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Chance, Trooper, Hopper and Crimson

I’m a volunteer with beagle rescue, an occasional foster parent and adopter of 4 beagles. Chance, Trooper, Hopper and Crimson are my life and my passion. Although you can see us all at www.hanoverbeaglepatrol.com I wanted to tell you about Hopper and Crimson my 2 former fosters that I just had to keep.
Having been a outside dog all of his life Hopper had many challenges. The ringing telephone, the dishwasher, alarm clocks, even the television scared him into a panic I’ve never seen before. Every time I tried to turn the television on he would run outside or hide in the bed upstairs. I felt so bad I went without television for 10 days.

Hopper and Trooper started playing together in the backyard almost from the start. And we slowly got him used to all the household sounds. For four months I took him to the BREW adoption days. Barely any interest at all. Seems as though folks preferred lemon in their tea and not in their beagles. By the fifth adoption day (or the fifth month) I was getting pressured to make him part of the pack. I made a deal, if he got through adoption day then he could come home forever. We arrived at adoption day shortly after noon, one o’clock, two o’clock…no takers. By three o’clock I knew I was going home with another beagle. About 3:30 I pulled the pre-made check from my wallet and signed the paperwork. The house would never be the same again.

He’s really grown in the past 2 years, but we still have some issues. Hopper will no go in the basement, the doorbell still freaks him out and he cries very loud if dad leaves the house and doesn’t take him too. But he is the most loyal of the group and no matter which room I’m in (except the basement) Hopper will be curled up at my side.

A few months after my eldest beagle Max passed I wanted to foster again. I had the room, was used to four or five dogs, and need the training experience to help me get over Max.

Enter Crimson, a smallish girl, with a fiery personality that doesn’t match her looks. That first weekend was an experience. She didn’t want the boys getting close to her at all! When Chance went nose to nose with her in the kitchen she put on her best beagle martial arts imitation and put a world of hurt on that dog! My refrigerator looked like a prop from CSI, blood splatters everywhere. Crimson had put a huge gash in Chance’s ear. Then came the escapes, tunneling under the fence, running out the door, you name it, she found the way.

It was only a week until her first adoption day experience…but it didn’t matter. Right from the start she decided any dog within 2 feet of her comfort zone was dead meat. Every few minutes an unsuspecting victim would walk too near and Crimson the Terrible sprung into action. We barely made it through an hour when I decided to call it quits. A real shame too because she loved all the attention the humans gave her, just could have been much better with the dogs.

Between the first and second adoption days Crimson started to take a liking to Hopper. There was a comfort level there that she didn’t have with Trooper or Chance. Many times I found them curled up together on the bed or the couch. And it got to the point where she would only go outside if Hopper went too. So now I’ll be safe taking her to the next adoption day…WRONG! Once again she fell in love with every human that came in contact, but fought with every dog too. This time we made it through an hour and a half before things really got out of hand and we left for home.

By month four she still couldn’t stand any other dog, still worshipped Hopper, and was beginning to at least tolerate Trooper. Since it was obvious she would have to go to an “only dog” home along with some other minor issues. I decided to petition BREW to keep her as my fourth adopted.

Now that Crimson is a permanent member of the pack she’s slowly starting to come around. We still have to avoid other dogs at the park and the pet store, but at least Trooper is now allowed to jump up on the big bed without being ambushed. And FINALLY Chance is fairly safe!

Here’s a picture of the happy couple Hopper (the lemon beagle) and Crimson. And Mark, your book is fantastic as well as your radio program!! God Bless you and your family.

Kevin from PA

chance, hopper