Last Hunt of the Season coming up...

Jamie in yellow (behind) with a friend

Jemma looking pretty in pink.

There is only one more hunt of the season on Sunday 12 September. After that we will miss all the fun enormously. I am still stressing about what we are going to do until the new season starts again next winter.

There is a final competition run at the very end on the season for only the most experienced and fastest beagles called "The Top Ten". They follow a 5 to 7 kilometre long trail non stop. Last year only five beagles finished. This is quite an achievement as the normal trail is about 1 kilometre long but the tough terrain adds to the difficulty. We normally do five of these trails back to back but with a break in between each one for water and rest.

Jemma works much harder than Jamie because she completes the trail and then returns to where the owners are waiting at the start. Jamie (oh sly one!) has learnt to stay at the finish of the trail and wait for all the owners to trickle in. Very clever! So he does not work nearly as hard as Jemma.

In October there will be a Beagle Ball attended by owners who (for a change) get all dressed up and have a swell time. People often don't recognise each other when they are decked out in all their finery. We are used to dressing in very unglamourous, thick protective clothing to keep us warm against the early morning cold and looking bleary eyed and blue in the face because of the 5.00am wake up call.

Trophies and prizes get awarded to the top ten beagles who have won the most points for coming in consistently in top places during the season. I also think it is a reward for all those dedicated owners who have given up so many Sunday morning "lie-ins" so that their beagles could have some fun.

Next year I will be entering Jamie and Jemma as a team because I think they will have a good shot at doing well in the team category. But in the meantime I am going to have to work on my fitness training programme with them during summer. My sporty sister has advised me to get them to build endurance by following me at a trot on a bike in the park. On the in between days she suggest we do sprints around the complex. But first I will have to work on my own fitness to follow this strenuous programme!

It's OK to be sad...

The community of owners who take their dogs to the Beagle Hunt is very loose, laid back and there is no pressure to do anything but enjoy watching your dogs run. Most of us don't remember every one's names but we do know the names of the beagles (prominently displayed on their bibs).

The Hunt has a blog which keeps everyone in touch with the latest news, how the last hunt went, photos of our dogs competing and the occasional call for a home for a rescue beagle.
But last week one the most well known beagles on the Hunt, Basil, died in a freak accident.
He was a real character, larger than life both figuratively and literally.

There was a burglary at Basil's home. During the ensuing chaos when the security service arrived on the scene, the gate was left open. Basil ran into the road and was run over.

The outpouring of support by the owners was quite amazing! I had tears running down my cheeks as I read the comments. Why did I react that way?
Perhaps it was because I remembered what it was like to lose my own dogs, perhaps it was repressed grief at the memory.

I think we so seldom acknowledge that losing a pet is something important in our lives, something people genuinely grieve about. It is so often brushed aside because of course there are much bigger and harder issues to deal with in life than the loss of a pet.

But here people were acknowledging a pet owner's loss and grief. Everyone wrote a kind testimonial about Basil and each comment was signed with the owner's name and that of their beagle.
It's nice to belong to a community of people that understands that it's OK to be sad when you lose a pet.

Going back to Puppy School without Jamie or Jemma

When I started writing this blog about me and my dogs, I didn't realise that it would take me into a whole new world. Taking Jamie and Jemma to Puppy School opened a door for me that has taken me off into a whole new direction.
I decided I wanted to learn more.

So last year I spent nine months studying canine behaviour through the Centre of Applied Pet Ethology in the UK. I learnt that the more you know, the more you realise how little you know. I learnt that the world of dog behaviour is surprisingly complex. There are many different schools of thought amongst the academics. And when it comes to the business side of things, it is highly policised and competitive just like most other industries.

But perhaps the most important lesson I learnt is that there are two ends to a leash. There's a dog on one end and a human on the other end. Most of the time canine behaviour is the result of how the human behaves and how much the human really understands their dog.

Everything in life always comes back to Homo sapiens, even canine behaviour!

