Yeah..

As an adult, my first beagle, Barney, was 6 weeks old.. then we had Torrie and Lucie for 12-14 years - Torrie was 6 weeks when we got her and Lucie was a rescue at 6 months old..

We got Gypsie after we lost Lucie.. Gypsie was the paralyzed Beagle from South Carolina who's now had 4 major surgeries, but is doing well.. She was 4 years old when we adopted her.. We did go through a period where we were getting somewhat screwed over by individual "fosters" working for rescue groups:

We drove 7 hours to Houston to pick up one Beagle, only to find out she needed to be an only dog after attacking Gyspie 2-3 times.. We were cleared to adopt another rescue in Oklahoma, but the foster parents had given the dog to a friend and not reported it to the shelter.. so, we were packed ready to go and then told "Sorry - no dog".. So.... the "friend" returned the dog after a week, so we were, again, ready to adopt.. I just needed to contact the foster to set up a time, so I did.. Rudest person I've ever talked to in my life.. She was supposed to call me back when it was more convenient for her, but I decided I wasn't dealing with her again and never answered her return call.. I emailed the shelter and told them all she had said to me and they were PISSED..

We were cleared to adopt another dog in Atlanta.. the foster was supposed to call us and she did.. Only to tell us they decided they wouldn't adopt the dog out of state.. you don't make the rules, lady - the shelter does.. Another dog in Arkansas got adopted right as we were heading out the driveway.. By the way, it's a prolonged process being cleared to adopt a shelter dog.. You hafta fill out 3 mile long applications and provided 3-4 references. If you clear that you hafta do a phone interview with a shelter rep.. if you pass that you hafta send pics of your house, yards, fences, sleeping arrangements etc.. and get all THOSE passed.. So, its a pain in the ass to be cleared, but then blown off by the moron foster parents on an ego trip..

Anyways, we lost Lucie, got Gypsie, lost Torrie, then FINALLY adopted Mauie from Dallas - she was about 2 when we got her last summer.. She had been attacked by coyotes, but fended them off.. she has a really high squeaky howl and bark because her vocal cords got damaged in the attack.. we also just found out she has Lyme Disease and an auto-immune issue.. Anyways, then we ended up adopting Hatfield from the same rescue place in South Carolina last December - he was about 5.. His snout had been broken in half by somebody and he was wandering the streets bleeding everywhere and couldn't open his mouth to eat or drink.. Luckily a good samaritan picked him up and Noah's Arks rescued him.. He's a total goober, tho.. The Administrator told me, "He's the Burt Reynolds of Beagles!".. but in reality, he's more like the Forrest Gump of Beagles...

L to R" Gypsie, Mauie, Hatfield..

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Friendship is like peeing your pants.. Everybody can see it, but only you can feel the warmth..