It's cold - let's take a nap (in the warmth)

It's this time of the year again. Too cold. While I love to run around in the snow and play, I also like to be warm when I take a rest. As I take a rest pretty often, in various forms (see pictures), I really appreciate if it's warm and cozy. Here is a selection of images which show me practicing and testing various methods. I am also working on a series of pictures of my other specialities, such as eating - but that will be a while before I can show you those pictures ... So, please wake me when spring arrives, Thank you !

My Home is my Castle

Would I not be a perfect lord of the castle. Here you can see me in front of Castle Tirol in Dorf Tirol which I do not own (unfortunately), but which I like to visit from time to time.

Trekking in Trentino (Alto Adige/Italy)

This years summer vacation was actually happening in autumn. We went to Avelengo (Hafling) just 10 minutes away from Merano in Trentino. During several days we hiked almost 50 km through this great area. Mountains, forests, streams, great rest areas and huts and steep slopes to climb. Here are a few impressions from this wonderful vacation and as you can see, I was having a good time.

Pitztal / Tirol / Austria

Off we went to a totally new location. For a long weekend we went into the Pitztal in Tirol, Austria. This is a very nice valley and we have never been there before - so we went to explore it in detail.

In the above picture you can see Mike and me at 2300 m altitude at the Riffelsee. It was a very steep climb up that mountain, I can tell you - but we mastered it really well and enjoyed a great view of the alps.

The day before we had climbed up a short but very steep canyon called "Rosengartenschlucht" in Imst.

That was also quite an adventure which we thoroughly enjoyed. Just look at Claudia and me:

With Dieter and Nicole

Every year we visit our friends in Switzerland, Dieter and Nicole. They live at a great little place close to Liestal (which in turn is close to Basel). I love that place as there is so much to sniff and smell and both Mike and Claudia always enjoy it as well ... This time we went up on a little swiss mountain too ... which was a nice short walk. The area is just so lovely and I really want to climb bigger mountains there one day ! And here is the motley crew ...

Thinking about the beauty of our world...

Sir Henry - Master of the Alps

Yours truly and the Wetterstein Mountains...

Two friends on tour

Last weekend we made an exciting tour to the Kranzberg and several small lakes in the Mittenwald area (southern Bavaria, close to Garmisch Partenkirchen).

The most exciting thing was that we did take Timmy along with us. I happily shared my place in our Jeep with him and after several hours of hiking he was as tired as I was ... we both slept soundly all the way back home.

With new friends in Ehrwald !

We just returned from a great vacation in Ehrwald, Austria. This lovely village is right at the foot of the "Zugspitze" (Germany's highest mountain) and we stayed at the Hotel Sonnenspitze. We had a wonderful time and I made a lot of new friends.

A big THANK YOU to Lisi and Gabi (see picture), and to Monika and Sebastian, who made sure that we were enjoying ourselves. As you can imagine, I was especially pleased about the special sausage from Sebastian ! We will be back and look forward to be seeing all of you again !

Britain's got friends !

Finally, after a long wait, we had our friends Gill and Ian as our guests. Oh what joy, to spend time with guests from England, who fully understand the needs of a noble Beagle and who truly made this a magnificent weekend together. We took them into the mountains and up we went on top of the Tegelberg, from which we than descended again in a good walk. The weather was exceptional and so was the company of friends as the picture clearly shows. 

I learned about one specific custom, which I was introduced to by Ian. He calls it "to have a little something" and normally this means that after he says the magic words, he starts eating. The point is, that he is doing that quite often during the day and I now hope that my two friends will adopt this behaviour too. After all it would mean that I get "a little something" more often during the day as well !

Take it easy, folks !

Life is good, so why not enjoy it ? Life can be hectic, stressfull and not pleasant at all, but why let it be ruined by others or by the news, the media, the weather or the neighbours cat ? There is NO POINT in not enjoying every minute of it. A wise dog once said: "This is the only life you got, so make the best of it!" And that is exactly what I am doing. So to all my friends out there: RELAX !

Ready for new adventures

Finally we are ready for a new season of adventures and fun. A few days ago our new "expedition vehicle" arrived, which will carry me and my friends around in the future. As you can see, there will be few places where we can not go with this Jeep. Luckily it's the "Unlimited" model with four doors, so I have plenty of leg-room in the back. With nearly 200 hp it is also strong enough to haul my luggage anywhere. Stay tuned for my reports about the "Bavaria Safari Tours" !

Spring is coming ...

This weekend we were on our first little Spring trip. First it was great weather (just look at the pictures), but than it started to rain on the second day ... ah well. Soon we will have a real spring around us and it will be warm again, with lots of green and lots of walking and trekking tours waiting for us. Claudia is definitely waiting for it as well - here you can see us enjoying a little moment in the warm sun.

I quite enjoyed the walk and five minutes after this picture with Claudia was taken I decided to go a little flying ... just look at me ! What an agile Beagle I am - when I want to be...

This thing with my ears ...

