Beagle

There she is, our little bundle of filth, digging up a planter on the patio. She's just so goddamn precious that I sing old spirituals while wiping up her muddy paw prints.
Miss Kitty and I were walking down to the hardware store the other day to buy a socket wrench set (we were installing a new stereo into MK's car) and we passed a young woman walking a beagle puppy. I asked if he was a puppy, and the YW said yes, and then MK asked how old he was. Suffice it to say that it's one big small world when two people living on the southside of Pgh bought puppies from the same breeder in Chewton. Bela's brother, Sebastian, is a sweetie and cute as a button, but not nearly as cute as Bela. She's nearly beagle perfection, except for the biting, the dirt, and eating dead baby birds she finds on the street.

Bela

For those who wish to see pictures of Bela, our beagle pup, here you go. It was a rainy day and I was outside smoking. She looks forlorn, don't she? Well, she's only got herself to blame because I've offered her cigarettes before and she's always turned up her nose at them.
Bela's doing really well. I had her at the vet yesterday and she's had her rabies shot and got a glowing, glimmering, all shiny bill of health and development. She's a glorious example of beagledom! We're training her per the monks of Skete method, which is a tad harsh, but she's responding to it, so who am I to argue with monks? German monks, at that. Miss Kitty bought a book...and the rest is history...

Bela Update. Redux

As Miss Kitty says, we're living the lesbian dream. Little Bela is thriving, I had her at the vet again yesterday for her first round of shots. The vet is a curious person, one of those people who showers love on animals and is shy and odd beyond belief with people. To say that he loves Bela doesn't really convey how disturbing he behaves with her. He cuddles her, kisses her, tells her over and over that he loves her while showering more kisses (and peeing while showering for all I know now that there are the trim-line Depends). I mean, I'm glad that he likes Bela, but dude, being a puppy perv is creepy.
So, anyway, the entire vet's office thought that Bela should be shown competitively. Yeah, we're going to subject her to that inanity. Sure, I watch the Westminster dog show every year, but I don't want to be a dweeb in neutral permanent press handling a dog that would rather be rolling in recent roadkill.

Beagle Update

Bela is hearty and hale, I don't want to jinx us by saying that she's thriving, but she's thriving, plus she likes her new food! It's only the third one we tried, so I'm glad that we didn't have to sink even more money into puppy chow that she'd actually chow, and that wouldn't give her diarrhea. She did have a bad bout of the runs after eating a bowl of the cat's food.
BTW, the cat hates Bela. But Whitey is all meow and no cattle. His declawed paws of fury are no match for Bela's idiot savant exuberance. I'd say more, but it's hard to follow up a sentence like that.

Bela

Bela's eyes are wide open, and sadly, mine are not. But this isn't about me, it's about a puppy. A wee beagle puppy that Miss Kitty picked out of a litter of eight who will soon come home with us. I think we are picking her up on April 12, when Bela will be eight & 1/2 weeks old. She was born Feb 13 to a mother who had been knocked up by a fellow beagle while supposedly hunting rabbits. Oh, you crazy kids!
Edit: The breeder called this morning and instructed a desire for me to pick Bela up this week. She's placed an ad for the puppies in the local newspaper and doesn't want any mix up where Bela got sold to another owner.