An update

George has started puppy training with one of the greatest trainers in Britain (sic) Tony Orchard. He missed the first week because he had a funny tummy but in spite of that, is already top of the class. In fact, Tony used him as an example 3 times! There is another Beagle in the class called Harley. People always ask what breed George is and many mistake him for a Jack Russell. It's clear just how unbeagley George looks next to Harley (a real Beagle, unlike Beagle-in-training, George). Will try and nab a photo in the next few weeks.

George is now officially a red-head. A lot of Beagles are born more black than tan, but their fur will lighten quite early on. Up until a few weeks ago, George's head was completely black. Now it's positively copper-toned (see second pic of 'Pooped' below).

George has now outgrown his collar and had to get a new one. He was last weighed (last week) at 7.4 kilos. He's only supposed to grow to be 9 kilos and he's only just turned 5 months. The vet thinks he'll be bigger than we intially thought. I can still pick him up with relative ease, but I'll be able to throw the dumbbells away if he gets much bigger.

It has now been 5 whole days since George pooped or pee'd inside. Yippeee!

I'd like to say that George has also not escaped from the garden for a whole week. This would have been true up until around 20 minutes ago when a neighbour in a dressing gown (at 2:30 in the afternoon. Heavy night?) pointed out that he was picking bluebells from next door's garden. Or was it digging them up? I wasn't paying much attention to what she said. She was in her dressing gown.

Pooped!

It's a tough life...

George can sleep standing up!

Or is perhaps in need of his first pair of sunnies...

In case you're interested: http://www.doggles.com/

It's almost as ludacris as this... http://www.petsathome.com/shop/pet-stroller-by-happy-trails-23921

I guess it's gotta come in useful for someone!

Wait...cross!

A few posts back I mentioned that George knows to wait at the kerb before being told he can cross. I started this on his first walk and he now knows how to stop and wait without needing to be told (pat self on back).

Observe...

This is also the position George will hold at the end of the cross while walking along, waiting for his treat.

Our neighbour called him spoiled the other day because he gets a treat for crossing the road. Why I oughta!

George mid-howl

George is very vocal. The Beagle is thought to have been named after the french word 'begueule' which means 'open throat'. This seems fitting. George has a wide range of noises. He barks, bays, howls, cries, growls, squeaks when he yawns, chatters when he's sleepy and grumbles when he's not getting his own way (often, as own way is usually to stand on the coffee table or chew insole).

Our favourite is the howl and bark-howl (reserved for when he sees Dom only) as his mouth becomes a little 'O' shape. This somewhat captures it...

How to play fetch with George

Step 1: Prepare George for the throw (i.e. hold him by the collar and ask him to sit. He most likely will not sit)

Step 2: Throw the ball

Step 3: Retrieve the ball yourself after George runs after it but decides to leave it where it lands. Dom has learned not to show off, throwing javelin style to the other end of the park. And he mocked my girly throws landing the ball a few feet away. Now who's laughing?

Sunny Sunday at the park

I have a new camera, the sun is out, this can only mean one thing...even more pictures of George. This morning we went for our usual walk in the park.

George now spends most of his time at the park off the lead, so while Dom is throwing a tennis ball and I'm snapping pictures of trees and pet tombstones, no-one has hands for the lead. The lead is on the ground.

MUST     DESTROY      LEAD!!

As I said, my focus was elsewhere. Rest in peace Snip.

George's hiding place

Our old house gets chilly at night so sometimes we need an extra duvet. We keep it under the bed. George found it. It's his new favourite place to camp out, often with a chew toy.

George vs Strawberry

Confused by the taste of something completely foreign, George decides to battle the strawberry.

2nd Spotting...The Blur!

Spotted: in the park with a stick. This stick did not belong to him. It belonged to an Alsation named Ooony (that may not have been his name, his owner was very far away). The Blur does not care if a stick belongs to someone else. Nothing is faster than The Blur.

Teeny, weeny George

I found this photo of George on my laptop today. It was the one from the advertisement for Beagle puppies. This may have been George's very first photo. He was probably only about 6 or 7 weeks old here.

Look at those big fluffy ears! Sell it Georgie!

Anything to keep George occupied

We are always looking for new ways to keep George entertaining himself while we get on with other things, such as ironing (George chews the lead), cooking (George tries to bake himself), mopping the floor (George must defeat mop head with use of baby teeth) or eating lunch (all the food in the whole wide world is George's).

So far we have discovered that anything that takes him longer than a minute to chew down to crumbs will work. Crackers, ice-cubes, a frozen chip, apple cores or a slice of french bread are favourites thus far.

George with the end of a loaf of bread. George takes his treat outside, buries it, then digs it back up immediately and eats in on the living-room carpet. Thank you puppy.

Fetch!

When George was really little he loved fetch, but he then decided there were more important things to play with in the garden than a tennis ball (snails, pebbles, the recycling box) and refused to acknowledge our efforts. Fetch is apparently in again (or if you've ever seen Mean Girls, fetch is...fetch!)

George can now be trusted (kinda) off the lead, as long as none of his pals are around.

    

                    

A new pastime

If ever we want to calm the Beagley one, we simply pick him up and stand by the window. George gets mesmorised by the cars and people and birds and leaves and will remain quiet and dosile for a least a minute and a half.

George has now discovered that he no longer has a need to be picked up to look outside. Now, when he decides he needs some 'zen' time, he simply hops onto the sofa and moves the curtains to one side with his paw. He feels it centres him. It's less hassle than sending him off to the ashram.