Beanie & Biggles’ First Great Caravan Adventure

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Paul

We’ve just had our first proper outing with the caravan! We chose Glentrool Holiday Park as our base of operations as it was only 50-odd miles away and within easy reach of all the hills and walks in the Galloway Forest Park.

The trip started quite well from a Beagle point of view; our two pups were given their breakfast almost as soon as they got up – none of that pesky waiting until after the morning walk! Unfortunately it went downhill from there; they got bundled into the car, and for the entire journey this big white crate thing kept tail-gating and blocking their view out of the rear window. When we finally arrived at the park our two were desperate to get out for a good sniff but they were left languishing in the car for another half hour, while their mum and dad wrestled with the white crate to get it into position and then attach a big flapping tent to the side of it. It took ages before they finally got their first walk of the day, but what a walk it was: a second trip up the Merrick.

On our previous visit the summit of the Merrick had been shrouded in mist and was perishingly cold. This time there was no mist, but it was still blummin’ freezing:

As before we didn’t spend long on the summit, but there was just enough time for Biggles to announce his presence to all other walkers in a ten mile radius.

King of the hill!

Beanie’s not overly keen on leaving the shelter of the stones

We soon headed back down but now instead of a long drive back home there was only a short trip back to the caravan for food and a chance to rest weary feet and paws. As it turned out though, not much rest actually occurred; there was a long list of important jobs that demanded the full attention of our Beagles, and when our Beagles are active, there’s not much rest for us either.

The first important task was was to make sure that all our neighbours knew not to come anywhere near our caravan. Biggles was the man for that job, and he set about it very diligently.

Then there was the issue of the interesting smells coming from the upper cupboards. The last time Beanie and Biggles had been in the caravan, it had been empty, but now there was the unmistakable smell of doggy treats coming from some high up hiding places. If only they could find some way to get up there.. clearly the table at the front of the van was a good starting point.

Next on the list: escape. Stupidly the humies opened up the upper half of the door to let cool air in. The lower half of the door is still tall, but not tall enough to stop an adventurous Beagle.

Beanie’s been captured by her Mum, but that leaves the way clear for The Bigglet

Just a reconnaissance mission for now, you understand…

But there’s no doubt our boy could make a break for it if he needed to…

Another important item on every Beagle’s to-do list is to locate where the rubbish is kept, and raid it. In this case the target was a small, easily opened bin that was balanced on a shelf in the bathroom area of the caravan. Early direct assaults on the bin where anticipated and easily defeated by the humies, so an alternative strategy was quickly devised:

head into the bathroom but ignore the bin, and instead head for the doggy water bowl that’s kept in the shower tray
drink slowly and noisily until the humies are convinced that’s all you’re there for
the instant the humies take their attention off you, strike that bin fast and hard. Grab an empty crisp packet and scarper!

After all this excitement was over, it was finally time for bed. We put Beanie and Biggles into their new fabric travel crates, made up our own bed, and settled down for the night, certain that we’d sleep well after our exertions on the Merrick. How wrong we were. Firstly, we’d both received quite a few midge bites which were now reaching maximum itchiness, and secondly, Beanie was not at all happy with the bed in her crate. She tried a few loud complaints at first which we duly ignored, but then around 3am she hit pay-dirt: a quiet, almost whispered whimper every 20 seconds. It was like Chinese Water Torture. After a few minutes we found ourselves actually waiting for her next pathetic noise, and soon we caved in. The crates were opened, and our double bed now had four bodies in it. But at least we did finally get a little sleep..

The next day we went cani-crossing at Glentrool. We picked one of the medium length walks – supposedly around 5 miles long – and jogged it with Beanie & Biggles on their bungee lines. It was terrific fun – a truly cross-country course with rough ground, mud, and hills. Our two four legged running partners decided it would even more fun if they saved their most frantic pulling sessions for the downhill bits, yet despite this, they claimed their first bottom-surfing victim – Susan – on a flat section:

It’s hard to believe the run was five miles long – it went by in a flash, and I reckon we could’ve easily done twice that!

We had a break for lunch and a nap, and then a second outing to a different location: Kirroughtree Visitor Centre. We picked one of the trails and went on a leisurely walk. Beanie & Biggles found it very stimulating – there were some top class sniffs to be had:

At one point we came across a huge, fresh dollop of horse poo untouched by other dogs, but unfortunately Susan wasn’t keen on the idea of allowing a tasting and rolling session..

It’s horse poo to us. To a Beagle, it’s Brown Gold!

In truth I think it was Biggles’ fault that she was a bit strict over the horse poop. Your see our caravan – unlike the car – has no fan to force fresh air into it, and Biggles does tend to get a bit farty, especially when he gets worked up about other people invading his territory. Each time someone passed the caravan, he’d woof out of one end, and fart out the other. It was like those fancy air fresheners that emit a little “poof” of flowery smells when someone walks by, except that in this case the little “poof” didn’t smell of flowers. Anyway, the stimulation of nature tired our two out, and the remainder of the day passed quietly..

