We got her at a local shelter. She knew she wanted to go home with us. We had been to a couple of places and weren't sure what we were looking for. I think honestly Chris wanted a bigger dog. He seemed interested in a yellow lab named Calvin. I walked along the row of cages looking for the the source of the noise...rhythmic thumping. This teeny beagle was wagging her tail so hard it was banging on the walls of the cage. We asked to see her and she won us over. She knew that she would rule the roost here and she does. It's her house; Chris and I just live here and pay the bills. The beagle knows.
The beagle is afraid of loud noises. It's possible that she was bred to be a hunting dog but was probably afraid of the gunshots so useless in the woods and she was either dumped or ran away. Another possibility is that she got spooked in a storm and ran. She was found on the street in Joliet and transferred up to Animal Care League In Oak Park. To keep her calm during storms (or the week surrounding the 4th of July) we've tried holding her, soft music, a thundershirt, muscle relaxers, Benadryl...the list goes on and on. We do our best to make sure that she is comfortable and has been out recently when a storm approaches. Her favorite place is under our bed. It's safe and warm (or cool depending on the season) there and as long as the house never gets struck by lightning, it's the best hiding place ever. The beagle knows
The beagle is a mooch. She begs for food, even if it's food she doesn't like. She will unleash her cuteness and try to fleece you for your meat, your eggs, your candy, your cookies, your watermelon, your mushrooms, your string cheese...sometimes we give her what she's begging for and she realizes that perhaps, it wasn't what she really wanted and it gets deposited on the floor. The beagle knows...what she likes.
The beagle likes to sleep...on the floor, on the couch, on a chair, under the bed...you get the idea. Her favorite place is ON the bed...on Chris' pillow...or on my pillow, or between us with all of the blankets underneath her and both of the humans in the bed freezing. The beagle knows.
The beagle glued herself to my side this past fall and winter. As my health deteriorated, she stuck with me. If I napped, she laid with me. When I went to bed, she'd curl up next to me always touching me on the right side. Before I got sick, she'd come to bed with me (read Chris would carry her in) and we'd read; the beagle is a fan of mysteries. I would turn off my reading lamp and she would trot out to watch TV with Chris. Looking back, when I started feeling symptoms, she started staying in the bed with me after lights out. Once I started chemo, she'd stay in bed with me. When I was working from home, she shared the "office" with me; often sleeping where she could keep a paw on me.
After my third chemo we scheduled a scan. The week before the scan, the beagle started leaving my side when I turned my reading lamp off and heading out to watch TV with Chris. My scan after 3 chemo treatments was clean.
The beagle knows.
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