Looking at the news it seems like pretty much the lower third of Britain is under water right now. Here in Ayrshire we haven’t had any flooding, but we have had a long run of horrible, wet and stormy weather. Oddly enough when the weather’s really grotty I much prefer running with the pups on the beach to walking with them; I suppose getting drenched by rain is not an issue when you’ve already accepted that you’re going to be soaking in your own sweat. Nevertheless, we’ve had some runs recently that pushed my resilience to the limit; on Thursday I had to pitch forward at 45 degrees just to get purchase against the wind, and Beanie & Biggles kept looking round to see what was tugging on their lines! Today however there was a break in the weather. I can’t say that it didn’t rain, but at least it didn’t rain much, and we used this brief respite to inspect the beach at a more leisurely pace.
Well, it started out leisurely.. but then Beanie caught sight of a group of birds further up the beach, and suddenly everything shifted into top gear.
Biggles glances back over his shoulder as if to say “see you later Dad, we’re off!”
Needless to say the raid on the birds did not result in any captures, and in due course the dynamic duo turned and sprinted back to us for the one kind poultry they could catch: cooked chicken.
We’re back! Get the chicken out!
Once they’d refueled sufficiently they were off again!
We had several more hunt / RTC (Return To Chicken) cycles during the walk; each time the hunting portion grew longer and bolder, and each time the retrieval of the chicken grew more difficult for her Beanieship. The problem she encountered, in a word, was Biggles. He likes chicken as much as the next Beagle, but he likes to tease his sister even more. Whenever she turned to sprint back for a refueling, Biggles playfully tried to block & barge her.
Given that Biggles has already had his bum bitten by his sister on several occasions, you might think that getting between her and a lump of chicken would be.. unwise. Happily for him, Beanie saw the lighter side and rose to his challenge. Using her superior agility she was able to confuse, misdirect & wrong-foot him, always arriving first at the food station otherwise known as Susan.
It was a shame to finally put them back on lead and head home, but I guess you’ve always got to leave some adventures for another day.
Your pictures (and your beagles, of course!) are beautiful. I always look forward to the next adventure!
Thanks Kaye – much appreciated!
Fabulous, fabulous pictures and narration! Here on the Mid-Atlantic coast of the US, we’ve just seen 2 months of snow – ice – bitter cold – bad footing, with a few blessed days of warmer weather, so we’re all quite stir-crazy. Although I do have to say that on Sunday, our 14 year old gal Josie opted for the longer walk through the woods, and you would have thought she was training for the Iditarod the way she was galloping. I was unfortunately in between her and the younger and you would think more agile Lady, who did a great impression of an anchor because she preferred sniffing to running. Hurry up spring!
More great photos Paul; the last one of the beags running towards the sea is absolutely stunning! You sound as sick of the rain as we are in Derbyshire, although thank goodness we don’t have flooding like the poor souls further south. Think we’ve only had about three full days without rain since Christmas and where we live is like a massive bog. The beags come back slathered in mud after every walk – roll on Spring!!
Thanks Susan & Julie. Yep, we’ve been spared the really extreme weather, but still this almost relentless combo of featureless grey skies & rain is getting to me. I’d still take the rain over snow and ice though – I don’t envy you Susan!
What fun, I would love to see my Beagles run off leash. However, they would be in the next state before I caught them. Mine are not to be trusted. You guys have so much fun together, love seeing that.
Hope the rain stops soon, Our temperature in Houston TX has been cold for us 30+, but this weekend we are supposed to get back into the 70’s. I have been enjoying the cold. Maybe it’s because I know it’s not going to snow, etc.
Thanks for the smile that your articles always give me.
Take are of those unruly :) Beagles. Love them…
Another thing, if I had chicken in my pocket, they would never leave me to play :) You have my respect.
@Sue: Thanks for the kind words!
I’m convinced it’s the ritual of our beach runs that’s established the offlead “Go Play!” & “Come get your chicken!” routine. It carries over to the occasional walk on the beach too, as long as we don’t do them too often :)