Canicross Scotland Re-launch

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Susan

Without realising it, Beanie and Biggles had been canicrossing pretty much since they started walking. Canicross is canine cross-country hiking or running with the dog attached to it’s handler by a secure harness, bungee line and belt. We’ve always ran and hill walked with them and quickly discovered that it was damn hard work keeping two norky Beagles under control in open countryside. It wasn’t long before we Googled for some kind of hands free lead system…and stumbled across canicross kit.

Eighteen months or so ago we started dabbling more in races and parkruns with the dogs and we started up a little website to try and attract other people to what was a very new sport. That didn’t really go well (races OR website) and it fell by the wayside. Now we’ve got ourselves back on track and have managed to get canicross to fit our ickle Beaglets like a glove. So we’re re-launching our site – it’s going to be a glorious amalgamation of all the things we are passionate about – our gorgeous Beagles, the Scottish countryside, running, hiking, caravaning and photography.

I know lots of Beanie and Biggles pals share their interests so I thought you guys might be interested. We’ve just got a little single page up right now but the full site will be here soon. I hope you all like it!

You’ll find the new website (www.canicross-scotland.co.uk) here:

Canicross Scotland – Running and Hiking with Dogs

We’ll still be posting about Beanie and Biggles canicross adventures on FourLeggedPal. This new site is going to be something a bit different…all will become apparent in due course!

Flyball Tryout

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Susan

Tomorrow we’re off to the Paws at Prestwick fund raiser for CLIC Sargent. We’re hosting a Flyball Have-a-go and Paul will be taking photos of all the dogs in action. Today we had a little practice run in the garden with Beanie and Biggles.

Beanie and Biggles were *supposed* to sit patiently and wait their turn..

…see Beanie in the background:

However, most of the time that proved too much for their self control:

Happiness is….flying through the air with a ball in your gob!

Om, Nom, Gone!

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Paul

Every time I’ve seen the ad for Pedigree Jumbone – the one with the Beagle – I’ve always been highly skeptical. Our two regularly make light work of toys and chews that are meant to stand up to hours of abuse from far bigger dogs, yet here’s an advert claiming that a Beagle’s chewing gear is not up to the task of a jumbone? No way could I believe that, but I never put my belief the test, until now.

May I present the Pedigree Jumbone “Maxi” – designed for proper big doggies rather than small-to-medium woofers like ours.

This particular jumbone was a gift to Beanie & Biggles from Zak, one of their pals. Since it is intended for larger dogs, I decided to share it between our two but cutting it in half was surprisingly difficult. I took a sharp carving knife to it but encountered stiff resistance immediately. I soon found however that once I’d scored it with the knife I could easily break it in two with my hands. This discovery didn’t bode well for the “it goes om & nom & nom” claim, but there was of course only one way to find out for sure.

A few seconds into the trial there were fragments of the jumbone’s inner core on the carpet. Obviously this thing was seriously tasty, but how long could it last against Beanie & Biggles’ battle-hardened chewing gear?

30 seconds into the trial. Amazingly it’s still there and not substantially reduced in size

Have Pedigree actually made something tough enough to occupy a Beagle for more than a couple of minutes? Will Beanie really fare no better than the Beagle in the advert?

Err, no. Not really.

At the 90 seconds mark all that remained of Biggles’ jumbone was a crumb or two, and trust me, one lick later they were gone.

Beanie finished a close second, and still well under two minutes. In my book that is not “om & nom & nom & nom & nom & nom” etc. That’s barely one and a half noms at best. So either Pedigree have found a Beagle with defective chewing equipment or they’re openly telling porkies. Still, the jumbone appears to be tasty, possibly even tastier than the bed from Biggles’ basket, though not nearly as long lasting.

The bed from Biggles’ basket, in Beanie’s gob.

Vetbed. It really does go om & nom & nom & nom & nom…