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  <title><![CDATA[The Christmas spirit visited on little beagle paws]]></title>
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    <article id="18627">
      <title><![CDATA[The Christmas spirit visited on little beagle paws]]></title>
      <author><![CDATA[Champion Beagle Staff]]></author>
      <attribution source="Newsleader"><![CDATA[http://www.newsleader.com/article/20111225/NEWS01/112250327]]></attribution>
      <createdate unixtime="1325763112" delta="19 weeks ago"><![CDATA[1/5/2012]]></createdate>
      <image><![CDATA[gwa556444.jpg]]></image>
      <lead><![CDATA[I looked outside my bedroom window Friday morning and saw Christmas. It wasn't decked out in holiday colors, and it wasn't wearing a bell, although you could argue that dog tags have a certain jingle-jingle. It was a pair of beagles that came to live with us my Labrador, Wrigs; two cats; and me about two months ago. They brought Christmas with them.]]></lead>
      <text><![CDATA[I always knew one day I'd adopt another dog. After Cammie, my best friend and chocolate Lab, died in the summer of 2010, I figured it would be an older dog, possibly a special-needs pup. And, of course, it would be a retriever.I was partly right.My first mistake was believing I was a Labrador kind of person. So when the photos of Misty and Precious captured my attention, I was as surprised as anyone. They were guests of the new government-run pound in Lyndhurst.Since the Augusta Regional SPCA and the three localities found no common ground this summer to continue their contractual agreement, Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County leaders voted to open the Shenandoah Valley Animal Services Center. So all the dogs, cats and other domesticated animals picked up by animal control officers would end up in a hastily refurbished kennel, and it wouldn't take long before they would be euthanized.Not a pretty picture. Very fortunately, though, area animal rights advocates and adoption organizations pulled together and the future was looking a bit brighter for the pound puppies and cats. Misty and Precious, however, were older. Misty was 14 and Precious, at least 7. The photos on the Friends of the Augusta Pound's Facebook page belied the descriptions from the staff. Both looked downtrodden, although there was a determined gleam in the young one's eye.I kept going back to the photos.How long would they last, I wondered? How can I look at these photos knowing what is most likely to happen to them?Now, I'm not so naive as to think that euthanasia only happens to the dogs and cats we don't know about. It happens every day. It happens too often. A veterinarian somewhere is paid to mercifully put good dogs and cats to death  because there's no more room at the pound.And all the begging, pleading and advocating in the world cannot keep up with the fast pace of reproducing domestic animals in a world where spaying and neutering pets is not the norm.I clicked on the Precious picture one more time. Then I called. Then I left the office to drive out to see them.We all knew it was all over by then, of course. I tried to warn Wrigley. She just wagged her tail and grinned. By the afternoon of Nov. 4, I drove to Lyndhurst with two tiny dog collars, slipped them around two dogs' necks and gave up my heart  and a good part of my income.In the first minute of the drive away from the pound, Precious, renamed Polly, opened the back window with her paw and tried to escape.In the first hour, she did escape, running like mad around the side of the vet's office while I ran behind her screaming.In the first afternoon, Misty, renamed Missy, also made a getaway, reinforcing the idea that, 1) beagles follow their nose wherever it leads, and 2) 14-year-old dogs cannot hear.Then Christmas was on the horizon, sadly not my favorite time of year. The stress, the obligations, the cold  the expectation of joy seems so overrated. And now, here I would be, still integrating two new old dogs into our lives.And then, as it happens, with each waking, sniffy morning and with each comfortable, snuffly snore of an old dog becoming accustomed to warmth and a soft bed, I am feeling Christmas like I've never felt before.It is not about saving anyone, by the way, unless you're counting me. I wonder, too, why, if I could choose any kind of pet, I picked two old beagles. I could have had a sweet one with puppy breath or a handsome large young dog. They'd offer me more time, less care.But as I get to know them, it comes a little clearer to me.Missy can hardly hear, and if the living room lamp isn't on, she has trouble finding me. (She can still, however, see a cat at 100 paces.) She is being treated for a skin problem that requires a lot of medicine and special baths. She smells funny.And while Missy is a purebred beagle, Polly is a mixed breed, the vet says, though we aren't sure with what. Sometimes I'm certain her other half of her is the devil himself. She's playful and rambunctious, won't go outside in the rain and she pouts when she's in trouble. She's missing an eye, so if anyone suddenly approaches from the wrong side, prepare for the wrath of Polly.And if I expected either of these pups to display extraordinary gratitude, I'd be disappointed.It has taken several weeks to find a workable system for meals. The little ones both have crates of their own, while Wrigley, also known as the best dog in the world, for the most part respects their space.And two months in, I'm amazed when I watch Old Missy make the painful hop onto the couch and stretch out into a comfortable sleep. For the first three weeks, she only slept curled into a ball, out of self-defense, I suppose.And I'm loving Polly's mischievous side. When she realized there would be a treat for good dogs who go out and come in as expected, she learned to race into her crate, plop down with a grin and wag her tail at me. And when she sees me eating anything, she whines. When that doesn't work, she stands on her back legs and begs.That doesn't work either, but it sure is cute.So how is this my Christmas? When I stand up and my knees hurt, I watch an old dog stretch and limp, but get up anyway. When I reach for my reading glasses to read a recipe, I see a one-eyed pup notice whether I'm standing anywhere near the treat bag. When I worry about tomorrow, I see two dogs whose circumstances have changed greatly, in spite of the odds.On Friday morning, I looked out my bedroom window to see two beagles sniffing like mad over the still-damp lawn. Tails wagged, dog tags jingled and after a while, they both sat and, though I didn't hear them, I'm certain they happily sighed.They were home, just in time for Christmas.Sometimes those who "save" old pets are just in need of a little rescue themselves. It's not just my Christmas that's better because of Polly and Missy. It's the rest of our lives.]]></text>
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