him and his eyes lit up, but he didn’t engage in any play with me, so I just left it on the sofa next to him and went about my business. Sometime later in the day while I was busy on the computer, I heard the sound of joyful squeaking coming from the end of the corridor by our bedroom. I went to investigate and sure enough there was Biggles with his Santa, but he froze as soon as he realized he was being watched. I backed away behind the corner, and the squeaks resumed, stopping again when I stuck my head back round for a peek. We repeated this game of hide-and-squeak a few times before I returned to my seat with a grin on my face; when Biggles wants to play with something in secret, it’s pretty good sign that he likes it!

Christmas is now behind us and the New Year is very close. The woofers will be joining us with a toast to the new year courtesy of Bottom Sniffer ale and small bottle of Pawsecco. I’ve got my fingers crossed there won’t be too much firework activity; it’d be a shame if the Beanster had to start 2018 tightly wrapped in her Thundershirt.

When Susan suggested getting snuffle-mats for the pups as Christmas presents, I have to admit that I just didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. To me they just looked like messes of fabric, and very expensive messes at that. Being a stingy Yorkshire git I talked her into going the DIY route, and yesterday evening our lounge became a snuffle-mat factory; I had my head down cutting cheap throws from The Range into strips, while Susan carefully tied those strips onto the plastic sink drainer mats I’d found in Morrisons for just £1 a pop.

We got through one feature length movie, two episodes of Star Trek and four rounds of coffee before they were done, and Biggles didn’t help by trying to make a bed on them at every opportunity. Once they were finished I closed my eyes and ran my hand through them, imagining a Beagle snout foraging for buried treats, and finally began to understand why these things are popular. I think these could just be the most fun pressies Beanie & Biggles have had to date. What’s more, having made our own mats we’ve still got some leftover strips for emergency repairs; I suspect we’ll be putting them to good use if Biggles decides that the best way to get to the treats is to nibble through all the tufty bits. Let’s just hope he doesn’t swallow too many of the tufts and force us into a visit to the emergency vet!

Finally, here’s a few shots from a trip to Semple Castle park a week ago. It’s a very pretty park – especially on a sunny but frosty day – and is only a half hour drive from our home, yet in the eight years we’ve been in Ayrshire this was our first visit!

It’s surprisingly rare that Beanie & Biggles go off on their own long-distance adventure during the offlead section of our beach runs together, but if they do I can pretty much guarantee they’ll end up combing the rocks near the far end of the shore. On a particularly cold but sunny day last week I figured we might as well cut out the intervening 7km of beach and start our outing right by the fun bit.

This decision was very well received; the rock pools were full of little seafood nibbles, and birds had gathered by the water’s edge, prompting some high speed attack runs by the Beanster.

From my point of view starting here had an extra benefit; it kept us further away from the dreaded remains of a dead seal. Beanie & Biggles first discovered the dead seal some time ago, but it’s still hanging around and barely a week goes by without someone rolling in what’s left of it. The absolute worst point came when it turned into a kind of rotten seal soup; Beanie was smelling so bad after a roll in it that no amount of scrubbing in the sea could diminish the pong. The only solution was to frogmarch her into the shower with me and use a potent combination of tomato ketchup and human and doggy cleaning agents on her; I hadn’t needed to such dire measures since she was a pup, and she was huffy with me for days after.

It was lovely being out there with them and getting to watch all their activities close-up; usually I’d be a kilometre or two behind them, desperately racing along the beach to catch them up and hardly daring to guess what they might be getting up to.

For the most part they both moved easily between the rocks and the sea, and unlike me had no trouble negotiating the slippy moss and seaweed-covered bits. Still, every now and then Biggles would pause before gingerly taking his next step. I’ve observed the same thing when I’ve accidentally parked the van by a deep puddle; if he can’t properly see what he’s stepping onto, he’s very cautious.

It’s a surprisingly sensible approach given that he’s a little Beagle boy, and on this occasion it did save him from a few unexpected soakings. The same cannot be said for The Beanster.

Of course all that caution was abandoned whenever Beanie caught a scent and he had to double-time it to catch her up!

This was probably the longest time the two of them have been (intentionally) offlead during a walk since they were pups, and I have to say they behaved impeccably.

Of course all good things have to end sometime, and with the sun getting low in the sky I decided to get them back on lead. I put my camera away, got their leads out and called them to me. Predictably Beanie chose this exact moment to take off on a mad chase after a little group of birds, with Biggles baying his head off just behind her. I watched as they shrank into the distance, but remained unconcerned; something told me they’d be back soon, so I continued to prepare the handful of chicken they always get for voluntary lead re-attachment. Sure enough they came sprinting back to me almost as quickly as they’d left, and we walked back to the van together for a final round of treats before heading home.

Even a year ago this kind of outing wouldn’t have been possible, or at least would have been cut short by naughtiness. I’m not going to claim they’ve suddenly turned into trustworthy, controllable doggies (I’ve done that so many times before, only to be proved wrong!), nor am I going to get complacent with them, but it was very nice to sample the kind of walk that is often denied to Beagle owners!