Looks idyllic doesn’t it? The sun bursts through the clouds to warm a frost-bitten landscape as an intrepid dog walker heads across the bridge with her two faithful Beagles at her side…

Bollocks!

The reality is that Beanie decided to harass a family on the other side of the field who’d got a shopping bag full of sweet drinks, sweets and other tasty, smelly things. It’s not the first time this has happened, and direct physical intervention is always required. In other words, one of us has to go after her and drag her away from the edibles. Susan volunteered for the retrieval mission, and Biggles decided he go along for the ride. At least the two munchkins were mercifully and unexpectedly well behaved on the return journey, and by way of reward they had a brilliant play time with other doggy pals.

First there was Sam who was very, very fast and well up for a good chase with Beanie.

Then a couple of Pointers turned up. One was white with tan markings which gave her an almost Beagle-like appearance from the neck up. She was great fun..

but her black and white colleague was a huge hit with everyone!

Great for chases..

..yet very gentle and indulgent with our naughty little boy.

Come to think of it, Biggles made a lot of new friends during that park session..

..and he got to watch a very long stick fight between Robbie and Baxter. Robbie has recently gained a black collar in the ancient martial art of Retriever-Do, so it’s hardly surprising that he won this exchange.

But whatever the breed, Saturday was a great day to be a dog!

Lynn from Beagle Racing has just got a lovely new Beagle pup called Sunny:

With any luck Biggles will be able to have a little play with her when Beagle Racing starts up again around April next year!

And talking of racing – or more specifically speeding – the following image was sent to us by George at the Glasgow Dog Training Club. This is what could happen if you’re late with your Christmas shopping and put the pedal to the metal:

The freezing conditions over the last few days have brought some unexpected benefits:

• Walking to heel. The pavements around our house have been covered in thick ice. It’s amazing how the prospect of a hard landing on your arse can focus you on heel-work during an on-lead walk.
• A holiday for wellies. Even the muddiest field loses its ability to swallow your feet when it’s frozen. And the dogs come back from the walk half-way clean too!
• Cryogenic poo. This is a mixed blessing if you’ve got a little boy called Biggles. On the one hand, frozen poo is much easier to pick up and bag. On the other, the frost turns last night’s number two into a delicacy – a crunchy, lickable poosicle that’s impossible to resist. And of course if Biggles is eating the stuff, then Beanie has to get in on the action too.

The really good thing though is that cold weather hasn’t got in the way of park fun. Here are some shots from Wednesday’s outing, in which our dynamic duo were once again joined by Bella.

It may seem a good idea to bite Bella’s bum…

..but there can be reprisals. Time to leg it!

Biggles in full flight!

But he’s not nearly fast enough..

..to outrun Bella

A gathering at the office water cooler

How long before he’s big enough to pick this up!

You may wonder what Beanie was doing while Biggles was having all this fun. Well, despite the small fortune we’ve spent trying to find safe but interesting chase toys, it turns out Beanie still prefers her own improvised toys:

Yep, that is a poo bag swinging from her chops

Needless to say we got a nice quiet afternoon when got back home.

Finally, we’re still waiting for Beanie’s treat bag to emerge from the black hole that is Zak’s stomach. If it is still in there, it doesn’t seem to be weighing him down at all.