Adventures in Training the Beagles

New Bobby Fisher movie

Husband has already demanded to see the Bobby Fisher movie and since he doesn't make those demands often, yes of course we're going and we're doing the full date night.

I've already seen some previews and I know going to be disappointed in their choice for Boris Spassky.   He came to Dallas when I was still playing chess, just about the time Rich and I got married.  The board of the Dallas Chess club hosted him.  He stayed with another couple whom I dearly miss.

Man, he was the most fun and was just the nicest guy.  Plus he was gorgeous it.  He loved it here because he could walk around the malls with us and no one knew who he was.

He irritated the heck out of the husband because he was kind enough to let me play as long as possible during the simultaneous.    I think I was one of the last he beat, or pretty close but unlike Rich I play a safe game and don't take a lot of risks.  He also complimented me on that.

Sometimes I miss playing but I love my dogs more.  Even Rich doesn't play chess very often any more.

New Dog Food - Purina Pro Plan Bright and Iams

One of my best Best Friends in agility is a vet who specializes in caring for research animals.  She's a really fun person who most people don't understand.

She choose to go into this field, even though it is not popular.  One reason is to help make medical advances for both humans and animals.  The other is to make sure that the animals aren't suffering.  As a vet, she can ensure that.

She has been talking about a group of beagles to me ever since she moved to Dallas as she messes mine and the little Rascals reminded her of mine.  I didn't want to hear about it, but I did listen.

For those of you who think this is wrong, you have to know that those little dogs are as loved as your beagles (or dogs).  This is an old age study, so they needed the dogs to be in as close to a regular environment as possible.  When they do a protocol like this, they research as many things as they possible can.

The Little Rascals had their own area where they played together, the staff played with them -- certainly my friend did.  And yes, when an old age study is finished, they have to put the dogs to sleep and take them apart so see what happened.

Yes, that's the hardest part.  BUT REMEMBER,  it's an OLD AGE study.  The beagles that lived to be 12, were all put to sleep.  I felt so bad I couldn't Cheryl and let her play with the little beagles as that was as hard for her as it is for us when we need to help our dogs go.

BUT here's the best part.  Some of the results of the study have given us new dog that does help them.  It's got ingredients for joint health and brain development.  I've seen the commercials but my friend told me about it long before it goes on the market.

We looked at the labels over the phone together and while the package says 7+ there is no reason to feed it younger.

In fact, I'm thinking seriously of taking the existing food to the shelter and buying the new brand tomorrow.

I'm telling the story - Macy's Story - My Toes Hurt

Someone almost spat in my face when I was carrying Macy after her runs once this weekend that if her toes hurt, and said there is medication.  This is rest of the story.

There is a second part of story, because I know that something happened that has been misunderstood.

Mildred Austin, Tesoros Beagles was kind enough to let me have Macy.  Yes, I paid money for her, because that is the proper thing to do with something that precious.  Besides, I wanted her to be ALL mine, not co-owned.  I'm funny that way.  I do share with my husband, but that's it.  (Well, not really, they really are my dog).  I do know Mildred well enough now, and understand things well enough to know that it would be an honor to be a co-owner with Mildred or any of Mildred's friends.

Macy loved me from the minute she saw me (Mildred's beagles are like that).  She was 8 months old at the time and gorgeous.  Best yet, she looked just her daddy, Ben, my favorite little dog.  We had to drive a long way and the first things that happened is that she got incredibly scared and care sick on the way home (always take a crate when you get a beagle from Mildred).  She was scared of my husband which was a) surprising because Sam is much bigger than Rich and b) that he was in love the minute he saw her.

She was also super smart, I taught her first trick to her seconds what I was looking for.  I'd been told years ago by an old hunter than those fancy beagles didn't have a brain.  I've been delighted to find out that he didn't know what he was talking about.

Macy was also afraid of Marcie.  Marcie was a very loving mother but she was strict.  She too came from a very good beagle family but a hunting beagle and they are hard on their children because they know the world is hard on them.  She spanked very hard because the people spanked hard and she wanted to toughen them up.  Macy was very ashamed one day because she was being naughty and her daddy got spanked instead of her and he was bleeding.

Macy saw that Marcie got extra special attention and treats because she did precisely what mom said unless she knew that mom was wrong.   But Macy has a problem.  Macy is very naughty.  She doesn't want to be or mean to be but some days she just has to go a different way.   She has to tear something up, usually mine.  Then she's instantly sorry because she doesn't want to hurt my feelings.

One night something really bad happened at the house.  I was yelling and there was a truck in the house.  The house smelled awful because the truck was still running.  Macy was scared and started running but fortunately Macy is slow and her daddy is fast and he saved her.