This year I have embarked on my studies to become a dog trainer starting out as a Puppy Instructor trainee. I wrote my exam last weekend and will embark on several months of practical training during which we are constantly evaluated before we are given the green light as a trainer.

It is interesting to observe that the puppies are always so innocent and delightful. The challenge is usually how to help the humans. Luckily it was not so long ago that I was one of those clumsy, fallible and ignorant owners, so I can empathise with most of them. Though there are a few who, shall we say, present an interesting challenge! But that is a story for another time.

The man with five dogs...

A little while ago I wrote about the man with four dogs. He now has five dogs.

The story of his latest rescue dog is just as bizarre as the stories of the others.

This dog came from a couple who where going through a divorce. They could not agree as to who would take the dog. So they decided that since neither was prepared to take on the responsibility, the best solution was to euthanize the dog.

I guess if King Solomon had decided to cut the dog in half, unlike the biblical tale where the real mother would rather give up her child that let him die, in this case the dog would have been dead. How incredibly twisted is that!

Two women both claimed to be the mother of a child and brought their case before King Solomon. After some deliberation, King Solomon called for a sword to be brought before him. He declared that there is only one fair solution: the live son must be split in two, each woman receiving half of the child. Upon hearing this terrible verdict, the boy's true mother cried out, "Please, My Lord, give her the live child—do not kill him!" However, the liar, in her bitter jealousy, exclaimed, "It shall be neither mine nor yours—divide it!" Solomon instantly gave the live baby to the real mother, realizing that the true mother's instincts were to protect her child, while the liar revealed that she did not truly love the child.

Some one rescued the dog from its owners, but her flat was too small for a lively beagle.
So now the man with a big heart has five dogs!

Beagle Wonderland

Beagle Hunts have become a highlight both for me and my beagles. Jemma and Jamie are now successfully completing 90% of the scent "lines". I have been amazed that they are tackling the very tough ones which wind over koppies with very rough, rocky terrain. It is very satisfying hearing the hunt leader read out the names of the dogs that have crossed the finish line and to hear that Jamie and Jemma have made it.

I am also enjoying the walking and talking to all the other owners who come from far and wide for the Hunt. I enjoy passing on tips to those whose beagles do not run immediately (like mine). There are a lucky few whose dogs run first time, but many owners become discouraged when their beagles don't succeed right away. There are several factors that I have learnt have to be taken into account:

1. Your beagle needs to get used to the idea that it is allowed to leave you and disappear from sight. From a small age we teach them not to get lost, not to leave our side. Now they have to learn that it is OK to do this at a Beagle Hunt.
2. Most dogs are not used to being in packs (at least 30 dogs) nor to the incredible barking and howling as the experienced dogs bark in excitement at the start line. It can be quite intimidating and takes some getting used to.
3. They need to learn to run with the pack.
4. They need to learn to follow a scent trail (a mackerel scent trail). When the going gets hard and the pack breaks up, it is often the dogs that really know how to follow a scent who finish the trail. Many dogs only keep up with the pack because they are fast and fit, but when the pack breaks up, they lose their way.
5. Your dogs need to be lean and fit. If they are carrying too much weight or have not developed stamina and speed, they get left behind by the pack.
6. They need to develop callouses on their paw pads. Most of our dogs are used to soft grassy gardens and parks. Now they are expected to race over bush veld and rocky terrain and their paws need to get used to that.

At the moment I have put my beagles on a diet as they need to lose at least a kilogram or two. I also need to work out how to make them fitter and faster. I admit that I do not get my dogs to the park as often as I should because it is suck a "trek" to get there. What I am going to try to do is to increase the intensity of their training by getting them to follow me on a mountain bike.

They currently keep up with my walking speed with ease and spend a lot of time exploring different scents and smells. If I could introduce a bit of "speed training" and encourage them to sprint after my bike, the outing might be a bit more challenging for them.

Anyway that is the long term plan which hopefully will come together when I get a bike! I also have to plan what we are going to do when the Hunt season comes to an end. I will have to find something else to keep them entertained during the summer!