A typical walk in winter in NZ

As you might know, it rains a lot in winter in New Zealand. Usually we have some fine spells even on rainy days, but it is really hard to predict when we have them.

Today is one of those typical winter days. Luckily we had a morning walk without getting wet.

It wasn't so cold either :-)

But look at this! On our afternoon walk we got soaking wet!!

I, Mint, don't like wearing a raincoat!

Oh my god! I look like I had just had a bath!

We hope it stops raining by tomorrow morning so that we can have a walk without getting wet again!

Beagle Christmas Fun Day

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

On the weekend before the last, we went to the Auckland Beagle Club Christmas Fun Day held in Cornwall Park.

I was really excited to meet many other Beagles again. As some of you may know, I am not particularly friendly to other dogs. But, I don't feel so anxious or nervous if the other dogs are also Beagles. So, this time I had a wonderful time with other participants.

The event started with a walk to the top of One Tree Hill. The hill is called One Tree Hill, because there used to be one big tree on the summit. But, after an activist badly damaged the tree, causing danger to visitors, the tree was taken down for safety. From the top of the hill, you have a 360 degree panorama view of Auckland city. Here is a snapshot of Mint and me taken there.

Can you see a small tower behind us? That is Sky Tower, the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere.

After the walk, we did some games, of which Mint and I joined one each. Mint joined a game of finding biscuits scattered around on the grass. Although Mint found four biscuits, they were not enough to win the game. I took part in a seven-legged race. I think you all know three-legged races, where humans race in pairs with the right leg of the person on the left and the left leg of the person on the right tied together. The race we did is similar but seven-legged, instead of three-legged, because one dog joined each pair to make the total number of legs seven. Unfortunately we couldn't win again, as the winning team was unbelievably fast!


After all the games finished, the winner of the amazing/funny story competition was announced. My mum had sent them two entries. One is about Mint, who strangely dislikes the sound made when Mum cooks something on a frying pan. So, he always goes under Dad's chair and hides there until Mum finishes cooking. If any door or French window is open, he evacuates from the room through it. Our second entry was our dancing videos at NDOA. And, our second entry, the dance videos, was chosen as the winner of the competition!! As a prize, we got a dog bed, dog treats, a jacket, a collar, a lead, and many toys!  I was overwhelmed to receive such a great prize!



During the fun day event, our peer Beagles also enjoyed trying out Agility using gears that we had brought for it. The day may not be so far away when the Auckland Beagle Club Agility Team is formed!!

Mint is too good!

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

I hope everyone had a good weekend. We had a very good one. We went to Kawakawa Bay on Saturday, and on Sunday Mint went to All Breeds Dog Training Club Obedience Championship Show.

In fact Kawakawa Bay was one of places my humans were thinking about finding a new house for us, because they had heard that the area is not too far away from towns and houses are not too expensive. However, we didn't have a chance to visit there when my humans were still looking for a house to buy. So, they decided to visit there this weekend.

This bay has beaches, but at least the beach we walked on didn't look like what we usually imagine when you think of a beach. Beaches should have sand along the shore, shouldn't they? But, the beach we went to doesn't have sand and instead it has pebbles. Also, there were many dead snappers washed up on one side of the boat ramp and many oyster shells on the other side, so Mum didn't let us off leash to wander around, because she thought both the snappers and oyster shells were dangerous to us. Snappers have hard sharp bones, which might have hurt our stomach if we had eaten the fish. Oyster shells have sharp edges, which might have cut our paws easily if we had stepped on them. We still enjoyed a short walk there.

When Mint went to the obedience show on Sunday, I was left home with my Dad, because Mum thought it was not worth entering me in the trial. Yes, I have to admit that in my last trial I was like a Zombie and walked very slowly without following Mum closely. But, who can do such a boring thing without getting any food? So, this time I didn't mind being left home at all, and I enjoyed a nap on a couch while waiting for Mum and Mint to come home.

When they came back, they brought home a bag of various yummy treats and a blanket. When I saw them, I thought that they had dropped by Animates, which opened a new shop in our neighbourhood just recently, and Briscoes, which sell homeware. But, I was wrong. They turned out to be a prize that Mint had won in the obedience show. Mint won the Elementary in the show!!! Yes, he won!!! And he did it in his third trial! He was the third place in his first trial, the second in his second trial, and the first place in his third trial. It is amazing, isn't it? I am so proud of my little brother!!

