Introducing Maya, my pet Beagle. The Maya diaries should have began 12 months ago back in July 2005 when Maya was 7 months old. She was two paws away from the rescue centre as her previous family found themselves unable to cope with changing circumstances and a hyperactive Beagle. She was (and is) adoreable, and her antics, which included peeing on the carpet and stealing her masters baseball cap were an indication of what was to come.

At the time however, I presumed it was a pantomime put on for my benefit!

12 months on: At that time the thought of writing a doggie diary would have been imposible. Every minute (really!) was taken up supervising this mini-dynamo whose every waking minute seemed geared to invoking a reaction from yours truly. Now, things have changed somewhat. Maya is still very demanding, but we have grown accustomed to each other and have learnt a little give and take, and so I would like to share some of the events of the last twelve months through this website.

Teamwork: Caring for a dog takes a lot of work, you can make life easier for yourself by working with your dog. There are many books out there which claim to teach the techniques, and I have read some of them. These books fail to put across one basic fact though, and that is that all dogs are different, as are all owners. I know from bitter experience that a) I’m not the best dog trainer as I’m too analytical. I can’t understand why my dog doesn’t choose to make life easier for herself. b) My dog reacts better with women. In her previous home it was the lady of the house who gave the instruction, and this has stuck with her, even now!

Hopefully from reading this blog you may learn some understanding of your own pet and maybe you can help me, but hopefully, if you have a dysfunctional pet you may take solace in knowing that you’re not the only one.

Marc.