The saddest part is that we couldn't live in the house for a while and Macy had to live in an apartment.  It was awful.  There was no yard, and Macy had to be walked around the complex on a leash.  Macy LOVES walking with her daddy, and I'm constantly having to remind him that she can't walk as far as he does.  He gets mad when she won't walk and he can't walk one dog and carry one.  As a result, Macy got stress fractures in her toes and her vets did their best.

When the house was being fixed, one evening after Macy's toes got hurt, Maggie got scared and ran.   Macy got scared too, but she only got as far as the park across the street.  When we found her, she was a little wad of beagle fur and she was still so scared.  Dulce was scared but being the smartest of all the beagles at the time, she stayed at our house.

I took her to my vet's.  I love my vets, Kirk Esmond and Melissa Cordiess.  I've been going to them for years.  Kirk loves the beagles and has been as sad as me when we have to say good bye.  Melissa runs agility with us.  She doesn't get to all weekend.  She doesn't know all my Best Friends.

They did the best they could and my husband had to carry her everywhere. She's tiny but solid and 15 pounds is heavy. I get tired quickly carrying her.

Macy gets really upset when she can't keep up with me.  She tries really hard.  I know that Macy feels really bad.  That's why I always say, "Macy's toes hurt" so she knows that I know she tried.

And she runs beautifully at Elizabeth's Fun Farm and I am sad you can't come see.

And yes there is medicine.  I'm on anti-flammatories, and they don't do the job.  We use them sparingly with Macy because it is very hard on the liver and she's a very little dog.

One of our Best Friends is a vet for clinical research trials.  She's actually told me about some research she has been helping with and we're trying it as soon as the bag gets here.  By the way, they make it at Purina, the Bright formula and I understand Iam's does too.  I don't feed either food and have considered either slightly above feeding dogs kibbles and bits.  I'm starting to change my mind.

There is another story.  I learned the hard way that you cannot absolutely ever touch your dog in the agility ring.

I was in Ft. Worth at the Ft. Worth Kennel Club show and Macy was very sad because she couldn't do what I wanted.  I reached down to scratch her back and surprised her.  There was a bench committee.   The outcome was that I did break a very important rule and I paid my lesson.  The club also broke rules and paid a lesson.

The clubs actions have cost the local agility clubs a lot of money and saved me a lot.  I haven't back to any of the trials that are put on in Fort Worth since that happened.  I am going back to the Dalmatian club's trial at the request of one of the members who was at Purina Farm and visited with me during the trial.  Besides, they put on a great party!

You see, to support the local agility community I have always entered every since trial and every single class that were available to my dogs.  I'm not able to run that many dogs and set bars or anything else, but I can write a check for each of my dogs

I made the mistake of doing that for the beagle party, and I won't be doing that again.  The definition of insanity is repeating something and expecting a different result.

I'm telling the story

Julie Wright taught me something very important.   You have to tell the story.  I cried most oaf the day on the first day of agility because of Julie, and I cry every time I think of her.

When I started writing the website for the American Beagle Relief Fund, I was very upset over the URL of the website.  ambrn was very hard to type and even harder to read correctly, but she said it had to be that, it was because of a dog named Amber and that Amber wasn't a beagle.  She told me that she would tell me the rest of the story later.

I don't know the rest of the story, and I'm sad because the board thought I knew the story.  And please if anyone knows the rest of the story, please come  tell me and I'll put it in this blog.

Everyone who knows me, knows how much I love my beagles.  I tell everyone that I married my first beagle.  That's true, I dated a lot of young men after I got out of college, and one of my favorites failed his pilot's test (for those who don't know there are three types of pilots, those who fly, those you wash out, and those who fail one of the tests).  Richard was the only one with a dog.  Snooper hated me, but that's another story.

I grew up loving basinji's.  We lived next door to a young couple who had them, and they borrowed my sister and I.  I was always busy with my father, so they let her show the puppies.  My family doesn't get dogs.

Richard told me that I could my own dog as long as it was a beagle.  We went back to Snooper's breeder and got Missy.  That breeder guided us on breeder our first litter.  And our second.  But the owners wouldn't do what we said, and we found out that puppies died because they didn't do what we ask.  We kept one of the last, Weaver's Peppermint Patty.

Patty was a very very bad beagle.  She was even more naughty than Emma, Emma, bad dog.  She would bite us and I couldn't figure out why.  Patty was a very tiny, very black beagle.  Our hunting beagle breeder called her a blue tick beagle.  I don't understand why, another person who didn't tell me the story.

I went to Phillip Marr in Dallas and he taught me how to train dogs.  Though his way wasn't the right way, Peppermint Patty learned to be a very good beagle.  And she loved me.  You see, Snooper hated me because I wouldn't let him eat junk food.  Missy liked me too, but she liked her puppies better.  Patty was the first beagle who loved me as much as I love dogs and beagles.

Patty is the reason I am a teacher.  I loved teaching Patty.  I love computers and love all technology, but I loved Patty more.  Patty is my first heart dog.  Patty is in a box in my bedroom.

