Arse Surfing

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Paul

Our Beagley adventures in the mountains have been brought to a virtual halt in the past month or so due to the limited daylight hours. We’ve taken the opportunity to prepare for an action packed spring and summer of hiking and running in the mountains. Paul and I have joined a running club to help us build up our fitness. We’ve entered some cross country races, 10ks and have even started doing hill races. The pups have been running regularly along local trails, on the beach and cross country as well as some lure coursing and off-lead running. But perhaps most importantly we’ve been working hard on stopping the pups from pulling so much….especially when we’re running downhill!

In the last week we’ve had a couple of nice days so we took the opportunity to test out our Beagle calming measures in the hills. Sadly, when the fresh air hit their noses all the training went out the window and we spent most of our time arse-surfing on the downhill stretches:

I think we may have to accept this aspect of our little monkeys’ behaviour!

Our first hill walk of 2012 took place in the hills around Straiton – a small, picturesque village set amongst beautiful countryside. Our walk started in the village and climbed up the hill to the monument that you can see on top of the hill in this picture:

Sheltering from the bitterly cold wind behind the monument

Looking back towards Straiton from the monument

From the monument we headed across the moors for a while…

…before arse-surfing down the hill behind our excited, baying Beagles.

The walk continued along the river for a while before crossing a little bridge:

Of course, Beanie and Biggles had to climb up to have a good look:

We continued along a pretty trail for a while with plenty of obsticals to keep the Beags entertained..

…then another steep ascent up through forest trails to a viewpoint on another hill before making our way back to Straiton for icecream and sardine flavoured bones. We’ll definitely be doing this walk again – probably running it next time!

The forecast for today had been excellent – blue skies, sunshine and superb visibility. We’ve had a few hard runs this week so we decided upon a relatively easy hill walk with fabulous views Beinn Dubh – Glen Striddle horseshoe, Luss. Unfortunately the forecast couldn’t have been more wrong. All we saw during the entire walk was dense, gray fog! It was still a fabulous walk – one that we’re really looking forward to both running and walking in better weather. The downhill section was very wet today – almost like a water chute. After slipping and falling umpteen times (with the help of our little angels) we eventually gave up and let them hurtle down the hill dragging us behind them on our bums! T’was fun….and very cold and wet!

It wasn’t really the weather for photos but Paul did haul out the camera for a snap of us on the summit of Beinn Dubh

New Year’s Resolutions 2012

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Paul

Well, all the excesses of Christmas are behind us now and it’s time to square up to those New Year resolutions. For me and Susan that means eating better and losing weight. For Biggles, it’s all about not attempting to open the doggy toy cupboard himself, trashing the paintwork in the process. Finally, but perhaps most importantly, Beanie’s resolution involves being more tolerant of her brother and not flying off the handle at him, even when he’s being a bit pesky.

Yep, the Beanster has had a little fall out with Biggles again. It’s nowhere near as bad as the bust up they had in February last year, but we’ve gone back to the nothing-in-life-is-free programme for a week or two to nip it in the bud. It’s working already, but we’ve been scratching our heads trying to work out the reason for this latest “domestic”. Only a couple of things have changed recently that might be to blame:

Over Christmas they’ve been spoiled for attention, and there have been some small signs of jealousy over who’s getting cuddles from whom.
We’ve been giving them some short but very exciting off-lead romps

We’re leaning towards #2 being the most likely cause. When we get into the enclosure we typically play recall games rather than simply letting them do their own thing. Beanie takes these very seriously because treats are involved, whereas Biggles is mostly interested in trying to kick-off a play session.

What’s more, Biggles may now be able to run faster than his sister. In the past, she was the undisputed top athlete of the family, but now that could be changing. It’s not so apparent in chases in the garden, where Biggles still uses his one tactical brain cell to outwit Beanie rather than simply trying to out-pace her, but in a straight recall sprint, he’s now taking the lead:

In the last couple of sessions I did notice her looking a bit displeased with The Bigglet, and a day or two later this spilled over into a more serious quarrel. So for the time being the off-lead sessions are going off the menu, and both Beanie and Biggles are facing tougher austerity measures than those imposed on Greece. Much tougher. In fact any time the Greeks feel like complaining about cuts and tax rises they should think themselves lucky that they don’t have to nap in their baskets instead of on the sofa, or give a paw before coming in from the garden.