My sister is wonderful!!

Hello readers. Who do you think I am? I am Mint! Yes, MINT!

Hee hee, I have taken over the blog while my sister Cinnamon is mooning over Mango Relentlessly Huge. But I am not going to tell ill of her. I am going to share my experience from which I learnt how great my sister is.

On Sunday we went to Waiatarua Reserve for a walk with some mates. As I am rarely allowed to be off leash, I was kind of over the moon when Mum let me off. I was also fascinated by the cloudy water that looked much darker than the water we usually drink. So, I couldn't resist the temptation to put my paws in the water. Then, after a while, I found myself on the other side of a stream of water. I don't remember how I got there. I wanted to go back to the side where my mum and sister were, but I couldn't because there was the water stream between us. I ran along the stream back and forth, trying to find a way back, but there wasn't a bridge or anything. It was at that time that my sister Cinnamon came across the stream, turned around, and went back to the side where Mum was! All I had to do was follow her, and I was finally with Mum!

Don't you think Cinnamon is great?

This video was taken just before I went across the stream. At the end of the video you can see a man on the bridge pointing at something. He was actually pointing at me, saying 'He is there.'

Beagle Walk at Long Bay

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

On Saturday we went to a Beagle Walk for the first time in the last nine months. Usually the Auckland Beagle Club holds a Beagle Walk every other month, but my humans were so busy renovating the house, selling the house, moving into a rental house, buying a house, moving from the rental to our new house, and settling in the new house, that we missed some Beagle Walks. But finally we were able to attend one at Long Bay, North Shore, on Saturday.

I knew that my humans were discussing that they were not going to the walk if it rained, so, when I noticed in the morning that it had started raining, I almost cried 'Oh no!' But, as my humans were aware how much I had looked forward to the walk, they decided to head for Long Bay anyway, and come back if it rained and stay for the walk if it didn't.

Then...yay, it was not raining when we arrived at Long Bay!! When we arrived at the car park of the beach, there were several Beagles already.



So, we went to them and greeted them by sniffing their bums. Then, in return, they also greeted us by sniffing our bums.



Some humans were impressed how much Mint had grown since they last saw him. That's fair enough, as he was only seven months old when he attended a Beagle Walk last time. At that time he was smaller than me, but now he is much bigger than me.



Well, going back to talk about the walk, shortly after we set out for the walk on the beach, we found a HUGE driftwood! Of course, none of us Beagles could resist checking the smell of it, as it is our job to sniff everything suspicious.



On the beach we had a great time running around with other Beagle pals off the leash.

On the walk, we even met our new local blog friend, Monty the Beagle! He is young (seven months old) and so charming. You can find him in the above video, although we didn't get a chance to take a photo together. He is distinctive, as he looks like wearing a white pair of pants :-)

It was so much fun!! I hope we can attend the next Beagle Walk in August to catch up with our Beagle pals!!

A surprise trip to Rotorua

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

Yay, we went on a trip to Rotorua on the weekend!! It was kind of a surprise present for us actually. None of us didn't know we were going to Rotorua until Tuesday.

Although I didn't write about it in my previous posts, Mum's mummy, auntie, and uncle stayed with us for several days from late January. Because Mum was too busy to take them out of Auckland for sightseeing, our guests rented a car and went on a trip to Rotorua and Napier by themselves while Mum stayed home working as usual. But, just before they went back home, Mum's auntie realised that she had left something behind at a hotel in Rotorua. Mum immedietely rang the hotel and confirmed that they had the thing. Mum also asked a hotel receptionist to courier it to the aunty's home in Japan. However, on Monday Mum got a phone call from the auntie. She said that someone from the hotel had rung her to let her know that they couldn't courier the thing left behind by the auntie because it contained something valuable. The only way to retrieve the thing was someone went to the hotel in person to collect it. That is how my Mum and Dad decided to go to Rotorua on the weekend.

Mum and Dad searched the Internet to find several motels that allowed dogs. Mum chose one of them, Gibson Court Motel, and booked it because some of its units had private mineral pool.

