The Grand National

Posted on by

We got truly beautiful weather for Beagle Racing yesterday, and the racing itself was particularly exciting. It started out with an elimination-style event. The dogs raced each other in pairs, with only the winner going through to the next round. When only four dogs remained a final race was held. After that came “The Grand National” – a free-for-all where all dogs ran together with no colored jackets and therefore precious little hope of recording the finishing order!

There was a good turnout overall; some regulars were missing (notably Sam and Milo) but there were some new faces, and the return of Sophie – one of Beanie’s best friends from the park. Once the draws had been made it turned out that Beanie was going straight through to the second round – there was an odd number of Beagles and she got lucky. To even things out though, we put her in an extra race against Kai – a frisky eight month old mixed breed pup who’d come along to support his Beagle chum Honey.

Kai

Race organiser Graham gave Kai a head start over Beanie (more to keep them apart than anything else – they seemed very keen to wrestle each other) but Kai didn’t really start running until Beanie was level with him. This was just as well, because once Kai got going he was very fast. Beanie had to run very hard indeed to win, but win she did, much to my relief!

Kai’s Beagle chum Honey is apparently even faster, but this was her race debut and she seemed very unsure about it all. Her dad gave her a very good start…

but after a few steps she lost confidence and stopped.

Undeterred, her owner gently coaxed her down the track and across the line, so she got to finish her first ever race – that’s more than Beanie did on her debut!

Another racing newbie called Freya did spectacularly well though – she won her heat, but sadly had to skip the other rounds as her family had to leave early for a prior engagement.

Freya – a “natural” if there was one!

Beanie’s chum Sophie had a very exciting race against Pebel.

She just lost at the line to the more experienced racer, but she clearly enjoyed herself and it was great to see her romping down the track, full of energy.

In between the official heats one or two of the non-Beagle regulars also had a go on the track.

The close-cut grass must have seemed like an untamed jungle, but little Odie still battled through it like a trouper!

In the second round Beanie was up against Lynn Sanford’s sweet little girl Tammie. Tammie generally only completes a race if she feels like it, and I’m glad to say this on this occasion her mood was favorable…

…but despite her efforts Beanie won the race and was now through to the final.

It was no surprise to see Derby winner Murphy in the final, and going on past results it was highly likely he would beat Beanie. This time however Beanie got a good start while Murphy’s was not quite so clean, and in the closing quarter of the race Beanie was fractionally in the lead.

But like a true champion, Murphy dug deep and managed to edge past Beanie as they crossed the line!

Murphy wins by a (moist, black) nose

Now it was time for the Grand National. Kai was allowed to run with the Beagles, and within the first few yards the lure seemed to stick and he caught it!

This caused a lot confusion for some of the dogs – not least Beanie and Murphy who both took a brief time-out to see what was going on. The lure quickly started up again and the race was back on, but while Murphy pushedhis way back through to the front and went on to win, Beanie never really got back into her stride.

Still she had great fun, and to give her an extra race Susan asked if there was a slow whippet that she could run with. I think that message got garbled, because the little boy she ended up racing against was Toby – one of the fastest, if not the fastest, at the club. Beanie got a sizeable head start but Toby had already passed her at the halfway point:

and after that, well, you can guess the rest!

She loved every second of it though, and was yelping loudly as Toby pulled away from her, just as she does when she’s chasing the fast dogs at her local park.

So Murphy got two more red rosettes for his collection, Beanie got another blue for hers, and when Kai and Honey’s owners next visit the track they’ll get this:

.. a special rosette awarded to Kai for being such a fast and entertaining little boy!

You’ll find more photos from the racing here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27172079@N08/sets/72157606571428064/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27172079@N08/sets/72157607764556742/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27172079@N08/sets/72157607765111162/

Beanie “No Fear”

Posted on by

It was Beanie’s second class in her Introduction to Agility course today and what a performance!