Did you know that Beagles (like most dogs with long, floppy ears) can develop quite some health problems involving their listening equipment ? I know, everybody loves long, floppy, soft ears like mine, but the problem with them is that they sometimes develop kind of an infection as not enough fresh air is circulated in them. What a strange thing to say. I know. But it seems to be true and now I need to get some kind of ear medicine from time to time which is not so much fun to have in my ears. That is what happens after the medicine was inserted:

Winter Wonder Land

Brrrrr .... it is cold indeed. It is Wintertime again and I am freezing ... despite the warm and cozy wood burning stove we got, it's really freezing outside. And not enough that I am cold on our little walks in the village, no, we have to drive again into the Alps to freeze even more. Although, to be quite honest, I simply love to run and jump in the snow itself, as long as I can retire in warm surroundings afterwards.

Christmas had a special treat for me this year: A trip in a horse drawn sleigh across the Winter landscape of Ramsau in Styria. Wow, just like in "Jingle Bells". I was a bit scared first, than cold - but (as you can see in the picure) well taken care off.

Rare Visitors

Now that we live in our new house, we are getting quite a few visitors of course who are curious about our new home. I am always very friendly and supportive and make a point of ensuring they know exactly where to find my food just in case they need to feed me - one never knows and we Beagles like to have our food on time and in sufficient quantity.

I also always enjoy our excursions with our friends and family visitors, although some of them have sometimes quite weired ideas ... as this picture clearly shows.

Indian Summer in Bavaria

Autumn is a great time of the year here in Bavaria, especially if you live in such a beautiful area and so close to a lake.

Now we are taking nice walks every week

end and sometimes even during the e

venings, and in some special cases we even meet rare animals ... Look at that bat, as it hunts for food during daytime and flies really close to the water surface.

Personally, I try to stay away from too much water if possible, at all. Frankly, I can not remember if I have ever been swimming at all. I hear there are plans for next summer for me to try - not sure if I will cooperate though. Let's see...

I love my new garden !

My new garden is great. Especially this terrace is a great invention. When the sun shines onto the stones long enough, they get warm and I can lie on them almost forever. The only problem is that the sun keeps moving around the sky, so from time to time I have to shift and change my position. Very inconvenient. The latest additions are these pillows. Excellent for a short nap, especially in the morning, when the stones are still somewhat cold ...

Summertime = Moving Time

Hello everybody, its been a while since I updated you the last time. Well, we have been moving on, so to speak. Actually we moved house. Now I live close to a wonderful lake, west of Munich. The lake is beautiful, the trees are green, the grass is even greener and I have a great time. Especially as I now have my own garden - where I can go at any time during the day.... I am one happy beagle !!!

Holidays Part 2

While we did quite a lot of activities, we also took a lot of "down-time" and rested as much as we wanted to. As you can imagine, I am a Master when it's about resting and sleeping. But additionally I also enjoy the nature around me, and while you have seen pictures with me a flowers before here, there was another "flowery moment" on this vacation as you can see.

I am now also well prepared for future vacations and trips, especially in our convertible ... these "Doggles" will protect my eyes also at 180 km/h on the motorway ... and when looking into the mirror I now realize my incredible resemblance to Snoopy ... his aviator goggles are not half as cooooooool as mine though ...

Holidays Part 1

This year we went to the very north of Italy (Piemont) for our vacation. We stayed in a nice house up on a hill, very close to the Swiss border into the Ticino. There we had a great time and even welcomed some friends as visitors to our place. Here you see us climbing the Monte Bre, a steep and very high mountain. It was hot and quite a piece of work for me to get there - but I made it!

After this great tour (and a lot of food afterwards t

o compensate for all the calories I had burned ...) we continued to enjoy our vacations in various locations. The next picture shows you my dear Claudia and myself in the middle of a stream at the Val Vercasca in Switzerland. Great place with lots of interesting things to look and sniff at.

Spring has arrived, finally

Finally spring has arrived. It has now been a year that I have found my new home and I am very happy still. I like our excursions the most. On the first weekend in May we went for a long hike in the woods of Bavaria. It was very nice and I enjoyed the trek to a small waterfall, running along in the shadow of the woods and finally we also stopped for a picnic. Which was nice. Here you can see me smile at the camera.

Germany's next Superbeagle :-)

Sir Henry Beagle as Germany's next Superbeagle !  

Sir Henry, The English Patient

Oh what a misery. Something I ate earlier this week, did not agree with my stomach and the rest of my digestive system. The result was not very pleasant, I think some people call it "Montezumas Revenge" ... you know, the kind of problem where humans spend most of their time on the toilets ?

I had to wake up my friends several times at night and ask them to go into the garden to, well, yes it is embarassing ... And than it got worse and worse. Finally Mike took me to the veterenarian, a nice guy too, and things started to get better. The worst thing was not to be able to eat for almost two days in a row, boy am I HUNGRY ! But now things look much better and if everything works out I shall be indulging in great food starting from Monday again....

