An Unlikely Pair: She was as round as she was tall, a 24 inch Beagle with about a 30 inch girth. Her CKC paperwork confirmed she was 10.5 years old. She had a faded tattoo in her right ear. She was an Amish puppy mill dog that was going to be culled (shot) along with 6 other various breeds at that particular Amish mill. She was simply too old and worn out to produce more pups. As we were loading the dogs in my escape, the mill owner said to me, “That there Beagle has been a damn good breeder. She would never have less than 8 pups a litter. Puggle puppies are bringing me 225.00 apiece; she’s been good to me.” Her toes were splayed, she stunk of urine and feces that was crusted to her legs and belly. Her boobs nearly touched the ground, and when she would walk, her overgrown back toe nails would scratch her boobs. When I got her home along with the others, I started in on the long task of clipping, bathing, cleaning ears, emptying anal glands and trimming toe nails. My husband came out to the facility to call me in for dinner and looked around at the new lot of Shih Tzu’s, Yorkies and Bichon’s. He stopped at the Beagles kennel and said, “Where did you get the fat Beagle?” From then on, the name stuck. She was lovingly called the “Fat Beagle” by my husband, me and all our volunteers. She had a bad cough. A vet visit and 14 days of antibiotics would clear up her ammonia. She was not bath once, not twice, but three times before I was able to scrub off the last of the crusted feces in the folds of her boobs, arm pits and hind end. I brought her in the house, and put her in a soft doggie bed in the kitchen, and there she slept for almost 3 days straight. I rarely take in owner surrenders as I am too busy with the Amish puppy mill dogs. However, a guy called me and pleaded for me to take his JRT. He told me he was working long hours, and the Jack Russell was alone for 16 hour days. Besides, his girlfriend had two dogs, so they did not need three. That night, he showed up with his JRT named “Sam”, tucked under his arm with all of his belongings. He said he wished he could keep him, but you know, he was too busy for him. He set Sam down, and he left. Sam, was as cute as a bugs ear. He was a long haired Jack who looked like a little scallywag. He weighed all of 7 pounds, skin and bones, and was thin as Fat Beagle was portly. Sam did not miss a beat. He trotted through the house exploring his new surroundings, and never looked back for his owner. He smelled and touched noses with my own dog’s one at a time, and then moved on to checking out the cat. He toured the house for a few minutes, when he spotted Fat Beagle sleeping soundly in her bed. He approached her and woke her up by vigorously licking the insides of her ears and mouth. Fat Beagle lifted her head and half opened her eyes and went back to sleeping. Sam crawled in the dog bed with her and there they slept the entire night without a peep. From that night forward, Sam never left Fat Beagle’s side. They ate out of the same dish, they slept in the same bed curled around each other, and they hunted together. It was a lot of effort for Fat Beagle to trot let alone run. She sauntered wherever she went, her big belly swaying to and fro. Sam on the other hand, was not only a Jack Russell Terrier, he was only 2 years old. He could run figure 8’s around her. It didn’t matter to Sam that Fat Beagle moved at a snail’s pace, he never left her side. The two of them would sneak off into our 50 acre field hoping to kick up rabbits. Fat Beagle may have been deaf as a door knob, but her nose worked just fine. Watching the two of them hunting, with their heads down, joined at the hip, would crack you up. I was having a big dilemma. How was I going to adopt them out separately? There were like soul mates. Who was going to ever adopt a 10 year old Beagle and a JRT as her side kick? Both Beagles and Jacks are two of the hardest breeds to find homes for. All I could do is try, and hope for the best. The odds of them getting adopted together were slim to nill. I put Fat Beagle’s picture up on face book and Petfinder as well as Sam’s. I said to my husband, “I can’t put her name down as FAT BEAGLE, I have to give her a proper name!” He said, “O.K. Sylvia.” I got a small handful of applications in for Sam. Zero applications for Fat Beagle. I held out hoping by some strike of luck someone would apply to adopt her. About 3 weeks in, I got an application for Sylvia. I did the application screening, and they were a dynamite home. Now what was I going to do?? The thoughts of splitting them up just broke everyone’s heart. I had no choice. This was Fat Beagle’s chance at having a real home to call her own. A home she had never had. She would want for nothing, and be provided with all the comforts she would ever need. The applicants came to meet her and fell in love with her, all the while, Sam is sitting by her side watching. My husband and I glanced at each other. I had a lump in my throat the size of an orange, and I knew he did too. He started to walk away. He gets way more emotional than I do. My husband came back, and said, “You know, the funniest thing is that these two dogs are completely bonded. You would never think in a million years these two would be so bonded, but Sam never leaves her side. They eat together, they sleep together, and yes, they hunt together. Sam will not let her out of his sight”. The husband and wife looked at each other and said, “seriously?? “ They walked away to talk privately to each other and came back. By the looks on their faces, I just knew they were going to say no. The wife spoke first, and she said, “We just cannot split these two up, so we will take them both”. My husband eyes started to well up, and it made me do the same. I was just so thank full that both Fat Beagle and Sam were going to live out the rest of their lives together, that we waived the adoption fee for Sam. The husband lifted Fat Beagle in the back of their brand new car, and Sam just leaped in after her. Kismutt Rescue has adopted just over 2500 dogs, and this adoption we will never forget. Congratulations, to the Mc Dougall’s in Grand Bend, Ontario! You made Fat Beagle and Sam the happiest dogs on earth :) p.s. Fat Beagle officially has a new name. Lady.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 23:50:51 +0000
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