Just over a week ago when we were immersed in a DIY & decorating frenzy, Biggles got around 5 minutes unsupervised access to our utility room. This is where we keep our bins, the fridge-freezer, and crucially, several months’ worth of kibble. As I’ve noted in previous posts, my boy has a history of not fully capitalizing on moments of opportunity, but this time he got it (mostly) right: he ignored the bins and the fridge and focused on the three 12kg bags of Burns Alert sitting in the alcove under the boiler. Being Biggles, he still targeted the only bag that had been shipped in a heavy duty woven plastic sack, rather than going for the other two which were otherwise unprotected, but to his credit he nibbled a hole through both the sack and the bag within and made a fair dent in the contents before his 5 minute free-for-all was up. He would have got longer than 5 minutes, but unfortunately the rhythmic battering of his wagging tail against a radiator caught my attention.
Some dogs might regard a big score like that as the achievement of a lifetime and retire from the world of competitive naughtiness, but not my boy. After a few hours of downtime (absolutely unavoidable as his bloated stomach struggled to process the bumper intake of kibble), he was right back to pushing the envelope. Could he sneak back into the utility room for a second go? How many socks could he nick from the bedroom? And how many sheets of sandpaper and rolls of masking tape could be ruined while left unattended on the kitchen floor? Yep, no resting on laurels for The Bigglet, it’s “Excelsior!” all the way.
When life presents you with an old pipe that’s big enough to take your take your head, what you do?
If you’re living life the Biggles way, you just stick your head straight down it, no questions asked.
Beanie hasn’t been idle this last couple of weeks, either: she’s discovered that our miniature strawberry plants are now bearing fruit, and she’s been picking that fruit at every opportunity.
The strawberries really are small, but they’re meant to be super-sweet and full of flavor. I can’t say whether that last part is true or not, because of course I haven’t got to taste any of them yet. Somehow I don’t think that’s going to change any time soon!
My 14.5 year old beagle is rather partial to eating gooseberries off our gooseberry bush despite all the prickles.and hec once got into our cocoa shell garden fertiliser sack which resulted in a trip to the vet…beagles, what a dog!!
Hello, just wanted to say that your blog has given me great joy over SO many, many years. I stumbled upon your site way when I was googling “beanie beagle” because that’s what my beagle was named too! Unfortunately, she died earlier this summer at the too young age of 11.
Your blog is continuing to bring me great joy and is helping to fill the beagle-shapes hole in my heart. Beans would’ve loved your Beanie and Biggles too!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful pups!
@Amanda: It’s always comforting to hear that it’s not just our two that are nuts :)
@Minnie: So sorry to hear about the loss of your own little Beanie, and thanks so much for the kind words about the blog!