Monday, July 18, 2005
Busy Beagle
Boy, it sure has been busy in our house lately. I've been working some late nights & long hours because we have too much to do, and that makes more for Darlene to do (and she always has too much on her plate anyway). We got a dog (Benny, a one year old beagle who has quite a story of his own) on July 9th, much to the shock (not surprise - we warned her) of our dog fearing daughter & that's made life more interesting for all of us. On top of that I got a new PowerBook G4, I'll soon be getting the iMac ready to give to my mom, & new neighbors are finally moving into the vacant house next door.
Of all these things of course, Benny is what's keeping us the busiest. He's a timid little guy, which after all he's been through doesn't surprise me. Benny was picked up by animal control officers in Daviess County, Kentucky on May 13th. I wish I knew if he was abandoned or what, but we don't know that. After spending a couple weeks in the local animal shelter & not being adopted, he was saved by a woman who runs a dog rescue in southern Indiana, just across the Kentucky border. Beagles are plentiful in Kentucky & Indiana and not in high demand, so there wasn't much hope for him being adopted there & she sent him up to a local dog rescue here in Minnesota after he got a full exam (clean bill of health - he came with his exam papers) & all his shots. After a few weeks with the local rescue folks they brought him to one of their weekly adoptions at a local Petco store, where we found him & gave him a home.
Darlene & I think he's the coolest, but Katie so far isn't too happy that he's around. Katie never had a problem with Riley, our wheaten terrier who we unfortunately had to put to sleep a year & a half ago, but sometime after that she became afraid of dogs. Why, we're not sure, because she's never been hurt by a dog. As many dogs as there are in our family it's something we need to tackle & we thought quiet little Benny would be easy for Katie to get accustomed to.
So far it's been kind of tough. Katie's in the dog house because she hasn't treated him very well. Benny doesn't seem to like her very much, and I don't blame the poor little guy. He keeps his distance because she's had a tendency to yell at him when he comes near her ("Go!" or "You can't come in here!"), but if he's laying quietly in some corner it seems like she forgets he's there. It's probably a mix of being afraid & some jealousy. She gets a little funny when we pay attention to him.
Sometimes she's ok with him. They romped in the backyard last night, Katie holding his tie cable & proclaiming "I captured you!" like Roo & Lumpy in Pooh's Heffalump Movie. He was also happy to smell the flowers she brought to him & she thought that was fun. We've also decided that she's going to be the one who gives him treats in an effort to get him to warm up to her more. She gets a kick out of that, but so far he's not too thrilled about approaching her.
Benny discovered that rabbits like to hang out in & pass through our back yard. He saw one out the patio door & just stared at it & whined a bit, wagging his tail. When I let him out, he was in his glory. He sniffed excitedly around the whole yard for over a half hour. Beagles, after all, are all about rabbits & their noses. After he came in it was very difficult to keep him away from the door & he cried a bit after he was put to bed.
He's a happy, fun little guy. He's always excited when we come in a room & the thump of his tail against something has gotten to be a common sound over the past week & a half. I just wish we didn't have to struggle with Katie's attitude toward him. Maybe this wasn't the greatest idea, but we think we just need to stick with it. It's only been 9 days.
Of all these things of course, Benny is what's keeping us the busiest. He's a timid little guy, which after all he's been through doesn't surprise me. Benny was picked up by animal control officers in Daviess County, Kentucky on May 13th. I wish I knew if he was abandoned or what, but we don't know that. After spending a couple weeks in the local animal shelter & not being adopted, he was saved by a woman who runs a dog rescue in southern Indiana, just across the Kentucky border. Beagles are plentiful in Kentucky & Indiana and not in high demand, so there wasn't much hope for him being adopted there & she sent him up to a local dog rescue here in Minnesota after he got a full exam (clean bill of health - he came with his exam papers) & all his shots. After a few weeks with the local rescue folks they brought him to one of their weekly adoptions at a local Petco store, where we found him & gave him a home.
Darlene & I think he's the coolest, but Katie so far isn't too happy that he's around. Katie never had a problem with Riley, our wheaten terrier who we unfortunately had to put to sleep a year & a half ago, but sometime after that she became afraid of dogs. Why, we're not sure, because she's never been hurt by a dog. As many dogs as there are in our family it's something we need to tackle & we thought quiet little Benny would be easy for Katie to get accustomed to.
So far it's been kind of tough. Katie's in the dog house because she hasn't treated him very well. Benny doesn't seem to like her very much, and I don't blame the poor little guy. He keeps his distance because she's had a tendency to yell at him when he comes near her ("Go!" or "You can't come in here!"), but if he's laying quietly in some corner it seems like she forgets he's there. It's probably a mix of being afraid & some jealousy. She gets a little funny when we pay attention to him.
Sometimes she's ok with him. They romped in the backyard last night, Katie holding his tie cable & proclaiming "I captured you!" like Roo & Lumpy in Pooh's Heffalump Movie. He was also happy to smell the flowers she brought to him & she thought that was fun. We've also decided that she's going to be the one who gives him treats in an effort to get him to warm up to her more. She gets a kick out of that, but so far he's not too thrilled about approaching her.
Benny discovered that rabbits like to hang out in & pass through our back yard. He saw one out the patio door & just stared at it & whined a bit, wagging his tail. When I let him out, he was in his glory. He sniffed excitedly around the whole yard for over a half hour. Beagles, after all, are all about rabbits & their noses. After he came in it was very difficult to keep him away from the door & he cried a bit after he was put to bed.
He's a happy, fun little guy. He's always excited when we come in a room & the thump of his tail against something has gotten to be a common sound over the past week & a half. I just wish we didn't have to struggle with Katie's attitude toward him. Maybe this wasn't the greatest idea, but we think we just need to stick with it. It's only been 9 days.