When I decided to become a teacher, I asked one of my obedience exhibitor friends advice on being a teacher.  She told me to read Karen Pryor's "Don't Shoot the Dog:", first edition.

Because of Patty, I'm a clicker trainer.  Because of Patty, I met Karen Pryor, Marian and Bob Bailey.  They taught me you could use love to train a beagle.   Patty and I went to the Houston specialty because  Patty wanted a puppy.  I was looking all over the place for a puppy at the time, but we couldn't find one.  What I really wanted was a Chardon puppy, but Patty didn't really like them, she really wanted another field beagle.  Charles was very kind to Patty, but that wasn't what Patty wanted.

The conformation breeders all scared me.  They wouldn't sell me a puppy and I was very hurt.   Only two people at that specialty were nice to me.  Charles and Donna Kitchell.  Charles knew who Patty was, everyone else said she was just a field beagle.

But I love field beagles.  And couldn't really like anyone who thought Patty was just a field beagle

I met Mildred at an obedience trial.  She loved Patty too, but I don't think she knew who Patty really was.

I got Marcie because Patty wanted a puppy.  You see, Patty loved puppies.  I'm going to tell Marcie's story too.

I got into police dog training because of a very bad man.  I don't tell that story in public, but I've just told a friend what I know.  But while the man was bad, he had a good idea and I did a lot of good with that good idea.

There was a police dog that loved Patty, his name is Fonzie.  I shared his video.  Fonzie was trained by one of the smartest dog trainers I know.  I hope to tell that story soon too.

So for those of you who came and watched Patty compete in Obedience, I thank you.  Many of you did.   Next to Patty's box, there is a bowl. It came from the 1990 National Specialty and she was honored as the NBC Obedience Beagle of the year.  I was afraid to come because it hurt me when people said she was just a field beagle. 

So know you know why I'm behind the camera and why even though Julie begged me, I wouldn't come.   And you know why I keep crying.

And why I'm very friendly and very nice to everyone.  Even though so many beagle people aren't smart enough to realize how special field beagles can be.

I also have a very hard time being around anyone who doesn't train with love.

So when see me crying, I'm crying because I wanted to meet Julie but I was scared to.

I'm also very brave when I see people who train with love.  So please Mildred, I need Sam to sit with me tomorrow.  And please come to the camera to help me honor Julie.  And let's laugh and be friends.

I wish I was as brave as Joseph.  But I'm not very brave.

One of the many reasons I back the blue -- and those firefighters.

For the first time since the drunk driver hit the house I was able to sleep with my dogs in my bed.  You see, I woke up that night, looked down the stairs, and then yelled:

"Rich, there's a truck in the house."

Then:

"When I get through with you, you're going to wish you were dead"

Then:

"Rich, grab the dogs and put them in your room".

Then I ran to the office, dialed 911.

I felt so bad for the first guy on scene as there was no one in the truck.  

He was there in seconds after I dialed, and he was in full cop mode, gun drawn etc.  He next started yelling, "Ms. Weaver, are you okay". 

Then we were swarmed by all the public service people. 

We couldn't find Dulce.  Rich had grabbed Macy, Maggie had dived behind my desk and was in full panic mode. 

I started screaming for Dulce and was hysterical.  One of the firefighters found her and brought her to me upstairs.  She was having a bad dog moment, on the whole opposite side of the house eating on a month's supply of pill poppers.  That box had been sitting there for days and they hadn't touched it.

She's definitely related to Emma, Emma, bad dog.

Our first responders are so good.  Every single first responder in Farmers Branch was in our house that night.  They had to bring me a pair of shoes as there was glass everywhere and back then I didn't keep shoes upstairs.

They evacuated us to the back deck because they were afraid the whole house would come down.

One dear brave fireman got poor Maggie from under my desk.  Though he did wear his fire gloves.  I was afraid they would scare her more and I knew she wouldn't bite him, but he was right, if he bit at her and he automatically reacted, that would scare her too.

She started out scared before I started screaming.  And she was terrified of police lights.

The cops showed us the car of bad guys and they told us to make sure that the damages hit the felony numbers.

The fire chief was scared that house was going to come down and they replaced the broken column with a big jack.  Once they did that, they got the cars out.

For the whole time while the house was being repaired,  our workers saw a police officer at least every 10 minutes, and so did I.

And this is why I love Farmers Branch and I love our cops.

Though it has nothing to do with the fact that my daddy's daddy and his brother were both cops.

My great uncle died in the line of duty, as did one of my best friends in life, Aubrey Hawkins.  We never could get that dear man in a bite suit -- he was afraid he would hurt one of the dogs, and man did he love Aysha.  She'd bit his fingers though!

I'm not going to be Julie Wright.  I'm going to tell the story.