Puppy Time!

Posted on August 16, 2008 by Paul

Tess’s pups – now around 11 weeks old and fully immunized – had their first trip to the park this morning.

The adventure begins!

That’s Tara on the left (all white tail) and Clara on the right. Bold and full of life, they were both keen to explore and meet the park regulars.

Beanie meets Tara (I think!)

Beanie said hello briefly, but there were three more important things on her mind: “who’s got the treats”, “who can I get a chase with” and of course “who’s got more treats”. Her pal Sophie on the other hand only had eyes for the pups.

OK, Tess, you have a rest – I’ll take care of these two

Well, obviously that’s not entirely true…

Change of plans. You guys are on your own – I’m getting the treats

but she did hang around the pups a lot, clearly playing a protective role. And it was needed, because every couple of minutes Beanie and her chase buddies would plough straight through the gathering baying loudly. Quite a daunting thing for little pups!

But as the pups’ confidence grew, they were happy to wander off into the dense jungle foliage to do some more exploring.

Although they’re still so young, the have very distinct personalities. While one is very bold and always wanting to be in middle of the action, the other watches carefully from the sidelines, planning her next move.

Think first…

…then act!

They’re certainly gorgeous little pups, but I think their owner Louise is going to have her hands full over the next few months! As for Mum Tess, I’ve never seen her happier. She was running, jumping, and even got into a chase with Beanie. What a great morning!

Let’s just hope the weather improves for tommorrow’s Beagle & Whippet Racing Derby Day in Kincardine..

Swimming without a life jacket!

Posted on August 12, 2008 by Susan

Beanie had another swimming lesson yesterday and this time swam without a life jacket! She actually does much better without it. She’s a superb little swimmer now, and we’re confident that by the end of her course she’ll be swimming regularly in the local rivers, ponds and sea.

We met Sophie there again, and she’s reached the end of her first 10 week course so went to get all her vital statistics taken again. Sophie mainly started swimming lessons to get her back into shape after her phantom pregnancy. The measurements show she’s lost quite a bit off her waistline and put on a significant amount of bulk in all the right places!

Beanie has certainly built lots of lovely muscle over the past few weeks, although because she’s a devloping pup it’s not clear how much of that is down to the swimming. But I’m told that typically in a 10 week course dogs do build measurable muscle. Beanie certainly got loads of compliments from the vetenary nurses about her lean, muscular build! And I have to say we agree with them – she looks fabulous!

Cupboard Love

Posted on August 12, 2008 by Susan

After travelling all the way up to Kincardine on Sunday only to find that the track was waterlogged and un-useable we decided to head straight for Irvine beach rather than go back home. We got there about 5pm and there was still lots of blue sky and sunshine. The sea looked amazing in the evening light.

As always the beach was deserted, and despite the very high tide Beanie had a superb time.

Looking at the photos Paul took you’d think that our little pup adored me and couldn’t bear to be parted from me. In 90 percent of the snaps she was glued to my side looking at me adoringly.

In actual fact she spent most of her time a mile down the beach from us chasing a galloping horse! She just sprinted back and forth between us and the horse….which was great exercise for her! The only time she stayed still for long enough for Paul to take a photo was when I pulled out a lump of chicken!

She made a couple of new pals – the first one we didn’t get the name of, but he was with the horse:

And then we met 5 month old Tucker the Jack Russell cross :

We also discovered a restaurant on the beach that welcomes dogs! It’s about three miles down the beach from the Harbourside, which means a nice 6 mile walk to burn off all the calories! We haven’t tried it yet, but we’ve heard the food is excellent and quite reasonably priced.

Chasing horses? Me? I’d never do anything naughty like that!!