Beagles

AH’s Little Trouble Maker

Mr. Rhett Pretty Boy

Miss Scarlett Sweet Pea

In addition to our vizslas, we also had three beagles. We lost Hershey, our oldest dog (2 months shy of his 14th birthday) on April 5, 2010 due to congestive heart failure, so we are down to two.  I had Hershey (on the far left) before Shawn and I met. After we were married, we thought we would get a puppy girl to go along with our then young Hershey (instead of having the 2 legged kind of kids). Well, I went to the breeder’s in Ohio and picked out a girl that I liked, but also saw this beautiful boy. I came home and told Shawn we were having twins! So a few weeks later, Shawn and I flew up to Ohio and picked up Rhett (middle) and Scarlett (right). The most unforgettable moment on that trip home was at the airport. It was right after 9/11 and the military was present at the airports with their machine guns on their backs. We took the twins out of the carrier to walk with them through the metal detector and all these big men with their guns let out a synchronized “Awwwww”. Beagle puppies are just TOO cute…even for these tough guys!

Hershey was my puppy mill dog. I bought him at a pet store at the mall (of all places) before I knew any better. The poor guy was diagnosed with epilepsy at 4, Addison’s disease at 9 and at age 11 hypothyroidism, hypertension and a slightly congested heart. He was on several meds and has the old man pill box with AM and PM for all seven days of the week. But he was a happy boy until the day he passed and that’s what matters the most! I had to learn the lesson about backyard breeders and puppy mills the hard way. Believe me, I will never make that mistake again!

The beagles are our pets, but I bet they would have been good hunters too! They have great noses which are always on the ground! They are so spoiled that they have their own babysitter who stays at our house while we are on the road traveling for an event with the vizslas!