Because of the bad weather it was held in an indoor arena in East Kilbride, so we had about half an hour after completing the 5k to bundle Beanie into the car and get from Bellahouston to East Kilbride. Only Beanie and Islay the Springer Spaniel turned up so they had plenty of individual attention. The class was more demanding this week and they worked on jumps, the open tunnel and the flat tunnel, and even some little combinations of jumps and tunnels. Both dogs did superbly – it was the owners that were struggling to remember all the commands, signals and body language….not to mention the problem of keeping up with our fit, fast young dogs as they hurtle along the course. Agility really is hard work for the handler!

We didn’t expect Beanie to take to agility but after this morning’s performance we can’t help but feel that she’s going to be a little superstar! I have never seen her so excited or so fast! She flew over jumps clearing them by miles, hurtled through tunnels and after each run would sprint a couple of victory laps of the arena and then do the whole course again in reverse on her way back to me! (OK, so the victory laps and reverse run of the course weren’t strictly what she was supposed to do, but Carol informed us that she didn’t view it as naughtiness – just enthusiasm :) ). Beanie has no problem with any of the equipment and handles each new piece of apparatus like a pro first time. In fact, instructor Carol gave her the nickname of “Beanie No Fear”. She gets a little excitable on the wait commands, and often took off down the course before she was told to. And a couple of times she got bored in her ‘wait’ position and took off in search of treats. But Carol says that’s fairly common in young, high energy dogs.

Beanie’s homework is to practice her ‘down wait’.

Mum’s homework is to try not to talk so much – just the commands and nothing else. Apparently my words of encouragement are confusing Beanie. Carol made Paul’s day with that one!

Beanie Raises £114.50 for Beagle Welfare

Posted on by

Today was the day of Beanie’s Big 5K Fun Run to raise money for Beagle Welfare.

The weather was awful! Howling winds, torrential rain and wet, slippy leaves under foot. So we set out equipped with heavy waterproof jackets and a rucksack with towels etc. Paul & I both have chronic injuries right now, so despite all the big talk a couple of months ago about doing the race in under 25 minutes we decided that it might be more sensible for us to walk the course.

Despite the atrocious conditions there was a good turn out. At the start line we met Monty the Beagle who was also running for Beagle welfare with his very fit looking mum who was all kitted out in her running gear.


Monty the Beagle and his mum run for Beagle Welfare

Beanie was impressed….and I couldn’t help but think she looked somewhat disappointed in her very unfit looking mum! As the pre-race warm up started Beanie got so exited, and of course, EVERYONE stopped to say hello to Beanie. She just loves being amongst crowds of people.


What a lovely day for a race

It was such a great atmosphere that at some mad point during the warm up Paul and I decided that we couldn’t let Beanie down – we had to run the entire course.

Our pace wasn’t really a run for Beanie – more of a brisk walk. We could tell that she’d much rather have sprinted along with the fastest runners. But she was SO good. She trotted along beside us on a short lead without any naughtiness at all. And she just loved all the applause and support from passers by!

Paul & I finally limped along the home straight, dragged behind a fresh and full-of-beans Beanie who just couldn’t resist sprinting for the Finish line when she saw everyone cheering for her. We finished in a time that couldn’t have been far short of 40 minutes! So not quite up to the standard of Beanie’s 27 minute East End 5k a few months ago. But we had a fantastic morning together.


Beanie completes her 2nd 5k Road Race

In total Beanie raised £114.50 for Beagle Welfare thanks to the support and sponsorship of:

  • Kathleen McDonald (Mochuisle Beagles)
  • Hazel McFarlane (Sophie the Beagle’s mum)
  • Louise Mcallister (Tess, Tara & Clara the Beagles’ mum)
  • Gillian Bickerstaff (Bailey the Beagle’s mum)
  • Liz Calikes (Newlin Beagles – Beanie’s Breeder)
  • Maggie Hendrie (Caledonean Thistle Pedigree Whippet Racing Club)
  • Paul Worthy Gardner (Organiser of the Dog Run Dog races in the USA)
  • Geraldine, Mano and Zeeshar from our local gym (Venice Physique)
  • Doog and Kate Rowand
  • Graeme McLaren
  • Kenny Taylor
  • Sean McGarrity
  • Math and Angel
  • Richard Westlake
  • Eileen Roberts

A huge thank you to all of you !!