Then on Thursday Mum got a phone call from her friend. She was looking for a place where her dog could stay for the weekend. So, Mum and Dad decided to take him to Rotorua with us. But, there was one concern. They were not sure how well we, Mint and I, and the dog got along. On Thursday Mum's friend came with the dog called Kurosawa, or Kuro, to see how well we got along. Of course we welcomed Kuro, as both of us, Mint and I, had met and played with him before.

On Saturday morning we went to Kuro's house to pick him up before heading for Rotorua. On the way to our destination, we stopped twice for short breaks. All of us travelled well.





In Rotorua, after collecting Mum's auntie's thing from the hotel and checked in our motel, we got in the car again and went to the Redwoods Whakarewarewa Forest, which we had heard about from our friend Honey the Great Dane. Actually our motel was very close to the forest, only a few minutes' drive away. Mum first visited the information centre to confirm that dogs are allowed on tracks in the forest as long as they are kept on the lead, then we set out for a walk. Despite the high temperature and humidity that day, we thoroughly enjoyed the walk, as the track we walked on was sheltered under huge trees all the way from the start to the end.




Back at the motel Mum and Dad enjoyed soaking in the mineral pool while we doggies had a nap. Our travel mate, Kuro, was so well-behaved (He never tried to jump on a couch or bed!) that he was allowed to be free in the motel unit throughout our stay in the motel, while we were put in our crate when neither Mum nor Dad could keep an eye on us.



The next morning we went to the Redwoods Forest again and on the way back to Auckland we dropped by Cambridge where agility show was being held because Mum wanted to say hello to someone who she knows. There were a huge number of people there, but she did manage to find the person and had a chat with her before hitting the road again to come back home.




It was a fantastic weekend!! I hope Kuro can come to stay with us again soon.

I've got too good a nose!!?

Hi! Cinnamon here.

It's been very wet here in Auckland for the last several days. We were planning to go to obedience ribbon trials in Mangawhai, one and a half hours north of Auckland, on the weekend, but we didn't go because my humans thought that it wasn't worth such a long drive if it rained, as the event was held outdoor.

Well, today I will show you what I start doing as soon as I catch smells left by another dog who has just passed by.

As many of you know, I find it very hard to stay calm when I meet other dogs that I don't know in the street. I know that my mum has been working hard to teach me to ignore those dogs, but it is still so hard, although I think that I actually have improved since I first started training not to bark at other dogs last November.

Mum always tries to keep distance from other dogs that we don't know, as I can stay relatively clam by playing 'Look at That' game*, if the other dog is at a distance like on the other side of the road. She also tries to avoid walking in a place where another dog has just walked, if she can, because I have got such a good nose that I just can't ignore the scent other dogs left. If I pick up such scent, I can't help tracking it. And, tracking other dogs' scent, I get excited and it becomes hard for me to stay clam.

*) In 'Look at That' game, I can get click and treat if I look at Mum as soon as I find a dog in the street.

Does anyone know how I could ignore other dogs' scent?

From Cinnamon's mum:

Today we went to St Heliers to have a walk in a break between rain showers. It seems many people thought the same way, as we met so many dogs there.



When we walk in St Heliers, we usually walk on a footpath along Tamaki Drive to Kohimarama. The footpath is relatively wide, but not wide enough for Cinnamon to feel safe. Also, you can't cross the road to the other side easily, because of the traffic.

When we were practising meeting other dogs in preparation for the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) assessment, we went there several times in a week to desensitise Cinnamon to encounters with other dogs, as in our neighbourhood we don't meet many dogs that we don't know. Although we passed the CGC assessment with luck, Cinnamon's reactivity to other dogs hasn't been fixed yet.

Today in St Heliers Cinnamon reacted to other dogs so badly that I almost felt like crying. What made things worse was that Mint started barking at other dogs even when Cinnamon was well under control by playing 'Look at That' game.



It was a good reminder that I can't afford to have a break in Cinnamon's training, at least not yet.

Training weekend

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!! Our weekend was full of training, which I really enjoyed.



On Saturday I met up with our blog friends, Lexi and Jasper the Great Danes, in Mission Bay. It was not just a play-date. Lexi and Jasper's human helped my training not to react to other dogs. Thank you so much, Lexi and Jasper's human!!!

