The Story of a Dog

 There is a trail of beagle paw prints across my freshly mopped, still very wet kitchen floor. Woo Hoo! And the best part of it is, they are coming from the outside to the inside of the house. And why, you may ask, is this such good news? Has she flipped her lid? Did she forget how much sweat went into getting that floor clean? Well, I will tell ya! Just 4 days ago that little beagle struggled to get the energy to go outside to do what dogs do outside. But he's the kind of dog who won't do it inside-at all. nope. not happening. But once he got outside, he could not make it back into the house. Day or night he would lay on the ground and wait for me to go out, pick him up, and carry him in. And for the last 2 days he has made it on his own! The vet didn't know what infection knocked him for this loop. He had a temperature of 104 and his weight was down 6 pounds. But the antibiotics are working, temp is normal and he has gained 2 pounds already! I call that a miracle and this dog has been a miracle to us since day one:

Kindly rewind to December 2006-

 When the annual "What do you want for Christmas" question was presented to DS number 3, we weren't really surprised with his reply. "Does it make me a bad person if I want another dog?" See, DS's former dog had darted out the door and met his demise on the highway a few months earlier and DS was still grieving. After we assured him that getting another dog wasn't disrespectful to the first dog's memory, DH and DS went to the local shelter to pick out a dog.
 And once he layed eyes on Chase, there was no other dog going to do. But Chase had a collar and a tag(with the name and phone number) so DS would have to wait a few days to see if the owner picked him up.
 Those were an anxious few days! DS talked non-stop about the cute puppy at the shelter, how shy he was, how he didn't jump on ya, how sad his eyes were.... And after the waiting period, DH and DS  got to bring him home. The owner denied ever owning him! And now I know it's no wonder. The next day at the vet we learned that Chase was not a small puppy. He was a severely undernourished 6 year-old dog, full of round worms and heartworms, with a mouthful of rotten teeth, and not much hope for survival of any treatment. The vet recommended we return him to the shelter and get our money back.
 Well, no. Just no. We proceeded with a long term treatment plan. We nursed him through one procedure at a time. And we fell in love with the best darn beagle in the whole world. DS kept the name on his tag and (after he had recovered from all the illness) taught him some tricks.
 Last year DS moved out on his own. But he didn't want Chase to go through the anxiety of a new location so he left him here with us. But Chase knows DS's sound on the highway and he loudly proclaims when DS is coming for a visit!

Chase-the Wonder Beagle!

 And now you know why I am blessed to have paw prints on my clean floor!