This Christmas has been remarkable for two things:

1) No-one attempted to pull the Christmas tree down, or even pull a bauble or strand of tinsel off it.
This is especially remarkable given that Monkey really enjoys practicing his version of the  tablecloth trick; at least once a week he grabs hold of a blankie on the sofa and pulls for all he’s worth in an attempt to dump Daisy, and sometimes me or Susan, onto the floor.

2) All the new toys given as presents survived!

Like I said, nobody has attempted to pull the tree over, though one or both of the pups may have had moments when they thought about it :)

Right Daisy, I reckon all the good stuff is in this bag, so let’s work as a team to get it all out of there! Just let Monkey do all the thinking, ‘cos I’m a Christmas veteran.

Here’s the plan: I’ll stand on it while you try and extract the presents from the end of the bag that isn’t open.

OK, here’s the other plan: we both stick our heads in the open end and point our bums at the camera.

Yep it’s working!

Still no sign of anything we can play with yet though, so let’s go in again!

Nope, still nothing that looks like a Beagle-appropriate Christmas present…

Hurrah! A cardboard box! It’s just what I always wanted!

Oh yeah, it’s gonna be a good Christmas after all!

Waddya mean I’m missing the point, Dad?

Don’t bother with that Daisy, I dunno why the humies put that in the bag but it’s not for us!

Stick with me and you can have some of my cardboard!

Ughh, yet more of those useless bag fillers

Nothing more left in the bag now!

Still this cardboard is really good stuff!

Hang on a second though Monkey!

I’ve got an idea what all this other stuff is for..

Blimey, it’s almost as much fun as the cardboard!

This one squeaks!

And there’s another one!

Out of my way everybody, I’m on urgent puppy business with this thing..

OK Daisy, there’s no way this can be better than the cardboard, but let me try it for a minute..

Whoa!

Wheeeeeeee!

I think you might be onto something Daisy! Let’s check ’em all out!

And then there was much crinkling and squeaking…

and chewing of nice things before finally.. 

..a journey to the Land of Nod

Although it did take one of us a bit longer than the other to get there.

My best memory from this Christmas? Sitting on the floor by the sofa (the pups were hogging it) with Daisy snoring loudly in my right ear, and Monkey occasionally kicking me in the head during a dream about chasing. It doesn’t get better than that.

A little while ago – perhaps I should say “A wee while ago” due to the nature of this post and the fact that we’re in Scotland – I reported that Daisy had started peeing the bed in her crate on a regular basis. I tried a calming pheromone and carried out an uber-thorough wash of her bedding in the hopes of eliminating all traces of pee scent; this reduced the frequency of the soiling but didn’t stop it entirely. Clearly further action was required!

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like it was probably a training issue; there was some kind of faulting thinking going on in that warm, soft and sweet smelling bonce of hers. I reinstated one of the most basic toilet-training steps: every time she urinated outside I praised her, rewarded her and made sure to bind the whole event consistently to the trigger phrase I use when she goes out for her final toilet visit at night.

Unfortunately when we got Daisy I had a moment of silliness and short-term thinking which led me to depart from the sensible “clean girl!” phrase I’d used for Beanie and Poppy. Daisy just seemed so tiny and cute that I felt strangely compelled to say “Pee-pee and poo-poo!”. Worse still, I didn’t just say it plainly, but used a mock-French accent. That was fine in those early days when Daisy couldn’t go for walkies in public; no-one could hear me so it didn’t matter that it sounded silly. Now of course Daisy isn’t a pup, she’s heading towards 2 yrs old and when she squats for a number one we’re much more likely to be on a popular park trail than in the privacy of our garden. Still, that’s the phrase she knows so I’ve been saying it, albeit with less of a Peter Sellers / Inspector Clouseau accent. Yes, I do feel silly, but also yes it has worked brilliantly, eradicating the problem after just a couple of days.

It has of course created another small issue, in that Daisy now does extra pees on walks just to get her treat. There are several changes in behavior that have led me to this conclusion; firstly and most obviously she pees more during the walk, but more importantly after the first one she looks me right in the eye as she squats, then jogs over and openly mugs me for her reward. And of course his Monkeyship doesn’t want to be left out, so I have to give him a treat as well. Anyway, let all this be a lesson to anyone getting a Beagle pup: choose your toilet trigger words carefully!

Finally as we’re close to Christmas I figure it’s time to post a few festive shots…

Errr Monkey.. is your hoof better than mine?

Yeah Daisy it is, and you’re not having it ’till I’ve finished!

How come we always get the slightly odd ones when it comes to Beagles? Beanie would hump anything that moved and then demand to be covered by a blankie; Biggles was a furry noise machine who wanted to build his own dirty sock mountain, yet would always stay very, very quiet when he needed help. Poppy was a potato-obsessed kleptomaniac who could find a way through any fence. Monkey – as I’ve often noted – loves to lap up other dogs’ pee and gets inappropriately stimulated by our sofa throws.

Compared to that lot Daisy has always been the normal one; she just likes cuddles and humping Monkey, and let’s face it, everyone likes humping Monkey. Poppy did it frequently and numerous other (mostly boy) dogs have had a go at riding him this year, despite the fact that he’s is fully intact. Just recently however, Daisy has proved that she is indeed a fully paid-up member of the gang: she’s developed a liking for pressing her nether regions firmly against novel surfaces. Fleecy jogging bottoms are nice, as is fur – whether attached to Monkey or the purely synthetic kind – but her real fave is leather; cool, supple leather.  Especially if it’s been recently waxed.

In fairness I should point out that (so far) Daisy hasn’t actually humped her chosen perving surface – unless that surface is Monkey of course – but our little girl has definitely joined the “not quite right” club.

To finish, some shots of a more innocent nature..