Christmas 2011

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Paul

We didn’t quite manage to resist opening our presents before Christmas; temptation won us over at around 11pm on Christmas Eve, but Beanie & Biggles lasted out until the following morning. We might have lasted out too if we’d been locked into crates with a mountain of partially chewed duvets and pillows piled up on top of us, but that’s just the luck of the draw. When Christmas morning finally came I opened their crates and in a further demonstration of five-star self control, our pups delayed their present opening by burrowing into our beds for a further nap. In fact they’d taken on board the warnings in “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” to such an extent that Susan literally had to haul them out of bed (then haul them out of the kitchen and away from the smell of cooking turkey) before they finally got their paws on their pressies. Once they got started though, the present opening was conducted at a frenzied pace.

Just like non-furry children, Beanie & Biggles enjoyed the boxes their pressies came in almost as much as the pressies themselves, especially as those boxes were filled with extra surprises like doggy chocolate buttons and biccies.

Biggles is so intent on checking out the box that he misses the chocolate button – but only for a second!

Beanie’s taking no chances on missing anything, and decides to eat the box as well as everything inside it

Their main pressies this year were new-style Kongs. Our two have never really taken to the traditional bell-shaped Kongs – once the food has gone from them, they show no interest in using the Kongs as chew toys in their own right. On a recent trip to Pets & Home Susan spotted two new models: an urn and a bulbous cylinder, each soft and squishy with multiple food exit points. Pure chance gave Biggles the purple urn, while Beanie got the cylinder. Needless to say Santa had seen fit to fill both of these toys with tasties before they were wrapped.

Biggles immediately got to grips with his toy and was duly rewarded for his efforts, but Beanie had a more difficult time. She tried rolling the cylinder, throwing it, forcing her tongue through the openings – just about everything except the one thing that would have worked: a few seconds of power chewing in her jaws. In the end we came to the rescue by standing on the cylinder a few times. Once the biccies and kibble had been pulverised by our weight, the tasty debris came out much more easily.

When the Kongs had been emptied, Susan handed out the other pressies – a couple of large “Cerea” dog chews. Beanie expertly unwrapped hers before taking her first bite, but Biggles missed this crucial first step and went direct to the chomping stage.

Did his little Christmas wrapping faux-pas weigh heavily on Biggles’ mind?

You mean I should have unwrapped it first?

Doh!

Still, it’ll all come out the same end in due course. I’m OK with it!

And clearly Beanie was OK with it too!

By the time the snacks were finished, an impressive amount of debris had built up on the floor of our “posh” lounge.

I generously offered to take the pups out for their first Christmas walk, leaving Susan to clear up the mess, though as it turned out Susan may have got the better deal. I drove to Troon, and the weather there was strongly reminiscent of the storm we’d had a couple of weeks ago.

Still, a windy, wet day is a fun day for Beagles, and Beanie & Biggles certainly had fun! Every 50 yards we covered was celebrated by a wrestling match, and when we got to a nice safe spot by the beach I let them have a short but extremely energetic off-lead romp. By the time we got back they were both knackered, but still found the energy to enjoy their special Christmas dinner.

Yep, even Biggles got sprouts. We’re still living with the consequences, but at least we bought some powerful new air fresheners prior to Christmas.

After the big nosh we all crashed out on the sofas for a coma. I vaguely remember seeing the initial episode of the four-part remake of The Great Escape, and when I was next conscious, we were half way through part four. Although I’d missed most of this less than riveting Christmas Day TV offering there was plenty more to come, and that of course is where the booze comes in handy. Biggles apparently felt the same way.

Do Beagles get hangovers?

Later on that evening, a couple of furry imps quietly padded down the corridor and wrenched open their toy cupboard, despite it being secured with a thick strip of industrial strength velcro. They had access to all their toys, but they still chose to grab their new Kongs, so I think we can call them a big success, and the same goes for Christmas Day as a whole!