On the morning of our departure we managed to squeeze in a quick walk back at Glentrool, giving our intrepid explorers a final dose of nature before the journey home.

Overall I’d have to say our first caravan experience has been a very good one. The pups are happy enough in there so long as they get plenty of stimulation outside, and it takes all the rush out of our normal single day outings. The only things we need to change for next time are to get a plusher bed for our princess’s crate, a stronger air freshener to combat the output of the Biggles air de-freshener, and a way to keep the blessed midges at bay!

Beagle Karaoke and Toby’s Close Shave

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Paul

Another raucous sing-along for Beanie & Biggles!

Way back when we were waiting to get Beanie but didn’t actually know which pup in the litter she’d be, we spotted some little stuffed toys going cheap in a shop. One of them looked like a Beagle (apart from the short tail) so we bought him, and his name was Toby.

Now of course we’ve got two real Beagles, but Toby still hangs out on Susan’s desk, or at least he did, until Beanie jumped up there and nabbed him. I was just getting out of the shower one morning when I heard some worrisome looting type noises, followed by cartoon-style scarpering into the garden. I ran to the window expecting to see Biggles with a sock, but instead there was Beanie sprinting round the garden at warp 10 with Toby hanging out of her mouth. She was glowing with joy, but Toby didn’t look nearly so happy! I knew he’d be OK while Beanie was still doing her victory laps but once she stopped, dismemberment and disemboweling would soon follow. I got to her just in time, and convinced to her to fetch him to me. You could say that his life was saved by the piece of dried fish I gave her in return.

Toby is safe – for the moment – but it’s only a matter of time before Beanie strikes again. Guess I’d better order some more dried fish…

The next morning I again heard looting and scarpering noises, and this time it really was Biggles with a sock. I went after him and tried to convince him to fetch the sock, but the little bugger had other ideas. He ran to the back of the shed, ready to use the same chase strategy he uses against Beanie. I knew that as soon as I committed to going up one side of the shed, he’d sprint off down the other side. Unfortunately for Biggles his plan hadn’t allowed for human communication and cooperative skills. I called in Susan to approach from the other side, and he ran from her straight into my clutches.

So, the humies won that one, but the next day The Bigglet got his revenge. I was taking the pups out for their morning walk just minutes after the refuse collection, and there was line of fragrant bin juice running along our street. Biggles sniffed it briefly, then threw himself down on the ground and rolled around like a pro. You wouldn’t think that a spot of eau de refuse could stink worse than fox poo, but believe me it can.

On the plus side, Biggles did manage to make me very proud of him at our latest agility session. He did one perfect run of twelve weave poles in the training barn; at home we’ve only ever practiced with eight poles, so this was no small achievement. I’ll have to get video of him the next time he does it, because it’s really cute. While Beanie’s the consummate professional when she does her weaves, you can see the concentration on Biggles’ face; he’s almost got his tongue sticking out of one side of his mouth, desperately trying hang on to the rhythm of his front paws as he bounces between the poles.

A few more shots from this week’s antics:

Home From Home

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Paul

The next time we stop over somewhere for a night a or two, our two merchants of chaos won’t be trashing any hotel rooms. They also won’t be waking other hotel guests at 3am to alert them that someone with a motorbike helmet has just walked within 50 yards of our window. How have we achieved these miracles? We’ve got a caravan, that’s how. Yep, the next time you’re stuck behind a big white fibreglass snail on a winding country road, it could be us.

Beanie & Biggles’ keen senses have been telling them that something was afoot for some time now.

For one thing, they’ve had a lot of enforced crate naps – often well before normal bed time, and without just cause. New fabric crates have also mysteriously appeared, and though the dynamic duo have been encouraged to give them a thorough nasal once-over, they haven’t replaced the crates in our house.

Then our pups’ little Citroen Beagle-mobile abruptly mutated into something bigger, cleaner and less smelly. It was a terrible shock to the system; Biggles had only just finished coating every surface of the old car with his discarded white fur, and now he has to start all over again.

Being thoroughly professional Beagles, our two have tried very hard not to let these strange occurrences get in the way of normal activities.

Today though, all hope of normality was blown away when a delivery man brought a large white thing and put it by the side of our house. Beanie and Biggles took up their sentry positions at the front window and managed to see off the delivery guy using a combination of Clint Eastwood stares and woofings, but seemingly nothing could frighten away the white thing. After what seemed like an age, they were finally allowed to investigate it…

So the caravan has now been thoroughly sniffed, the work surfaces have been scratched, the carpet’s been dug up, and we’ve had a play session – not bad work for 15 minutes, but at least now any damage done will be to our own stuff, not to someone else’s!