I Love Dogs

When I was born, my parents had a Beagle named Wendy.  Since she was their baby before I was, my mom dressed her up in clothes and she obviously got all of their attention.  After a short period of time following my birth, Wendy decided that she was no longer getting enough attention and she ran away.  However, she didn't run far.  She started living with people up the street from where we lived.  She would periodically come back to my parents' house to visit with them, but she would never come back in the house, only to the front door.  I feel bad that Wendy's feelings were so hurt that she left.  I unfortunately don't remember Wendy.

When I was about 4, my parents decided to get another dog.  They took me to the animal shelter to pick one out.  I chose a little mixed breed and we named her Mindy (I think).  We only had her a short time before she developed a rash.  When we took her to the vet to see what the issue was, it was determined that she had mange.  I don't know if it was untreatable or too expensive, but whatever the reason, Mindy went back to the shelter.  We instead came home with a black Cocker Spaniel we named Bailey.  She was the perfect size for me to be able to walk and play with.  She used to "sing" along with the "Lady and the Tramp" soundtrack and I thought it was quite funny.  I also decided one day to cut my hair and felt maybe Bailey also needed a trimming as well.  I ended up cutting a small chunk out of her ear, causing her to bleed.  Bravo to my mother for allowing her 4 year old to have scissors long enough to cut my hair and the dog's ear.  Unfortunately, we moved to a place that didn't allow pets and so we had to give her to a family my grandmother knew.

When my family moved to Texas between 2nd and 3rd grades, my parents promised me I could get a puppy to help ease the pain of leaving my grandmother and friends behind.  Maybe because my parents had Beagles before I was born or perhaps that's what I wanted, I can't remember, but we searched the papers for Beagle puppies.  We finally found a litter and my parents took my cousin and myself to look at these puppies.  I picked a sweet little girl out and named her Chelsea, which would have been my brother's name had he been a girl.  She tinkled in the car on the way home.  I placed her in an impromptu dog show in which she was one of two contestants.  The prize was an igloo dog house and the judges later told me that had she sat (she was about 2 months old in this dog show), she would have won. Although Chelsea was technically my dog, I was a little young to fully care for a dog, so my parents ended up taking care of her the majority of the time.  We had Chelsea for just over 12 years when her kidneys began shutting down.  It was a very difficult decision to put her to sleep, but I knew she'd be out of pain, which is the humane thing to do.

Between 7th and 8th grade, I was leaving Wal-Mart and happened to see an ad for Beagle puppies.  When I got home, I asked my dad "if you have money, you should be able to buy what you want, right?"  He fell into the trap I had set and he told me we should go "look" at the puppies.  I think he thought since the people didn't have any girls (which is what I wanted), he'd convince me we didn't need a puppy and to wait for a female.  When we arrived at the person's house, a teenage boy came outside (with his fly undone) and led us to the backyard where the puppies were being kept.  We watched the puppies play and my mom picked one up that she thought was cute.  At that moment, another puppy came out from behind a big piece of plywood.  I thought that one was cute, so I picked it up.  In the process of playing with and holding it, I flipped it over.  It was a girl, which was surprising, since we were told they only had boys left.  We should have known from the three warning signs (fly down, outside pups, girl when there were "only boys" left) that this may not be the healthiest puppy.  However, after exchanging my hard-earned money, we left with a sweet little girl I named Daysie.  When we took her to the vet just for puppy vaccines, we found out that she was only 5 weeks old (it's illegal in a lot of states to sell a puppy before 8 weeks), her poor belly was FILLED with many types of worms and she was very anemic (from the worms sucking all of her blood).  Had we not brought her in, the vet thought that would have died within the week and that the other puppies at the house didn't have much of a shot.  Daysie really was my first dog.  I paid for her, I walked her and took care of her.  She had two litters of puppies and we kept a few of her puppies.  My parents still have one from her second litter. We had her for almost 11 years when she was attacked by another dog and died from her injuries.  I feel horrible that her last moments on this Earth were spent in pain and fear. 

I have documented Hattie's purchase here and how we acquired Waveland here.

Waveland's mom had another litter in January, but I don't think we'll be adding to our 4-legged quota at this time.

Each and every dog I have owned holds a special place in my heart.  I miss the ones that have passed on, but cherish the memories.  I try to enjoy Hattie and Waveland each day because I know that far too soon, they too will pass on.