The Love of a Beagle

This post is in honor of my friend Barb Ulrich's little deaf beagle, Tia River. Happy 8th Birthday Tia!

I have long considered myself to be a big dog person. I am neither a strict cat person nor a strict dog person, but if I had to choose, I prefer large breed dogs. It is no surprise that, in July 2007, I set out to get 2 golden retrievers. I came home with a springer spaniel, a rotweiller mix and a yellow lab...but that's a blog for another day. At any rate, they were all big dogs. In fact, today, Wrigley tops out at 80 pounds, Harry at 100 and Dawson at 100. I love my dogs more than life itself and I was wonderfully happy raising them. Then fate stepped in...

A friend called and asked me to foster her aunt's dachshund while her aunt was in the nursing home. To make another long story short, the aunt passed away and I ended up with the dog. Gretchen is an amazing and loving little girl and I grew very attached to her immediately. She is, after all, a dog. But at some point my roommate and I decided that little Gretchen needed a little friend. So we headed over to the humane society to look at a little yorkie. We were quickly informed that the yorkie was not cat-friendly, which was clearly a prerequisite to live with us. So we left, disappointed. But fate stepped in again...

The very next day we received a call from the humane society. They had a beagle that was absent the day before because she was being spayed. Her name was Chinny and, if we were interested, we could come and look at her. They advised us to bring Gretchen to see if the dogs got along. So we did. And from the moment I walked into the room and laid eyes on this little tri-colored beagle in her elizabethan collar, I was hooked. Never in my life have I seen such sweet brown eyes and a demeanor that would melt the heart of the most hardened individual. I knew there was no way we were leaving without her and the thought that someone had allowed her to run away and never even looked for her made me ill. Since she, at the time, was to technically be Jennifer's dog, Jenni chose her name...Charlie.

We took Charlie home and it was the first day of a new-found great love affair that I have with beagles. Everything about this dog is adorable. She has the softest little ears and the sweetest little bay. When I come home and she is out in the yard, I fall to one knee and she comes running with all her might, always thrilled to see me. It just makes my day and, many times, is just what I need. Don't get me wrong, the other dogs are happy to see me too, but it's because they know it is time to eat or to play. Charlie is just happy it's me.

Shortly after we adopted Charlie, Jenni and I had stopped at Pizza Hut for lunch. It was a nice day out and Charlie and Gretchen were content in the car while we went in to eat. Because we were in a hurry and it was a buffet, we were only in Pizza Hut for about 20 minutes. However, when we came out, I discovered that the rear passenger door of the car was open. Gretchen was sitting in the seat with a scared look on her face. Charlie was gone. Panic and desperation set in immediately and we began frantically running through the neighborhoods looking for the beagle. Of course, Charlie had no idea at that point that her name was Charlie, so it was futile to call her. One man stepped out of his house and said, "I bet you are looking for a beagle. She went that way," as he pointed to the fairgrounds. Jenni got the car and I set out on foot, my heart pounding. Then, the cell phone rang with a number I didn't recognize. I answered and a woman said, "Are you missing a beagle named Charlie?" "OMG yes! Do you have her?" In retrospect, that was a very stupid question, considering that knowing the dog's name told me that she HAD the dog! I got ahold of Jenni and we headed over to pick up Charlie. She had been running down the four lanes when she was spotted and rescued by this superhero lady.

When I next laid eyes on Charlie, I fell to my knees and held her, jokingly calling her a naughty puppy. I was so relieved she was safe and I just could not thank this woman enough for taking the time to catch Charlie. But, as we were leaving, something clicked in my brain and I realized I knew this kind lady. It was Barb Ulrich. What an amazing twist of fate that this little beagle would let herself out of the car and find the one person who understood beagles and would guarantee her safety. I couldn't let go of Charlie and held her close all the way home.

This spring, Charlie developed a limp on her left front leg. We took her to the vet and they weren't able to find anything wrong. So we gave her some anti-inflammatory meds and she got better. In fact, when I came home from work one day, Charlie ran to me as she always does, with no indication that anything was wrong. However, the next day, when I got home, there was no Charlie. I called her and she came, slowly, out of the house, holding her left front leg in the air. An cursory exam of her foot told me there was a fracture. So we went back to the vet and xrays showed that Little Beagley had broken all four of her toes in a perfect diagonal line. Dr. Gerber siad that most likely something heavy had fallen on her foot. We couldn't think of anything that would have been propped up to fall on the dog. So then he theorized that she had gotten her foot caught and, in wrenching it free, broke her toes. That made sense and the most likely culprit is the bed in the cat room. If she got her little foot caught between the queen sized bed and the wall, she could easily wrench it and break her foot. So, once again, our phenomenal vet was called upon to use his exceptional skills as an orthopedist and pin the beagle's toes.

Charlie came home with her leg in a cast for the next 6 weeks. Her sad brown eyes were the most pitiful thing I had ever seen and she milked the sympathy vote like a pro with her sore foot. But, after 6 weeks and a nasty infection, we were able to remove the cast and start talking about taking the pins out. Then, Charlie changed the ballgame again. She jumped off my bed and bent all four of the pins in her toes. Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...off to the vet we go. Dr. Twardowski sedated Charlie and straightened her toes, recasting her leg. Another few weeks of a gimpy beagle were in store.

When we took the cast off the second time, there was no infection, which was a HUGE relief. However, within a few days, Charlie repeated her command performance and jumped off the bed again, bending all four of the pins. This time, however, in consultation with Dr. Gerber, we have decided not to reset the pins. Charlie's foot is healed and, although it is crooked, it does not cause her any discomfort or pain. Other than vanity, there is no point in putting her through another surgery. She is just going to have a crooked foot and I think it is all part of her charm.

Charlie is getting older now, turning white around her face. She knows her name and comes when called. She doesn't run away. And she has captured my heart, my soul, and every fiber of my being. I am 1000% in love with this tri-colored, barks-too-much, soft-eared, crooked-footed, brown-eyed, little ball of fur. For those of you out there who have never known the love of a dog, I highly recommend getting a beagle. The world would be a better place if we could bottle the amazing kindness of love of these little dogs. That is the love of a beagle.