Our humans wanted me to meet as many dogs as possible and that was one of the reasons we met up in Mission Bay, where usually many dogs come down to have walks on the beach. But, we didn't see many dogs on Saturday. However, fortunately Lexi and Jasper's human had brought two dogs under training to become mobility dogs as well as my friends, Lexi and Jasper, so I could practise walking pass them in turn one at a time. Although I sometimes couldn't control myself well enough not to pull my lead toward the dogs, I didn't bark much. :-)

Among other things, the Dane friends' human pointed out that my Mum needed to behave more confidently. The more confident Mum behaves, the less I need to try to protect the pack, which means Mum and me. I thought that was a good point, as I could see Mum getting nervous and in tense whenever she saw another dog coming. Although I didn't realise myself that I was trying to guard ourselves, now I can see why I felt so nervous when I saw another dog coming. Actually some of my blog friends also mentioned the influence of the handler's feeling over the dog in their comments to Mum's post. Thanks, friends!

Hee hee. My barking was not entirely my fault after all!! Mum needs to practise more and more to become a good reliable handler!

After the training, our humans, Lexi, and I went to a cafe in Mission Bay. Because the cafe is next to a burger shop, Burger King, many families who came to the burger shop found us sitting or lying by a table and came to pat us. Then, those families were surprised to see more dogs in Lexi's human's car parked in front to the cafe. If they had been small breeds like me, they wouldn't have been so surprised. But, in addition to Lexi, there was Jasper, another Great Dane, in the car. I wished Mum had filmed it to show you their reactions!!

Then, we went to Waiatarua Reserve together, although we couldn't stay there long as it started raining soon. Actually I couldn't enjoy running around with other dogs much, because I was busy eating rabbit poos and looking for the right spot to do my business. What was funny was Jasper! He kept following me when I was busy. I had to tell him off so many times!



My mum says that Jasper really liked me. If she is right, I am sorry I behaved like that, Jasper. I will play with you more nicely next time we meet up!



On Sunday we trained with our dancing instructor. One of the things she taught us was how to turn when heeling. She showed Mum how to gently pull the lead to keep me close to her knee and when and how to give me reward.



I had a great time in the training because I got to get so much treat!! I felt so full, when we left the place, that I fell in sleep as soon as I got in the car.

We had a wonderful weekend!

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. We had a wonderful weekend! It was really refreshing after a week with lots of rain.

On Saturday afternoon we went to St Heliers Beach, and Mint and I walked together on a double lead for the first time.


By the way, can you tell which is Mint? Mint has grown so much!!


The answer is that Mint is the one walking closer to Mum. Who said Mint is walking more nicely than me? I tell you that he is just so much food oriented! He never leaves his eyes off Mum's hand when she has yummy treats!


On Sunday afternoon we went to Cornwall Park to meet up with our blog friend Pepper, who had moved from Wellington to Auckland recently. Originally we meant to meet a week earlier, but we had to cancel it at the last moment because it started raining heavily just when we were about to get ready for the outing. So, we made another try yesterday. This time, the weather was kind to us, as if it had tried to make up for the bad weather the week before. Blue sky with no cloud!

As you know, I am a bit reactive to other dogs. So, my mum was worried about how I would react to Pepper when I first saw her. But, to her relief, I accepted Pepper with no problem, although I don't know why I could do that myself. Strangely I didn't feel nervous at all when Pepper and her human walked to us. She was very well-behaved, and she greeted children, who came to pat her, very nicely. So, I followed her and behaved well in front of the kids myself.

Mint walked with us for the first half of the walk, but then he waited in the car with my dad, while we continued our walk, as Mint is not old enough to have a long walk.

Sorry I have got a couple of blurred photos only, as silly Mum forgot to bring Dad's good camera.




It was a fabulous walk! Before we said good-bye to each other, we promised to meet again soon, with Lexi and Jasper too!

Play date with Jasper the Great Dane

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

Yesterday I finally got to meet our local blog friend Jasper the Great Dane! His sister Lexi the Great Dane, who I have met twice before (at Honey the Great Dane's birthday party last November and my first public dancing display last month), couldn't come with him because she had just become a mature woman at ten months old. My little brother Mint went with me.