*** Newsflash *** Newsflash ***

Hello my friends - just a quick newsflash update... I have discovered that running, jumping, hunting and in general being more active outdoors makes for a perfect setup to relax even more intensively afterwards. Just look at me after a great day I am taking a well deserved break .... Now, where is that massage you promised me ?

Famous Beagles

Today is an opportunity to tell you about other famous beagles, some of which you may have heard of and some perhaps not.

My favourite "other famous" Beagle is the HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin's ship. Initially she was launched in 1820 but became really famous 1831 when, on her second voyage, she took the young Charles Darwin on board. When she returned 1836 Charles Darwin published his travel journal called "The Voyage of the Beagle" which made him famous. The HMS Beagle made a total of three voyages, after which she was made a coast guard vessel. In 1870 she was sold to a scrapyard and broken up for her parts.

My next "other famous" Beagle is also a scientific voyager, although an unfortunate one. The "Beagle-2" was the landing unit of the doomed Mars Express Mission of 2003. The ESA tried to put the Beagle-2 onto the Mars for exploratory purposes - but something went awfully wrong and nobody heard of the lander again. Did she land on the Mars with communications broken or did she ever make it there at all ? Nobody knows for sure.



Now here is a Beagle who can really fly, amongst other things - and he loved it: Snoopy !

(Thank you for Snoopy and his friends, Charles M. Schulz)

Security Matters

In these trying times security does matter indeed. While I enjoy a good little powernap everytime of the day, I also know that I have to protect my friends and our property.

The only problem: How to sleep soundly, while being a good watchdog (or at least while pretending to be one ?) Solution ? My new outfit. Everybody knows now, that I am a very dangerous, vigilant watchdog and always on duty - even when my eyes are closed a little.

In case you don't know already, I frequently practice "The Art of Powernapping" - which is my interpretation of Zen dog relaxation techniques. (It is also the title of my upcoming book soon available at amazon.com).

Welcome Boris !

It's a great pleasure to welcome a new member of the (extended) family today. Welcome to Boris, the german shepherd. He is about 8 weeks old and joins us from a dog breeder in the Isar Valley (close to Munich).

He is a healthy, cute little rascal but full of mischief. He just wants to play all the time and when I met him the first time it was actually me who got tired first - and he would not let me rest at all ... ah well, he will grow older too.

So, good luck little Boris - all the best for you !

That's what friends are for

Today I am going to introduce you to one of my best friends: Timmy

During the week (when my friends have to work to earn the money for my food), I often visit my friend Timmy. He is a merry little guy who loves to jump around and is a ball of energy. He has not yet understood, that the power of happiness lies in the quiet center of oneself. I practice the art of medidation to find this center every free minute of the day. Timmy is more that imulsive, impatient and energetic kind of dog - and he is a great guy. We protect each other, entertain each other and rest next to each other.

Below you see both of us running alongside - just like two friends always should !

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !!!

Christmas can be sad or it will make you laugh or both of it, but it certainly makes you eat too much and finally it makes you sooo tired…

I wish you a Christmas celebration as You want it to be, so you can enjoy it at it‘s best !

Merry Christmas from Sir Henry Beagle !

Sir Henry and the Cinnamon Cookies

Really, I have no idea what all the fuss was about recently. As Christmas is fast approaching and everybody is running around to prepare decorations, presents, greeting cards and ... cookies. While I was idling away a cold afternoon in my warm and cozy "day care place", my nose caught this incredible scent. It smelled of sugar and of cinnamon and it smelled definitely like food ... So I started to look for it and Jackpot !!! There, on a plate, nicely arranged and exactly in front of my nose were 25 cinnamon sugar stars waiting to be devoured by a hungry Beagle. Well, as you can imagine, I was not going to wait until somebody took them away, so I stayed silent (as silent as you can stay when you stuff 25 cookies rapidly into your mouth). They tasted great ! Unfortunately, everybody got really excited when they found out. They even called the doctor to check if I was going to survive ... Luckily there was no chocolate involved (which I like, but which could kill me) and so I will always remember these cookies fondly ...
Christmas is a GREAT time !

Just visiting ... isn't it great to have friends (part 2)

This time around it was our turn to visit friends. So we packed up and went to see Dieter and Nicole in Switzerland. Another great adventure, with the added thrill of sleeping undisturbed 4 hours in the car while we traveled there. Once we arrived, everybody was enjoying cheese fondue, wine and bread and other good stuff. I was of course not allowed to enjoy those swiss delicatessen, but instead had to watch ... On the next day we went into the center of Switzerland where my friends started to climb around ropes and trees for a whole day - a bit like monkeys really. In any case, I enjoyed the landscape, the woods and was running around all day long.

... and Beagles can fly !

It has been brought to my attention, that certain people consider me a lazy dog, who thinks only about eating and sleeping. Well, there is definite proof that this is not true at all ... just look at these great pictures below. Taken at the "Staffelsee" close to our home. This was no special training camp, no, this was a normal Sunday afternoon walk - which I use regularly (!) for my exercise. So ... who says that Beagles can't fly ?