How Missy came to live with me | Missy the Beagle Home | What it's like to have a Beagle in one's life

Missy had grown up with these two old people living in a trailer. When she wasn't in the trailer, she spent most of her time on their tiny screened porch. That was even where she "did her business." She had no yard, and no contact with other dogs. That's no life for a beagle! A beagle has to be able to put her nose to the ground and do the thing her ancestors were bred to do: smell!

Missy didn't know what it meant to be a beagle.

But I took her over to Judi's house, an amazing thing began to happen: she teamed up with Sunni, Judi's little beagle, and she learned from Sunni how to be a beagle herself. Sunni would sniff in the grass, looking for a scent, and Missy would sniff right with her. Sunni would pick up the scent of a lizard (sadly, there are no rabbits for beagles to track in Judi's yard), and start after it, and Missy would pick up the same scent and be after her. Sunni would hear a noise and bound off across the yard. Missy would bound just behind her. When Sunni threw back her head and howled, Missy threw back hers and did the same. We called them the "two beagle girls." And we watched as Missy became a different dog.

Sunni also taught Missy how to mooch by staring at people. Also how to snatch food with lightning quickness if it came within reach. Missy eventually became a far bigger mooch than Sunni, and learned that Judi is a soft touch:

Here they are, getting ready! Missy is the furthest from the camera, the one standing and insisting on the most attention. Sunni is the one sitting closest to the camera.

And now the fish (Judi) has been hooked!!! And there's no way she's getting loose! Cheese is on the way! Way to go, Missy!

Besides eating, beagles are really good at sleeping...

...and every dog, of every breed, needs to learn how to roll around on his or her back and get a really good scratch!

How Missy came to live with me | Missy the Beagle Home | What it's like to have a Beagle in one's life