We figured Beanie & Biggles had already snacked on just about everything that the countryside has to offer, but this week they discovered a new delicacy: horse hoof trimmings. Apparently lots of dogs go nuts for it, and many owners regard it as a natural and harmless treat. The thing is most dogs probably chew it before swallowing, whereas Beanie just speed swallows it, especially when there are farm dogs around who might steal it from her. So the next morning after a long walk up the local farm road, we were awoken by the sound of Beanie vomiting.

It’s not a pleasant sound by any means, but it’s particularly scary for us given the misadventures our little girl had a while back. She managed to bring up a few strips of horse hoof trimmings and we hoped that was the end of it, but the next day she had another round of heaving, this time with nothing to show for it. Seeking reassurance we rang the help line that comes with our pet insurance, and they advised us to play it safe and get her to the vet. Sometimes it seems like that’s the only advice they ever give, but that’s not so; randy Beagle boys with a fifth leg are apparently exempt.

Anyway, the vet checked Beanie out and told us not to worry. She gave us a bit of medicine to soothe any irritation the hoof trimmings might have caused to Beanie’s stomach, and sent us on our way.  She was kind of subdued and a little reluctant to eat her regular food for a day or two, but that passed – presumably along with any remnants of the horse hooves. The funny thing is, Biggles started copying her and went off his food too. He was enthusiastic enough about receiving his bowl at meal times, but then he’d look across to see what Beanie was doing, and reluctantly abstain. This is the second time he’s copied her when she’s ill; it’s kind of sweet, and amusing in that he’s always a step or two behind. When Beanie’s regained her appetite and is wolfing down her food, he’s still fasting, apparently unaware that the rules have changed.

Today however, Beanie’s back on form and Biggles isn’t far behind. The flowers we’ve planted in the garden are in serious danger of being dug up and otherwise vandalized, any shopping brought in from the car is subject to thorough checks by Beagle Customs, and there’s no peace to be had if a food cupboard is open. All’s right with the world again!

In the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams declared that the towel is “the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have“. That may be true for humans, but Beagles need something a little  more compact than a regular towel, like.. a tea towel!

This particular tea towel was obtained through another of Biggles’ new abilities: climbing on to the kitchen table. Until recently Biggles could only jump to grab things off the table and the kitchen work surfaces, and consequently items sitting too far from the edge were out of his reach. Now all that has changed; he’s suddenly realized that he can use chairs and other furniture as a step to help reach his goal. It’s a revelation for the Biggly boy – a bit like the Daleks suddenly being able to go up stairs.

Unfortunately any big plans he had for the tea towel were scuppered by big sis Beanie, who alerted me with her signature “Dad he’s got something again!” bark. To be honest that bark of hers probably means something quite different, like “Hey I want that! Gimme!” but regardless, when I hear it I know that the Bigglet has got something.

In this case I arrived a little too late to save the tea towel from a severe shredding, so I let him taunt Beanie with it for a bit. After all there’s no point getting a thing if you can’t wave it in front of your sister’s face!

If you’re the sort of person who thinks dogs should know their place, you’re going to be shaking your head in disbelief by the time you’ve read this post. In fact why not save time and get the head shaking over right now. Go on, give it a good old shake. Done? OK, here we go…

After spending most of yesterday morning & afternoon in the garden with us, we put Beanie & Biggles to bed in their crates for a couple of hours  to let us get on with a few jobs free of Beagle assistance. It never occurred to us that Biggles might be close to needing a pee. It certainly occurred to him, and our poor little boy ended up wetting the bed in his crate. There wasn’t time to get his bed washed and dried before proper doggy bed time, so he had to make do with an improvised bed. It obviously wasn’t as cosy as his real bed, and at around 2 am that night he started complaining about it. We felt a degree of culpability over the bed wetting incident, so Susan opened up his crate to let him into our bed. Of course when you let one of our Beagles out, you have to let the other one out too, so Beanie came to join us. I figured that might be a recipe for a poor night’s sleep, but even I wasn’t prepared for what was to come.

Beanie did her usual lie-across-the-bed routine, but Biggles was insufferable. Ordinarily he can sleep soundly just about anywhere, in any position, for hours at a time..

..but this night, he was the fidgetmeister. He snuggled up against me for a couple of minutes, then he got too hot and crawled out from under the covers. As soon as he was cool enough he hassled me again to get back under the covers. Then he got really hot and climbed out of the bed, dropping onto the floor in a heap. Two minutes later he felt the need to roll onto his side, which he did with all the grace and stealth of a 30lb sack of tatties. Flump! Then he rolled onto his other side. Flump! Shortly thereafter he wanted to get back onto the bed, but being Biggles he couldn’t just jump up there on his own, oh no, he had to paw my arm until I sat up to give him a clear path and told him “Go”. Back under the covers, he could once again cosy up to me. Until he got too hot again… And so it went on, and on, and all the time I’m contorting myself into weird positions to accommodate Beanie. Very good if you’ve got a dodgy back, I can assure you.

Around 5am the Biggly boy quit fidgeting and I thought I might finally catch a couple of hours’ uninterrupted sleep. Just as I was drifting off I heard a scratching noise. I checked the bed, and Biggles wasn’t in it. The scratching continued so I got up and walked towards it, to be greeted by a very animated Bigglet. He paced up and down between me and the door, clearly desperate for a pee, and looked at me with an expression that said “Dad, you know what’s going to happen if you don’t get me to the garden, FAST!” So I threw on my clothes and took him out for his leak. I *think* I got a bit of sleep somewhere between 6-7am, but when I got up I felt like.. well, kind of like Beanie looks in this picture:

Refreshed, alert and ready for the day ahead. NOT.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Beagles! Who’d ‘ave ’em!