Beagle Mafia

I am so proud of Miss Q! Today we went to her very first reading program at a local library. I joined a group of therapy dog handlers that her trainer leads. A few times a month they get together and go to the library to have children read to the dogs. It helps build a child's reading confidence when they get to read to an audience of a dog.

There were 7 dogs there and the kids got to pick which dog they wanted to read to. I will have you know Miss Q was by far Miss Popular. I got so many good compliments on her and she in turn got lots of loving. This dog has a way about her that literally stops people in their tracks upon meeting her. The group was very impressed by her appearance, manners and her sweet disposition. She is simply amazing and she continues to bless me daily. I *almost* feel like I dont deserve her. I cant explain why.

I will close with a few pictures! Next week is her last training session and she is officially official once we receive the paperwork back by mail. We are going to celebrate!

Here she is waiting to head to the library:


Here she is intently reading with a little girl:


And here she is getting sleeping with all the reading going on and begging for a belly rub:

Today I really felt like I was in a singles movie scene.

I went out with Miss Q today to try and find a shady park to train with her. So I found this one park and it had a mini "dog park" area. It was in a real secluded area so I figured no one would be there. Our membership dog park is too distracting to train at etc. Mind you its 2:00 in the afternoon when most people are working or at school etc.

So you have to walk down this short path and its a big fenced in area. One side for small dogs, one for big dogs. I saw there was guy there with his dog who was not acting very friendly through the fence so I went in the other area. The guy tries to make small chit chat about my iphone(my phone beeped and his cheesy line was "ohh was that your phone or mine? ).

5 minutes later, another guy comes in with his dog. He comes to our side and starts small chit chat.

another few minutes later, 2 guys come with their 2 dogs. So its me and Ms Q, 4 guys and 4 boy dogs. I look at her and I am like "lets go"....

I was telling my friend about it and she was like maybe its a secret meeting place for guys looking for other guys.

I know random and worthless but it was the highlight of my day.

So this morning I get call from this frantic elderly lady who tried to surrender her newly rescued beagle at our adoption event this weekend. Apparently, this poor beagle girl was yet another victim of a backyard breeder. She was dumped off at school after just weaning a litter of puppies. So this lady calls our local animal control and they pick up. After no owner coming to claim her this lady goes and bails her out of the shelter herself. She keeps the dog for 3 days and comes to our event in tears. She cant handle her, "she give me anxiety attacks, "she cries when I leave", "she is not housebroken". She never owned a dog before and had no idea even the simple basics of how to care for a dog. Never dawned on her that a fully housebroken dog will urinate after a spay because her bladder is weaker. I figured a few days this lady might figure it out and decide to keep this little beauty after all.

So we tell her we cant take her that day but we will let her know when a spot opens but if she cant take another minute, please call us before returning her to the shelter where she will inevitably be euthanized. Well this morning I get a call and she says and I quote "I cant take another minute, she is chewing at her stitches" I am like are you kidding me lady. At this point I trying not to be ugly for the dog's sake and tell her what an idiot she was for evening attempting to provide a home for this dog. Instead I told her I would work on it but understand she has to do what she has to do. Meanwhile, I call the shelter to note her account to call us immediately if she surrenders it back. I then put out an SOS to our foster homes and one of our fosters(a previous adopter) says they will absolutely take her in. We pick her up and bring her to her new foster home. One of my other foster's dropped her off and called me immediately upon leaving and said"yeah, I am pretty sure they are going to keep her" and boy was she right! I got a call 2 hours later and sure enough, another foster flunk. :) This is a very happy ending for this little lady. She could not have landed herself a better set of owners. They are over the moon about her. A very happy ending. OASN, of course this occurs after I spend a hour putting her on the different sites. I was telling my co rescue worker today that I feel like I am a beagle traffic controller. I basically spend my days directing and redirecting beagles.

Also our last foster dog, found her forever home today. We had Miss B since July and absolutely adore this beagle. If we didn't already have a herd she would hands down be another keeper. In fact I was innerly deciding that if I would start therapy work with her right after Miss Q finishes. She could totally be a therapy dog. Ironically enough, she had another potential adopter suppose to come to the adoption event this weekend but they never showed. I was pretty bummed because this was basically the first interest in Miss B. Low and behold, I got a call that same evening from a wonderful older couple who wanted to see her immediately. Yesterday they came and I knew immediately, that was it. Of course they fell in love, I cried and continued to cry all day about it. Capo actually had to sneak her out of the house and take her to her new home. I could not do it. I broke down HARD when he accidentally left her tag on the kitchen counter. She has been the only one yet that has made me cry after finding a home. So bitter sweet. My two young dogs are searching around the house for her which makes it even harder. Miss B you will be missed but never forgotten.

The reason this is our last foster dog, is because I am getting back to my original plan for this rescue, directing. I am not cut out to foster and thankfully I have found several people in the past few weeks to step up and decide to foster. Its a blessing especially given what happened a few weeks ago when I was handed back 3 dogs. God was there, he saw around the corner and I can see clearly now. I can say, we as a rescue are far better off now then we were a month ago. Adoptions, foster homes, donation etc are pouring in. I can honestly say now, I am officially back on the graceful path and what a feeling. No more stress or drama just a bunch of us like minded people fulfilling the mission of this rescue. People have stepped up in more ways that I ever thought. Who knew it could actually be easy.....

Today also marked the second training sessions for Ms. Q. It went well, so well that her trainer told me I need to bring her a more challenging dog next time. This one is way too easy. She officially passed her STAR puppy test but still has to wait for another 2 training sessions per AKC to actually receive it. She has all but one step left to work on for her CGC. I am so blessed by this animal and for the time of this trainer. They are both simply amazing. Her trainer is really pushing me to show her as well. AKC just passed that mix breeds can show in obedience. Miss Q is soaring her way through novice obedience training. We need to keep working on a sit and wait from 20 feet away and a figure 8 turn. Today she learned a backup, and a touch naturally. Did I tell you how utterly amazing this dog is? Seriously one in a million. Next weekend we go and read to the kid's at a local library and then once we do that 4 times, get the official CDC award, I can send in her therapy papers, get licensed and insured then start therapy work. Luckily her trainer is already heavily involved and can get us in the door immediately. Very exciting stuff!

So as you can see, I was up, down, up down all day long. I do know that I am going to hit that pillow hard tonight and rest well. I accomplished a lot today and I am extremely proud of all my hard work and dedication. Its paying off and yes, this is the official pat on my own back.....neener neener.

So Capo can sometimes get attached to our fosters. Which is so odd to me because I am the likely one of us to have attachment issues. For some reason since I started doing rescue, I have learned to keep a distant separation of our fostera. Not one did I wanted to keep forever.(although for whatever reason every single foster we take into our home seems to never leave)

We have had this one particular foster for several months. We saw her on a transport as she was on our way to a humane society and we just could not let her go. We agreed to take her in a "foster". She is not even a beagle yet a basset/coonhound mix. During her foster stay, she has had three particular families interested in her. Each and every time, Capo would not agree they were the right fit for her. This last potential adoptive family was perfect in every.single.way except them worked from 7-4 and went to bed at 9. Most of her time would have been spent in a crate and we did not feel that was the right kind of life for her.

She has literally been the only foster that we have had to turn down homes for. There is just something about her. She is just a sweet sweet soul, so gentle, cuddly, focused and I could gush all day. Even though all of that is true, I still was determined to find her forever family. Capo on the other hand literally begged me to keep her. He is literally head over heels about her. Sooo I made a deal with him that if she could be a "working" dog and not just another pet, we would keep her.

I have always wanted to do therapy/service dog work but I never thought we owned the right dog who could pass the certification. Well that is not true, I have one dog who I think can and will once I get trained. This particular dog totally fits the mold. She is highly trainable and seems to have a natural ability to do this.

I found a lady in my area who has been training dogs for over 20 years for their K9 Good Citizen and TDI certification. She even does it for free as part of her ministry. Yup, even better she is Christian and feels that God has blessed her in this area so she doesnt feel like she should be charging. While that is awesome and very generous of her, we offered to make a donation to her church instead. She happily agreed and off we went to train today.

Miss SQ(the dogs initials) did WONDERFUL! She is such a natural. In one hour she did a sit, stay, come, wait, heel, come off leash, a close sit, roll over, and a down. I was absolutely amazed. I will admit she did much better for her trainer then when I took over. I am the one who really needs the training. Lol! She also did great for Capo. The trainer feels like she will be certified in just about 4 weeks and is SURE I can even show her. She is that confident in Miss SQ is going to be one amazing therapy dog. I am confident I am not having smoke blown up my nose because remember this is all for free.

I worked with her all afternoon one on one. We even worked in a pet store where distractions were plentiful and yet she still stayed focused. I also found this product that her trainer was using and I swear its like crack for dogs. Its my new arsenal. I even started to work with some of my other dogs and they all did a sit and down easily when offered the reward of that good stuff. I am even thinking of biting the cost bullet and switching completely to those products.

This is going to be a lot of work but in the end a very rewarding experience. I am going to order her therapy dog in training vest tomorrow. My new hobby yay!

Friday, Capo and I dropped the boy off at his best friend's house for a sleepover and then we headed to our romantic destination. Only about 15 miles from here. :))

We checked into our BEAUTIFUL hotel and when we entered our suite, I had several floral arrangements set out for me, some jazz playing in the background and an appetizer cart filled with the biggest oyster I have ever seen, some crab legs and shrimp. We immediately kicked backed, and dug right in.



After our quick bite to eat, we headed down to the lounge to wait for horse drawn carriage ride around the city. How romantic! We had the funniest driver ever. He was from Boston and yes, he said "carr". He parked us in front of a "kissing tree" where we were told to kiss and enjoy a champagne toast to our love. Rumor has it if you kiss under this particular tree your love will last forever and ever.


45 minutes later we were dropped back off at our hotel where we dined at a 5 diamond restaurant. I was handed a menu specially designed by Capo. Its was so nice to sit back and relax enjoying just the company of each other. I will admit that I got a tad bit distracted when an NFL player and his wife sat down literally straight across from us to dine. I did sneak a picture! Unfortunately cant show it because it would blow my cover here on the blog.

I don't think I need to say what happened after dinner but I will say we did have a very peaceful night's sleep until the next morning when we were awakened by breakfast in bed.


Thank you my dear husband for setting this time aside for us to rekindle our romance. You did a good job of showing me how very much you love me. Every girl should have a Capo.