Time Trials

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As is often the case, we set off to Beagle Racing a little late yesterday, yet still arrived well before the whippets had finished, so I took a couple of shots of the speed demons doing their thing:

A youngster just getting the hang of the track, owned – appropriately – by “Scooby”

Sky (aka “Mammie’s Baby”) in action

As the Beagle slot rapidly approached, we learned that Beanie was about to get her first taste of time trials. These start with each Beagle doing a timed solo run down the 120 yard track. Once all dogs have been timed, their performance against the clock is used to calculate handicaps for the subsequent races – the faster dogs starting behind the others. As with the points races, this is one of those situations where it’s best not to shine too brightly early on.

We had no idea how Beanie was going to perform against the clock. She’d never chased the lure on her own before, and we’ve always felt that it’s the thrill of running in a pack that makes her enjoy racing so much. Running solo, there was no guarantee that she would even cross the finish line! What’s more, we had no idea if she’d fully recovered her zest for life after our brief, unsuccessful experiment with a raw food diet.

Still, she was baying very loudly and straining at her lead as she queued up for her turn, so I was cautiously optimistic as I headed down to the finish line to catch her.  When the “go” signal was given, she set off quickly and chased the lure right down the track with total concentration.

I thought she’d done well, and the results backed me up. There wasn’t much in it, and it has to be said that two of the fastest dogs (Murphy and Milo) weren’t present, but our little pup had clocked the fastest time. Fantastic! Of course as the fastest dog she’d also be starting right at the back in every one of her races.

Beanie’s first race put her up against Abbey (winner of the fastest bitch trophy earlier in the year) and Sam, one of the fastest males. She was starting some distance behind both of them, but usually that inspires her to run even faster. As the group passed the half-way point she was actually closing in on Sam..

Abbey in front, Sam in second, and Beanie closing fast!

In the last few yards Beanie made it past Sam – a great achievement in a level race, but even more impressive given that he started ahead of her. Abbey had started in pole position and she finished that way too, but Beanie was through to the next round. She got a big chunk of dried liver, a hug and rest while the other heats got under way..

In the next round, Beanie started 16 yards behind the front dog, and had to finish in the first two to make it through to the final.

As in the first heat, a clear leader quickly emerged and there was a tough battle to decide second and third place..

Well, OK, “battle” is the wrong word because it’s pretty obvious both dogs were loving every second of it! But somehow Beanie got fractionally ahead at the finish and secured her place in the final.

The consolation race was next. Pebel won convincingly…

…despite some very determined competition!

In the final it was Abbey, the two brothers Breac and Tiarnach, and Beanie right at the back.

Beanie caught up with Breac and Tiarnach in the closing stage of the race..

.. and just managed to grab second place at the line, but Abbey held on to her lead for the win!

Abbey, Beanie, Breac, Tiarnach and Pebel

It was a great return to form for our little pup though, and I’m certain it was the return to balanced, dry food that was responsible. We saw a decline when she was on raw for breakfast and kibble for her evening meal. When we switched over to raw completely her energy levels dropped through the floor – to the extent that she lost confidence when playing with other dogs in the park. Now that she’s back on dry food (Burns Active at the moment) she’s completely recovered her lust for life. The full raw diet seems to work well for many dogs, but not for Beanie. However, we do intend to keep giving her occasional raw treats (marrow bones and such) in case there’s anything in raw food that might help keep her gut in good shape and her allergies under control.

Profoundly Well-Behaved

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The three of us went to the park as normal yesterday morning. There was a good turnout, with plenty of fit young dogs for Beanie to play with, but she had a particularly good time with her sister Bella.

Bella arrives, ready for a good romp…

…and gets one, courtesy of Beanie!

The Beagle count hit seven: Beanie, Bella, Tess, Tara, Clara, Tanner and Baxter. It would have made eight if Sophie hadn’t been on holiday!

Baxter, Tara and Clara get down to some quality sniffing

Beanie was totally back to her old self, getting involved in chase after chase after chase. She and Bella had a great time with a young Dalmation..

I didn’t catch the Dalmation’s name, but I think that may be because the owner never used it. There’d have been no point as the dog is profoundly deaf. He was very well behaved though – his owner had developed their own form of sign language. Physical touch was sometimes needed to get the dog’s attention when he was preoccupied, but after that it never took more than one clear instruction to get the desired response. I guess that’s one disadvantage of verbal commands – it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of repeating the command, weakening its effect.

Just before we left to grab some not-so-healthy snacks from the park’s Pond Cafe (why is it that we’re so careful over what we feed our dog, and so lax when it comes to ourselves), a young pied-piper turned up with a bag of treats. He clearly hadn’t learned his lesson from last time, and was once again mugged by every dog in the immediate vicinity.

Hang on, there’s food but where’s Beanie? She’s there alright, second Beagle bum from the left!

I bl**dy told you so!

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Mats generally don’t survive long in our house as they’re the natural prey of the Beanie monster. That’s why on our latest visit to B&Q I wanted to switch to the hard-wearing, spiky-bristled variety. I figured they wouldn’t feel nice in Beanie’s mouth, so they might not get chewed quite so much. Susan disagreed: “Just get a regular washable mat. We can take it up any time Beanie’s unattended downstairs”. I expressed doubts that we could remember, or even be bothered, to do that day in, day out.

I lost, and we paid £14 for a long, washable fabric mat. We popped it down in the hall when we got back, let Beanie into the garden, and went to check our email. Here’s the sight that greeted me when I returned to investigate some unusual sounds coming from the ground floor..

Still, that bit of a destruction is a sign that Beanie’s throughly back on form. Earlier in the week, we’d felt that she had lost some of her boundless energy and zest for life following a complete switch over to raw food. Her confidence also took a dent on Tuesday when we had our carpets replaced by laminate. The fresh clean laminate surface has already helped to reduce her itching, but for the first couple of days she was a bit like Bambi on ice. There was no jumping on the kitchen table, no running around like a crazy thing. Instead she just sulked on her bed and whined.

Well, that torn up rug is a symbol of her return to healthy, happy naughtiness. And if this morning’s session at the park is anything to go by, the switch back to regular dry food (Burns Active) has completely restored her energy reserves: