Nearly 11 and Still Causing Mischief – Life With an Older Beagle

Nearly 11 and Still Causing Mischief – Life With an Older Beagle

Many years ago, I wrote about the daily mischief of living with Beagles, and in particular the trouble Kiwi and Poppy would get themselves into whenever food was involved.

Fast-forward all these years and a lot has changed.

Sadly, we've since lost our beautiful Poppy, who is very much missed.

But Kiwi?

Well, Kiwi is still going strong.

She's now nearly 11 years old, and you might imagine that age has mellowed her slightly.

It has not.

If anything, she's worse.

She's more stubborn, her selective hearing has reached an entirely new level and her determination to find something, anything, edible remains as strong as ever.

Older, Wiser... and More Stubborn

Kiwi might technically be an older lady now, but apparently nobody has told her.

She still patrols the house looking for opportunities.

Leave something unattended?

Kiwi knows.

Forget to shut a door properly?

Kiwi knows.

One of the kids leaves something remotely edible within reach?

Kiwi definitely knows.

She's like a silent assassin.

You don't necessarily hear her doing anything. She doesn't announce her intentions.

She simply waits.

Watches.

And the second an opportunity presents itself...

She's in.

The Great Food Recycling Bin Incident

Her latest obsession arrived courtesy of our new food recycling system.

A couple of months ago, we started putting leftover food into recyclable bags before placing them in the outdoor food waste bin.

Surely an outdoor food recycling bin with the handle locked upright would be Beagle-proof?

Apparently not.

Kiwi somehow managed to break into it.

Not only did she get the bin open, she helped herself to around half a bag of food waste.

By the time we discovered what she'd done, there was absolutely no hiding the evidence.

Her face was stained with red sauce.

The tips of her ears were stained with red sauce.

Around her mouth?

More red sauce.

And then there was her belly.

She looked like she had a little pot belly after helping herself to her forbidden feast.

There was no question about who the culprit was.

She may as well have been sitting beside the bin holding a sign saying:

“Yes, it was me.”

Needless to say, we're now having to rethink where we keep the food recycling bin.

Because if Kiwi has successfully broken into something once, she'll remember.

And she'll try again.

Then Came the Flour...

You'd think the recycling-bin incident might have satisfied her need for mischief for a while.

You'd be wrong.

Her next target was the utility room.

We keep our flour in a box on a shelf, safely tucked away, or so we thought.

Somehow, Kiwi managed to pull the entire box down from the shelf.

And then she started helping herself.

There was flour everywhere.

On the floor.

Around the box.

Around Kiwi.

It looked like there had been some sort of baking explosion in the utility room, in the hall, and dining room.

And naturally, Kiwi wasn't alone.

Kiwi and Her Mini Dachshund Audience

These days, Kiwi has our Miniature Dachshunds watching her antics too.

They follow her around while she investigates things she shouldn't, seemingly fascinated by what the experienced Beagle is going to do next.

She's clearly the veteran of the group.

Penny is far too proud to actually join in. She prefers to watch Kiwi's criminal activities with interest from a respectable distance.

Peggy, meanwhile, sensibly keeps herself out of the way.

Kiwi does enough mischief for all of them.

Some Things Never Change

It's funny reading my old post about Kiwi and Poppy breaking into Lewis's bedroom to steal the rat food.

All these years later, Kiwi is still doing exactly the same sort of thing.

Different food.

Different target.

Same Beagle.

Age certainly hasn't taken away her determination.

She might be approaching 11, she might have increasingly selective hearing and she might move a little differently than she did when she was younger, but when there's food involved?

Suddenly, she's remarkably capable.

She still has that Beagle nose.

She still has that stubborn streak.

And she is always on the lookout for her next opportunity.

I miss seeing Kiwi and Poppy getting into trouble together, but I'm incredibly grateful that Kiwi is still here, keeping us entertained, and permanently questioning whether we've put the food somewhere high enough.

Nearly 11 years old and still causing chaos.

Some things never change.

And with Kiwi around, life certainly isn't boring.

About me

I am a married mother of four children. One of those four children is our granddaughter, for whom we are SGO (legal guardians)/kinship carers. I run a small business and enjoy writing, so I blog. My blog focuses on my family life as well as my experiences of living with chronic illnesses and disabilities such as ME/CFS, spinal stenosis, chronic pain, and fibromyalgia. Oh, and I am only in my mid-40s.