Lexi and Jasper's human and our mum had been talking about meeting up for a long time, but it didn't happen until yesterday, partly because our mum's work schedule is often unpredictable and Mum didn't want to cancel a meet up at the last moment. But this weekend mum was sure that she didn't have to worry about it, and also Lexi and Jasper's human had offered to help us practise some obedience training. So, on Friday our humans arranged a play date in a park and in the next morning we finally met!



Jasper is a seven-month-old blue Great Dane puppy. I couldn't imagine what a blue colour dog would look like until I met him. He was really beautiful and his coat looked almost like shining velvet!

When I first saw him standing with his human in the car park from the car, I barked at him. I know that it was not an appropriate behaviour, but I just couldn't help doing it! Though, when I got out of the car and came in front of him, I did my best to hold barking and got some praise from my mum. Jasper is a giant puppy, weighing 40kg, but my brother Mint didn't look intimidated by the difference of the size at all and happily greeted Jasper.

After having a little chat, we set out for a walk and then after a short walk Jasper and I were let off leash and had a great time running around at full throttle. I think Jasper was impressed with how fast I could run. Despite the size difference, I never let him catch me! As soon as he almost caught up with me, I geared up and stretched my lead. :-)




I also enjoyed exploring in the trees and bush. A year ago, my mum would have never allowed me to do that, but now she sometimes lets me do it, as she now trusts me pretty much, if not 100%. Today in the park there were so many interesting new smells that I didn't really want to go back to my mum when she called me, but I somehow forced myself to listen to her, because I knew I had to show Mint how to be a good Beagle.

Mint was also let off leash, for the first time in a park. As he had been very good at coming in his puppy class, my mum wanted to test it to see how reliable his recalls were. He was really good in deed. Even if Jasper cut into Mint's way, Mint went around Jasper to get back to Mum! Of course, Mum looked very proud of him.




Later I found a tasty pine cone attached to a short branch and enjoyed the taste of autumn. When any person or dog came close to me when I was eating it, I growled at them to keep them away. Actually, when I was enjoying it, Jasper tried to pester me! So, I taught him that that was the last thing to do to a Beagle when she is eating something!! But, my mum was mean. The moment I looked at a treat she showed me with a full smile, she took the pine cone away!!




In the end we took a photo of us together. Over all it was a fantastic play date! I hope we will do it again soon, next time with Lexi and also another blog friend Pepper, who has moved to Auckland recently!!

Had a great time with other doggies!

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

My humans didn't take me to a large off-leash dog park to let me run around with other dogs for a long time because they were busy taking care of my little brother Mint. But, finally yesterday Mum took me to one of my favorite parks, Waiatarua Reserve, and I had a great time playing with two other dogs. It was great fun! Although I enjoy playing with Mint every day, playing with adult doggies was fantastic in deed!!

Trick practise session in a park

Hi! It's Cinnamon!!

Today I will show you what I have been doing recently apart from playing with Mint.

This morning my Mum filmed a whole trick practise session that we had in a small park (off-leash dog exercise area) in our morning walk. The video is over eight minutes long and it looks a little foggy because the lens of Mum's camera was dirty. (Mum is so lazy about cleaning her camera!) So, watch it only if you don't mind wasting some of your time or you are really interested in my training.

Accompanying my humans to a restaurant

Hi, it's Cinnamon!

Today I went to a Japanese ramen noodle restaurant called TAKARA in Browns Bay with my humans. Although I couldn't get any share of the noodles, I got to get a dried sheep ear as a treat when we arrived at the restaurant. A waitress kindly brought a water bowl for me as soon as she saw me, so I could wet my tongue after I finished my dried sheep ear.

The restaurant had two tables outside as well as several inside. So, my humans sat at one of the tables outside and I sat behind my Mum's chair.

When my humans were waiting for their noodles, a group of four boys on skateboards passed by on a narrow footpath where our table was. Because the noise of the skateboards was so loud and scary, I couldn't help barking at them! I know my Mum wanted me to stay quite while we were there, but she still praised me a little because I stopped barking really soon. I used to keep barking for a long time even after something that triggered my barking was gone out of sight, but now I can calm myself down really quickly. After that, another couple of boys passed by on skateboards, but I didn't bark at them anymore, and then my Mum praised me even more!