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Update:  1/30/08:  I adopted Tess in August of 2006 and she is just the sweetest beagle ever!  She is very social and loves going everywhere with me.  She is also great with kids.  We have a great time visiting friends and taking long walks in the park.  Tess loves turkey bacon, dog bones, and her new dog bed.  She is also great with my two cats, Mina and Ben.  They really have become a little family!  I just want to thank all of the wonderful volunteers of Beagle Rescue for helping me to find such a wonderful beagle!

I don't know if I found Tess or she found me!  I had been looking to adopt a dog for quite sometime, and really wanted to rescue a dog from a shelter.  I found the Beagle Rescue website by a fluke searching the internet on Petfinder looking for a pup to call my own.  I remember the day I first saw Tess' picture.  She was called "India Wilkes" at the time.  My mother, sister and I were scrolling down the page and I remember my mother said, "Wait.  Go back and look at that one" and that's all it took.  From her picture and the description, I knew I had found my dog.

It was just my luck that India was being fostered by a wonderful loving family in Baltimore with three beagles of their own.  I met them and went to visit her every weekend until I could take her home.  I renamed her "Tess" because I have always loved that name and it seemed to fit her like a glove.  She is the most wonderful, affectionate and loving dog that anyone could ask for.  She has blended right into our home and gets along great with my two cats.  She loves to go for long walks and is a great snuggler, especially in cold weather!

It has been a wonderfully smooth ride with one exception.  About two weeks after I brought her home, I decided to take Tess with me to work, as I had often done before.  I work at St. Paul's Plus, which is the preschool on the campus of St. Paul's school in the Greenspring Valley.  I took Tess with me to get the mail at the Girl's School and the next thing I knew she was gone!  She ran from the top of the hill to Greenspring Station in 10 minutes.  After an all day and all night search, I posted reward posters and the kind people at Beagle Rescue helped me contact vets and animal shelters.  A wonderful family found her and we were reunited the next morning.  Tess was fine, but she did sleep for about a week after her excursion!

I want to thank Mara, Judy and all the wonderful volunteers from Beagle Rescue for helping me to find such a wonderful dog and loyal companion!