A dog and his boy...
Getting the big sniff at the dog park
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3/25/08 Update:
Dear Beagle Maryland,
I cannot tell you how much I like my new home. My people are funny. And I keep them laughing. And my tail has hardly stopped wagging, except when they pet me.
I have decided that I will let the big one - the one the little ones call him "Dad"-- share my bed. It's very big, upstairs in a room where he keeps his clothes. Somehow though, he doesn't seem to understand that I get first pick of spot to sleep. He keeps trying to move me over. And, much to my surprise, there's another dog in the room. It's on top of a dresser. I just noticed it last night. It's white with black ears and it's shiny, almost like it was made of some kind of stone or porcelain, and all it does is sit there, very, very still. I can't catch his scent, but I know he's watching me. So I jump up on the bed and pace back and forth, keeping a very careful eye on him. I'm on the alert. If he moves, I'll see it. And I want him to know it.
I'm afraid I've gained a little weight, too. It's nice to be eating regularly, but the little ones who are supposed to feed me don't always coordinate - so sometimes they both feed me in the morning or in the afternoon. Yum! Hey, it's their mistake - I'm not going to let on and spoil it. And the other night they gave me a teaspoon of this gooey stuff that tasted like peanuts--they spread it all over a new rubber bone they brought me. Again, yum! It made mah tongue shtick to do root ov mah mouff. But I am getting plenty of exercise. I feel like I have walked more in the past two weeks than I have walked in my entire life. The leash goes on, we go out, we come home, the leash comes off and then, before I know it, it's on again. Walk walk walk walk walk. I do have other interests, you know.
But they are a really nice family. They are very good to me and I am teaching them some tricks, like how to rub my belly in just the right spot. They almost have the hang of it. And there's another one I like to call "Watch Me." We go out in the backyard, they throw this round thing, start getting really excited, point at it...and I just stand there. Then they run after the round thing, pick it up, throw it, and the whole thing starts again. We do it three, four, even five times before they get tired of it. I haven't had any grand adventures yet -- the biggest thing we've done is go to the farmers' market on Saturday in Old Town, Alexandria. I made a lot of new friends - on two legs and four. Everyone seemed excited to hear that I had been rescued by Beagle Maryland.
Well, I have to run. I'm sending you a couple of new pictures of me - they were taken with a cell phone camera. But the reason they're not very good is that I won't stop moving long enough for someone to take a good picture. I really, really like it here. Thanks, Beagle Maryland.
Lots of love,
Shaggie
Dear Mara,
First of all, tell Sue I really appreciated all she did for me as my foster Mom. I wasn't very nice to her when it came time to leave. I sort of forgot she was there - but I was just so excited to go home with my new family, I sort of forgot about everything else. You know how we beagles are - once we get a scent, the whole rest of the world disappears!
My new family took me home on Saturday (3/8/08). I rode in the back seat of the car with the smaller of the two boys - he's 12 - and he just kept petting me and telling me how excited he was to have me in his family.
After awhile I just settled down in the seat, flopped down, put my head next to his lap and decided to soak it all up. It took us about an hour to get to my new house - I couldn't wait to get inside... I was pulling and tugging, but they insisted on taking me for a walk first. We went to the park, we met a lot of other dogs and I had a chance to leave plenty of marking in case I get out of the house and get lost.
The house is very nice. I spent about half an hour just sniffing around the first floor -- it's a big space and I just kept going around and around and around in circles. My family lets me jump on the sofa -- it took me a little while to get used to that. I sort of have to jump up with my front paws and then pull myself up. They took me upstairs, showed me the bedrooms and then took me downstairs and showed me the basement where my crate is. I think they expect me to sleep in the crate and stay there during the day -- I have them confused. When we're in the basement, they say "crate" and I, like the good boy I am, walk right in...and then I turn around and walk right out. My new family doesn't get mad, though; they just laugh. And they didn't get mad when I left something for them on the basement rug when they went to Church on Sunday morning.
I have been getting a lot of attention. My tail keeps wagging and wagging and wagging. The boys don't exactly fight over me, but they do compete for my attention. They pet me, I've slept on the bed of the biggest one for two nights now and they keep telling me what a good boy I am and I hope they are happy to have me in their family. I think I like them, too, but they won't give me people food and their kitchen garbage can has a lid on it. Oh well. Nobody's perfect.
Thanks, Beagle Rescue of Southern Maryland for giving me a home and taking care of me until this family could find me. I'm a pretty lucky guy.
Lots of love,
Shaggie
Shaggie went to his Forever Home on 3/8/08.