If you need your house trashing, if no-one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire.. the B-Team!

Biggles surveys the wreckage. He loves it when a plan comes together…

We spent most of the day chucking out the junk we’ve accumulated over the last ten years and packing what’s left, and Beanie & Biggles were desperate to help. They managed to tear one of the empty packing boxes in an unguarded moment, so this evening we just plonked it in the living room and let them have at it.

Biggles was very dynamic  and kept leaping in and out of the box as he tore little chunks off it, whereas Beanie’s approach was more systematic but devastatingly efficient. In the past whenever the duvet got wrecked we always figured Biggles was to blame, but now I’m thinking we got it wrong…

One thing’s for sure: if the boxes last long enough to make it to the new house they’ll make great chew toys for our two Beagligans.

We’ve been really busy preparing for the house move lately and this is meaning that Beanie & Biggles are getting less attention during the day, and no exciting walks in new places. Of course once we’ve moved they’re going to be in seventh heaven, but to assuage my conscience in the meantime I’ve been making sure they still get regular play sessions with us. There has been the odd quick trip to Pets At Home for new chews and toys though – toys like this battery operated, self-wobbling ball for instance:

Biggles doesn’t get to play with it for long though, because he’s already discovered the little recessed switch that turns it on and off and I don’t think it would stand up to his full attention for more than a few seconds. Fortunately when the balls, tuggies and chews go back in the toy box he still has his sister to play with:

Bonfire night has been and gone since my last post, and unfortunately it was quite eventful for our two Beagles. Just as the fireworks started up Biggles got sick, and continued to vomit repeatedly through the evening. We took him to the vets the next day and he got the magical no-barf shot that Beanie herself has had more than once. It did the trick, and he was soon able to keep down the tasty chicken and boiled rice the vet advised us to give him. I’m not sure whether his “tummy bug” was real or a reaction to all the fireworks outside, but it’s a heck of a coincidence that it should strike right on the evening of November 5th.

A couple of nights later – just as the Biggly boy was fully back to normal – Beanie got a scare from yet another round of fireworks and went off her food for a day. The next morning we fully expected Biggles to make a play for the kibble in Beanie’s food bowl when she walked off and left it, but no, he joined her in her fast and even spurned his own breakfast. The next day Beanie’s appetite returned and she wolfed down her nosh, but Biggles still wouldn’t touch his, except under certain very specific conditions. It took us a while to suss out the Biggles Kibble rule-set, but here it is:

• Kibble served up in your food bowl is not edible, unless your sister’s trying to snaffle some of it (Beanie doesn’t do solidarity). If your sister succeeds in nicking your kibble, wolf down the remainder, grab your bowl and run off with it into the garden.
• When kibble is offered to you in someone’s hand, kibble is not edible
• When there’s a bit of kibble hiding under the tumble drier and you have to scratch the drier to get at it, that kibble is edible
• When you’re excitedly playing fetch in the park and some kibble is thrown your way, that kibble is edible on no more than two consecutive occasions, after which it is not edible

These rules only applied to kibble of course; dentasticks, rawhide, horse poo and even a cold decaffeinated teabag left on a corner of the sink drainer were still fair game. We’d seen this kind of behavior from Beanie when she was very young so we just withdrew all of Biggles’ regular treats until he’d eaten up all his dry food first. As the crazed teacher screams in Pink Floyd’s The Wall, “how can you have your pudding if you don’t eat yer meat?!” It worked,  and this morning he practically dived into his breakfast bowl sending kibble flying all over the kitchen floor. What a boy!

We’ve been trying for some time to buy a field for Beanie and Biggles but it’s impossible. The property market might be slow at the moment but there’s still unbelievable competition for any little bits of land that come up.

A couple of weeks ago Hazel (Sohpie Beagle’s mum) sent us the schedule of a house for sale. It mentioned that the current owners rented some land near their house and Hazel suggested that it might be worth finding out if they had anything that we could rent. I was at a bit of a loose end so I started browsing through property and came accross a house that looked perfect. I called Paul over and he loved it. We went to see it the next day and put in an offer the day after that. Our offer was accepted immediately and today we’ve agreed on an entry date of 4th December!

The new garden is huge. The whole plot is about 1/3 acre and the back garden is probably around 60 feet by 160 feet. There’s a river runs along the bottom of the garden and we back onto open countryside. This is the view we’ll wake up to in the morning:

And there’s a lovely deck that runs the length of the house to sit and watch our little hooligans having fun:

The location is perfect. Miles of countryside around us with cycle paths, quiet country walks, country parks nearby…

and……minutes from several miles of wide, sandy beach!

It’s going to be a busy month!!!