Sunday’s Beagle Racing was filled with highs and lows. The “lows” came in the racing itself. Just as Beanie was starting to regain her confidence after a series of unfinished races due to jostling and intereference from other dogs earlier in the season, she had another set back.

In the very next race it was clear her confidence had hit rock bottom again. As this was a handicapped points race she started out towards the back of the field – just a yard ahead of Murphy. Instead of going straight for the lure she immediately fell back and ran over to the far side of the track to avoid contact with the other dogs. She ran just fast enough to stay with the pack, but didn’t dare overtake any of the other runners. I’m kind of glad she did, because towards the end of the race more trouble kicked off and this time she was able to avoid it safely.

This kind of thing isn’t the fault of the dogs concerned in any way – they’re newbies who just don’t understand what racing’s about yet and are just playing. Nevertheless it’s a shame to see our normally bold and happy little girl afraid to do the very thing that she loves best. We talked to race organisers Jill and Graham after all the races were over and they came up with a plan to build her back up. This will mean missing a few of the normal races for a few weeks but it’ll be worth it to get Beanie’s confidence fully restored.

Anyway, now for the highpoint of the day. A few people have shown interest in trying agility with their whippets and Beagles so we took a selection of our portable agility kit up to the track. Earlier in the year while at Flyball we’d both noted that Beanie’s understanding of the game dramatically improved when the sides of the course were fenced in closely. We tried the same trick here. Susan made up a straight course involving a few low jumps and a tunnel, and with the help of Beanie’s favorite lure driver “Scooby” we ran fencing tightly along the sides. Once all the racing was over, Susan sent Beanie through the course to show everyone how it should be done.

I then sent Biggles through to show them how it shouldn’t be done (why jump over a pole when you can go straight through it? That’s my boy!)

Then the others had a go and as you can see some of them did extremely well!

A good few of the whippets also had a go. They all flew over the jumps effortlessly but most avoided the tunnel either by dodging around it, or in one spectacular case, jumping right over it!

Some of the whippets are clearly very fast learners, as illustrated by these shots of Maggie negotiating the jumps, followed by her little girl Suzie.

Note the leg position..

..and now compare with Suzie!

The best part of it for me was seeing one of Scooby’s little whippets bounding over the jumps after a tennis ball.

This poor little soul had smashed one of his front legs while running around the garden as a youngster and had never been able to join his pals on the track, but he did just fine on our little agility course. We’re planning to take the agility stuff again next week – it should be great fun.

You can see more pics and videos from Sunday at the following links:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27172079@N08/sets/72157619086871434/detail/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36886480@N02/sets/72157619100813638/detail/

Beanie & Biggles prepared for Sunday’s racing with a number of warm up laps in our garden. Unfortunately this occurred just a few minutes after their post breakfast number twos, and being a bit lazy on Sunday mornings, neither of us had bothered to perform the ritual poo harvest. The result? Well this picture will give you the general idea..

Now that’s a skid mark and no mistake!

If Biggles looks unhappy it’s because I made it very clear to him that he wasn’t getting back into the house until I’d given his arse a thorough wiping. I didn’t have any pet wipes to hand so I ended up using a box of Tesco’s finest moistened and perfumed bum wipes that we were keeping back for guests. When I need to wipe my rear I end up using “value” bog roll; when Biggles has a skid mark, he gets the top notch stuff. It’s not fair, and Caesar Milan would not approve at all. Anyway, let’s talk racing.

There was a good turnout this week, thanks mainly to a lot of new faces. Racing was delayed a little until the whippets finished up, so the day started with an impromptu dog show. Biggles placed fourth and got a lovely green rosette to add to his collection. It’s just a pity the powers that be didn’t also have a motor show, because racing regular Jan would have won easily with her new customized wheels:

The opening races were just for fun, to get the newbies introduced to the track. Beanie won her first round easily, storming past the finish line in her favorite racing color: red.

Biggles was in the second race, and apparently was so laid back on the start line that he kept rolling over for a tummy tickle. That’s just not the sort of behavior you expect from a serious racing dog, and I’m sure he’d have been disqualified if the ref had spotted him. As it was, he got his act together when the lure started moving. He was up against a newbie and Chief, who is normally no slouch. Today however Chief was in a silly mood, and seemed more interested in Biggles’ bottom than lure. Perhaps my Tesco finest bum wipe had failed to completely remove all remnants of the earlier skid mark. Regardless, while Chief buzzed around Biggles’ rear end, our determined little boy just kept on running and deservedly won the race.

Chief checks up on Biggles’ woeful lack of personal hygiene

He gets serious about the race in the last few yards – but it’s too late!

Biggles chalks up another victory!

Never underestimate the Biggly boy!

In amongst the “normal” races, we also had a handicapped “points” race. Beanie won the first such race last week, so she ended up starting several yards behind Murphy, last year’s Derby champ and winner of the recent Open. She ran well and managed to close the gap somewhat, but it wasn’t enough to deny Murphy his victory. However, as the winner of a points race, Murphy will be joining Beanie at the back of the field next week.

Other noteworthy moments from Sunday included Beanie triumphantly seizing the lure as she won another of the regular races:

Cosmo the Tasmanian Devil disguised as a border terrier doing much the same:

And Jan’s Abbey pushing through another spot of unruly behavior to win one of her races:

Finally, here are a few more shots from Sunday.

There are more pictures from Sunday’s racing – you’ll find the full set (two pages worth) at the following link. Some photos are available in larger sizes – just click on the photo you like, then click All Sizes when the next Flickr page loads:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27172079@N08/sets/72157618707174201/detail/