Canicross Adventures

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Paul

Recently we got together with other fans of canicross (cross country running with dogs) and set up a website to promote this fun but still little known sport. The new website – Canicross-Adventures.co.uk – is already doing well, and last weekend we got invited to a doggy fun day at the Veterinary Physiotherapy Clinic in Dunlop.

We set up a stall and a short have-a-go run, but with competition from agility, flyball and a giant green bouncy alien, we wondered if we’d be able to attract much attention.

I wouldn’t park too close to that thing if I were you. It looks hungry..

Fortunately if there’s one thing Beagles are good at, it’s attracting attention! We harnessed up Beanie, Biggles and Bundy and gave them a few demo runs on our little course, and the noise they generated helped bring a steady stream of people our way. They probably also helped burst a few eardrums, but there’s always a downside to getting three Beagles together.

Brian and Susan do a demo run with the three musketeers

The course was less than a 100m in length, but that was still enough to put a smile on the face of just about everyone who tried it. Burns Pet Food had been kind enough to supply us with a generous quantity of goody bags, so everyone who ran also got to take home some tasty, healthy treats for their pooch.

At one point I got a little break from photographing all the have-a-goers and purchased a rather tasty chicken sandwich. I got to take a couple of bites out of it before I was called back to duty, so I carefully placed my sarnie back in its packaging and popped it on top of Beanie & Biggles crates behind our stall. In retrospect I realise this was not a good idea, but the packaging was the stout, snap-shut plastic kind and I figured it would be safe for the minute or so it would take me to snap a couple of photos and return. Not for the first time, I was wrong. Beanie’s dextrous tongue had somehow managed to roll the package over to a more accessible spot and prise it open, and she was now nibbling away at my precious nosh. Much as I love beanie I didn’t really want to share her germs (I’ve seen and smelled all the other stuff she eats) so I gracefully accepted the loss of my snack and shared the remainder of it between the Beanster and her Biggly brother.

By the end of the day we’d seen dogs of all shapes, sizes and breeds take their owners on a madcap sprint down our track. And I really do mean ALL shapes, sizes and breeds!

This was the first canicross demo any of us had ever done but it went very well indeed. Apart from that little incident with the sandwich, that is…

Team photo. Check out the paw prints on Stewart & Brian’s shirts!

Paranormal Activity

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Paul

Some very strange things have been happening of late..

One morning we heard some weird noises coming from the back garden. Upon investigation we found that the bin had been opened and various items of garbage – crisp packets, cheese and cake wrappers mostly – had been pulled out of it. Purely coincidentally Biggles was in the vicinity, desperately trying to decide which item he was going run off into the garden with before we could clean everything up. As it happened he plumped for an empty packet of Walkers salt & vinegar flavor, which in my opinion was not the best choice. But I digress. The point is that the outside bin is tall and hadn’t been knocked over by say, a gale force wind, so what mysterious force had managed to open it and extract all those items?

Later in the week we had further strange occurrences, this time involving socks. We kept finding them strewn about the corridor and the floor of our bedroom. We’d pick them up and tidy them away in their drawer, then a short time afterward they’d be back out, as though they’d gone on a walk by themselves.

Having seen far too many horror films I immediately suspected the work of a demon or poltergeist, but I needed proof. I set up a little video camera pointing at the sock draw and went back to work. When I later returned, sure enough the socks had gone walkies again and the camera had recorded the following disturbing footage. Hint – turn the volume up when you play it!

Since Biggles is normally such a good boy, I can only think that’s he’s been possessed by a demon with a penchant for salt & vinegar crisp packets and a sock fetish. After the video was taken that same demon drove my poor innocent boy to empty the sock drawer once again, and roll on his back with a fresh pack of Tesco value socks in his gob, periodically emitting grunts of pleasure.

Since most exorcism rituals are aimed at humans rather than beagles, I guess I’ll just head over to Homebase and drive this particular demon out with some strong magnetic drawer catches.

To sleep, perchance to dream … of socks. And notice how there aren’t any on Susan’s feet!

Beagle Cam

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Paul

For some time I’ve been wanting a video camera small enough and light enough to attach to Beanie or Biggles to get a true Beagle’s-eye view of the world. Unfortunately everything seemed to be too bulky, too expensive and of very low quality – or so I thought until a running friend showed me a small key-fob sized camera he’d bought from a Hong Kong retailer via ebay. The camera, known by the instantly memorable name “808 version 11” (!!) is small, ridiculously light, shoots in 720P HD and can be had for £40 or less. Everything you may ever want to know about the camera, including which ebay retailers to use and which to avoid, is contained in the following wonderful article:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1362692

That article was written by a remote control enthusiast, and the qualities that make the camera ideal for attaching to RC planes, boats and vehicles should make it equally suited to serve as a Beagle-cam. Obviously I had to get one, and I put it through its first trials yesterday. I still haven’t worked out how best to attach the camera to our dogglets; for now I just popped a harness on ’em, then used a velcro strap to secure the camera to the harness mid way along the back. As you’ll see in this first clip of Biggles doing a fetch, that’s not an ideal position for the camera:

Biggles Fetch from Paul Roberts on Vimeo.

It’s jerky and you can’t really see what’s going on, but I still get a warm feeling every time I watch the back of his head and his flapping ears as he gallops back to me for a treat!

Later the same day we tried the camera on Beanie and Biggles at their agility lesson with Carol Rogers. We’ve been having lessons with Carol about once a fortnight and both our dogs and us have really come on leaps and bounds (no pun intended). Anyway, first here’s a clip of Beanie doing the course with me holding the camera:

That’s pretty good quality for such a tiny camera in such poor indoor light. Straight after that, I attached the camera to Beanie and she ran the course again. Unfortunately the poor light combined with the speed and vibration of doggy movement made things very hard for the camera, and again the mounting position is less than ideal. Still, I think the result is amusing, especially the first round when the camera falls off and nearly gets swallowed! Word of warning – if you suffer from epilepsy or have just had your lunch, you’d better watch this one through your fingers:

BeanieCam from Paul Roberts on Vimeo.

Obviously I had to try the same thing with Biggles:

Biggles Agility Cam from Paul Roberts on Vimeo.

So, we’ve got to find a better way of attaching the camera to our dogs. The top of the head would be about the best position – that way we’d get to see pretty much what they’re looking at. Susan’s considering making some kind of head gear out of tights or other underwear. At one point she tried fitting a pair of pink knickers onto Biggles’ head. He didn’t mind one bit, but I had to draw the line – no way is my boy wearing pink knickers in public!