IWAG

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Paul

Just a short post to celebrate Biggles’ latest achievement. No, for once it doesn’t involve him finding a way into locked cupboards or nabbing items from hitherto unreachable shelves. This time he’s managed to do something desirable: he’s learned to weave properly! For a while now he’s been able to get through the poles if I guide him through, either by using a lead on him or by walking very close by him at just the right pace, but now none of that is necessary. As proof, I give you Professor Biggles of the International Weaving Advancement Group (IWAG):

OK, it doesn’t look like much, and there are only 6 poles, but trust me it’s a huge breakthrough for my little boy. I’ve still got to get him up to 12 poles before his next lesson, but I don’t think that’ll be hard.

Finally, here are a few shots from the last week’s shenanigans:

The wasps are back and Beanie’s standing guard by their hiding place in our door vents

A surprise attack on her brother..

And an extended play fight on the bed..

Biggles can now add weaving to his impressive list of talents (though farting will always be his primary skill)

Agility – Progress Update

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Susan

Beanie and Biggles don’t get to show off their agility skills at competitions because they’re far too norky to be trusted off lead in a strange place with lots of distractions! So, from time to time I like to take a little video of their lessons just to show the world that they are actually getting very good at agility!

This little video really doesn’t do Biggles justice. He did lots of wonderful rounds but daft mum kept bungling the filming. His weaves are coming along great and he’s getting very reliable with 12 poles. Last night his entries weren’t so good but Paul and he practiced today and it’s looking great now! Next time we’ll make sure we show Biggles at his biggley best!

Special Wags And Tactics

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Paul

With all the excitement over caravans and canicross we’ve missed out on a number of lure coursing sessions at Rumbling Bridge, but yesterday we made it up for it!

Organisers Sue and Kevin Rose have ditched the usual elimination/competition rounds in favour of a round-robin system which gives all dogs equal opportunities to bomb round the course. This simple change has made their lure coursing sessions even more enjoyable than before, and it means that “tactical” runners like Biggles don’t lose out. You see my little boy doesn’t see the point in slavishly running round the whole track after the lure like Beanie; he figures it’s far better to analyse the course then head immediately to a suitable ambush point and wait for the lure come to him.

Biggles (background) heads to his carefully chosen ambush point while Beanie (foreground) chases the lure all the way round

In the past this advanced tactical thinking (or “cheating” as it’s also called) has resulted in automatic disqualification, but this time around Biggles got to fine tune his skills over the full three rounds. The result? Well, it’s not clear cut which approach was the most rewarding, and our two argued the point at length.

On the one hand, Beanie got the joy of running at top speed after prey each and every round…

On the other hand, Biggles clearly enjoyed his planning and plotting just as much; as he lay in wait for the lure his tail was wagging so much I thought it was going to drop off. And it’s not as if he completely missed out on the thrill of the chase, because each and every time the lure came he botched his chance to catch it and ended up sprinting after it just like Beanie..

The lure slips past Biggles once again…

But a least he’s now ahead of Beanie in the chase.

Surely victory is assured??!!

Well, no not really, because this is Biggles we’re talking about. At the finish line, his sister grabs the lure and immediately exchanges it for a big lump of chicken while his Biggleship remains convinced that the lure is hiding inside a tyre.

Eventually Biggles did get his jaws round the lure, but only once it had stopped moving!

Nevertheless this apparent success convinced other doggies to follow his example…

Someone else tries the Biggles strategy. Maybe it’ll work better for them!

Click here to see more pictures from Sunday’s lure coursing.