Maximus the Beagle Blog

Thinking back about Gracie

I had a kind DogInfoSecrets newsletter reader email me about her 14 year old Aussie/Blue Healer mix today. Her dog has lost her hearing, but is now learning sign language. Teaching her “old dog new tricks” and I think that’s great.

Her dog got me to thinking about our last dog, so I thought I would share a little about about how we lost Gracie - guess I’m still grieving a bit.

Our last dog, Gracie, was an Aussie/Blue Healer mix. She was a great, smart, fun, beautiful dog. I still think about her often, even after we lost her a year and a half ago - she was 10.

In mid December of last year we noticed she seemed to slow down quite a but and wasn’t eating as much as usual. After the first of the year we took her to the vet. They said she was lucky to still be alive. They could feel a tumor in her stomach area that was probably bleeding internally and the oxygen count in her blood was so low they thought they would have to give her a blood transfusion to keep her alive.

They said there was really no solution or hope for her and she could go at any time. So we brought her home so we could say our goodbye. I thought it would be nice for her to just go at home, but didn’t really want the kids to find her. After about a week as I watched her have to work so hard to do anything, and with her not being able to get upstairs to sleep in our room, where she always slept, I decided it was time.

So, we took her back to the vet and were with her as she passed away. It’s amazing, after a year and a half I still get a little emotional thinking about it again. She was a great dog.

I hope you take some time to enjoy your dog today. You know they’ll love it if you spend a little extra time playing with them. And, I hate to say it but you don’t know how much longer they’ll be around.

Mike

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My name is Mike Gates and I have had dogs all of my life. As far as I am concerned there is no greater pet than the family dog.

I can remember every one of the dogs that were a part of my life - their names, what they looked like and how much fun I had with them. Each one of them were a big part of our family.

I like to think that God loves dogs too, and I will get to play with my dogs in heaven some day

I will be sharing some dog advice and some personal stories on this blog. Feel free to share your comments and let us know more about you and your dog.

First let me clarify something - I am not a veterinarian, dog trainer, or dog specialist. I call myself a dog enthusiast and have done a lot of reading and research on dog related issues.

I will try to answer your questions, but the ultimate authority on your dog needs to be you and your vet.

Well, I guess I need to introduce you to our current dog, and family member Maximus. We call him “Max” most of the time.

Max is a pure bred Beagle. Now, my wife and I would never have bought a pure bred Beagle, and we would have never chosen a Beagle for the family pet.

So how did Max come to us and become a part of our family?

Our beloved dog, Gracie, died in January of 2006. She was an Australian Shepard and Blue Healer mix. She was a great dog and we lost her quite unexpectedly and quickly. We had her for 10 years and she was a big part of our family.

About a month after Gracie died, my oldest daughter called and asked if we were ready for another dog? I asked her why and she said they bought a Beagle pup, but after having him for a month, they realized it had been a mistake. The pup was not worse than any other pup, but they had a 6 month old baby and lived in an apartment with a little unfenced backyard. It was not a good environment for a very active puppy.

I told her no, we were just not ready for another dog, and a Beagle was not the type of dog we were interested in having as our pet. So, the pup went to my second oldest daughter, who did have a fenced yard.

About six months later, my daughter who had Max, had to move from the house she and her friends were renting. The only housing she could afford was renting with a couple of roommates in a townhouse were dogs were not allowed.

My daughter called and asked us if we could take Max. She had asked around, and the only person who may have been interested was a young male acquaintance, who we knew. We knew this young man would not be a good dog owner and would have little time for Max.

I was open to giving Max a try, but my wife did not want a Beagle. I convinced her to take Max on a trial basis, for a month to see if he would fit in with the family - we still had two young ones at home, a 7 year old and a 4 year old.

So, we took Max in. The first weekend he was with us, he chewed up wires to our home theater system, he chewed the legs on our end table and other furniture - he and was just too destructive.

I called my daughter the following Monday and told her about his destructive behavior, and let her know that things were not working out well. She was surprised that he was that destructive, and asked us to give him more time to adjust.

We agreed to give him more time. We made some changes to ensure Max was not left unattended, and we made sure we played with him more.

We also started reading up on Beagles. Understanding Beagles better was the turning point in our relationship with Max. We started to understand why he did some of the things he did. We learned there were some things we could do to help Max fit in and become a great family pet. We learned that Beagles are really a pretty interesting breed of dog.

So, now here we are almost a year later, we love Max and he is a big part of our family…ooh here we go, Max just got into the bathroom trash and is chewing up a someone’s used Kleenex - that’s Max.

I would love to here about you and your dog - feel free to comment below.

Until next time,
Mike

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