Member-only story
He Was Just So Stoopid
The Beagle who took over our home, lives, and every detail of our existence.
Perry was one of a kind. From his first minutes with us he took over the daily narrative. My husband wanted a Beagle puppy for his 50th birthday. We had seen an irresistible Beagle pup at an antique store in Perry, Iowa on a road trip. We researched breeders and found a reputable kennel near San Diego, California, and made an appointment. We went when the litter was ready for adoption, and as luck would have it, we were the first to be able to select from this litter of fat, lumbering puppies. We knew one of them would be ours.
When the door opened, and they came waddling in, most went directly under a couch seat or into a far corner, but not Perry. He came waddling right over to my husband, Rick, and sniffed and looked up with those soulful Beagle eyes and I knew it was all over. The selection was made, not by us, but by Perry himself.
So home he came, and into our routine. He was with us every moment of every day and every night. We owned our own small business, so he was there with Rick all day while I was teaching school, and he went with us in the car everywhere and anywhere we went. He was endlessly curious, and you could not say the word “GO” without him getting so excited it was hard to calm him down. He loved a road trip, be it an hour or days long journey.
