Gaye Hennessy's Page

I have 2 beagles, Murphy and McGuire. Murphy is very pretty and he certainly knows it. McGuire on the other hand is all boy. They are quite a pair. They are both very spoiled rotten and they know how to work those cute little faces to get what they want. I never thought I would own a beagle. They were never top on my list of dogs, but when my youngest daughter still lived at home, she was always asking for her own puppy. One day when I was doing a job in Louisiana, I just happened to stop in at the animal shelter and there was Nick. He was a little 6 month old beagle and he had the most interesting personality of all the dogs there. So Nick went to the hotel with me. My co-worker and I snuck him up the back stairs (we had the wink from the front desk manager that we knew) and I spent my first night with him snuggled under my chin. OK by that time I was pretty well hooked. Over the next year he would get up and have coffee with me in the mornings before work and was always there to greet me in the evenings when I can home. When my daughter moved out I was shocked at how much I missed his silly little personality traits.

At the time we had a boxer mix named Maggie that was one of the sweetest dogs ever know to mankind. My husband was of course totally against the idea of a second dog. I was determined to replace my little morning coffee time friend. So I went off to find my own little beagle. I drove about 50 miles outside of Houston, Tx to a little town and picked out this tiny little thing with the most beautiful eyes. All the way home he slept in my lap and he was just about the cutest thing I had ever seen. What a face these guys have. Murphy was supposed to be a 13 inch beagle, but he must have a glandular problem because he just kept growing. I have never had a dog work his way into my heart like this little guy. He continued to be a lap dog until we got our new guy McGuire and McGuire took his place in my lap. Now don't think for a minute that just because McGuire was in my lap that Murphy did not get up there too. For a while I would have to hold both of them in my lap that was loads of fun, because as I stated earlier, Murphy is not a little guy. But Murphy really needs to be the only one in his space so after a while he just gave up and let McGuire have the lap.

Our boxer mix Maggie passed away about a year and a half ago and that is when we got McGuire. Now here is a dog with a whole different outlook on life. Unlike Murphy he came from a breeder that actually runs packs and he is a little hunter all the way. Murphy will do a little quiet bark when he hears something, but McGuire has no quiet setting on him. He might be one of the funniest little dogs I have ever known. He keeps us in constant laughter. He is one of these dogs who seems to think nothing should ever be moved and if it is moved then it somehow becomes an evil being from outer space or something.

Well as you can probably tell by now I am absolutely hooked on these silly little dogs. I can't wait to get home everyday just to see their happy little faces. You would think I had been gone for weeks; of course I get the same reaction when I come back from the mail box. How do people live without a dog? I get so much pleasure from them and I can't imagine a day without smiling over something they do.

I hope everyone gets as much joy as I do from the beagles in their lives.