Penny's Tale

Lessons from a curious beagle...

About twenty years ago, Donna and I rescued a beagle named Penny. After getting to know a neighbor's beagle, I wanted my own. Penny faced abandonment as her owners moved away.  Our real estate agent heard about this, and we suddenly had a new family member.

Before Penny, I had settled into a "life of least resistance". Like water, I flowed to the easy chair after work. The TV, my phone, and a snack became my buddies. Screens, notifications, doom-scrolling, --- slowly turning into a living room puddle. I thought a dog might help me get off the couch a little more…

Always be moving. Penny had plans too.

Penny had a huge helping of curiosity, especially for new smells. We had a favorite place where Penny could get off leash, run and play, and chase rabbits until she was worn out. Our routine was to circle the big electrical substation near us. They built a large berm around the plant, and it butted against woods on two sides with a creek on the third. Lots of cover for rabbits, hills to climb, and trees for shade. It was beagle heaven. The walks became my daily R and R.

Be tenacious and focused. When she caught a scent, Penny would let out a baying howl that I could hear from half a mile away. She'd run full speed with her nose just an inch above the ground, sometimes swapping her head end for her tail as the rabbit trail doubled back. The hillside was steep, and she'd sometimes lose traction and sideslip down the hill before getting back on the scent. As she got close to the rabbit, it would go for cover in the heavy underbrush. The white tip of Penny's tail wagging at a furious rate was the only thing I could see of her unless she jumped up to get a view over the grasses. The rabbit usually got away. She didn't seem to mind that, she'd come running back when I called her with a big grin on her face.

Sometimes, she didn't realize she was smelling trouble... Her beagle nose, that finely tuned instrument, led her into unexpected encounters—the kind that makes you question the sanity of a dog chasing scents.

Once, she bayed near the creek and went into a stand of trees along the bank. I lost sight of her but could hear her excited barking, so I followed her in. A few yards in, was a mud flat where I saw Penny (actually, just the white tip of her tail) waving like a signal flag in the tall grass.

Curiosity is great, but don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. I stepped up to see that she had cornered the largest alligator-snapping turtle I'd ever seen! About 35 pounds of thoroughly pissed-off evil, with jaws like a bolt cutter. Penny snapped at the turtle, The turtle, unimpressed, popped its head back into its armored shell.

As Penny retreated for a second, the turtle's head snapped out with breathtaking speed and missed removing Penny's nose by a tiny fraction. But Penny wasn’t one to back down. Before I knew it the scene repeated. Luckily, beagles come equipped with a handy-dandy beagle removal handle. I grabbed Penny by the tail and dragged her away, her eyes still fixed on the turtle.  The turtle hissed at us like dinosaurs must have sounded, creepy.

A few minutes can make a day great! It usually took us about twenty minutes to circle the substation, but every day I learned from Penny a bit more about how to stay in the moment and love every minute.

Penny thought that anything with four legs was another dog. So, when a woman riding horseback came down the access road Penny started barking to protect her pack. Penny had never seen a horse before.  Hackles up! The lady paused, her steed studiously ignoring the little beagle dancing and barking a few yards away. I saw an opportunity and asked her if it was all right to approach the horse with Penny. She said, "Sure, give it a try."

Have courage but don't get crazy about it. Horses, at least from Penny's reaction, are scary when you get up close. They get larger and, if you are a sweet-tempered beagle with nothing to do but protect the family, you react by getting frantic. The horse stayed perfectly calm, but we never got closer than about 20 feet from it before she started to freak out. She was full of courage, (Think what your reaction would be if you were confronted with King Kong) but she wasn't crazy enough to let that huge dog get too close.

Learn from the mistakes others have made and do the homework (whether it's for a pet, a home, raising a child, or understanding car maintenance). Penny once came in and sat by me in my home office. She gave me a sad look, as beagles do when they want food or attention. I was preoccupied and ignored her until she suddenly screamed! A short piercing scream as if I had stepped on her tail or something. Then she fell over on her side. She immediately tried to get up but fell over on her other side, whimpering now and in pain. I thought she was having a stroke!

After several anxious hours, we learned Penny had ear troubles. It's a common problem for long-eared dogs but I had never done any research about taking care of beagles. I was ignorant about beagle ears until the emergency vet told me her eardrum had been infected and the pressure made it burst.  That threw off her balance so she couldn't stand.

Look at things your own way. One course of antibiotics later, she was back with us and almost as good as new except for one minor thing. From that day on, she carried her head tilted slightly to one side. This made her look as if she always had a question on the tip of her tongue. 

Live in the moment and love it! Penny lived a long and happy life with us after that. I finally lost her several years ago. She was one of my favorite people in the world. She showed me what loving the moment looked like! Getting off the couch is only the start. Do something that brings you joy every day. Laziness isn’t rest; it’s stagnation. Unplug, reset, and reconnect—because life happens beyond screens.

That's My Perspective.