Maggie is a mess … but she isn’t NEAR as much a mess as she was.
She’s a rescue (wish you could hear me say it the way I say it), think pathetic… She came with two trunks of baggage, and I have to say, I’m down to half a trunk. It’s taken a huge amount of work.
She was free to a good home, found on a chain with no house. Then accidently had a little of beagle puppies. We have no idea how old she is, but we got her the Friday before September 11th.
I often introduce her as the bad beagle, especially when we are lining up for an agility run, so people understand that she doesn’t behave.
When I first got her, when you came into the house, she would bellow until you left. I accidently found out, that if people went to the downstairs bathroom and flushed the toilet, she would settle down. For about a year, I had to have people do that. She now bellows a few times, then settles down. Bellowing is not a bad thing — it keeps burglars way. They hate small, loud dog.
She used to rush up to every dog bigger than her and bellow in their faces. She would also snap at any dog smaller than her (or the same size). I can’t stand dogs that don’t behave around other dogs. It’s one of my pet peeves.
She will still bellow at other dogs but she doesn’t snap very often any more. Snapping and biting really isn’t a problem because her teeth don’t meet. She bit me several times when I first got her. It’s a wonder she can eat, she’s both undershoot and wry. Her canines go in two different directions.
When I first got her, she was afraid of police cars. A big problem, since we live on a large busy straight, and on any given weekend the cops will pull over 5 or 6 days in front of house. Until last February, she was deathly afraid of cameras. She now bellows at them when I forget to give her a treat for taking her picture.
She is still deathly afraid of thunderstorms. Right now, I’m using Zanac to help that. I can at least sleep peacefully when she is on it and there is a thunderstorm.
She does try very hard. However, when I start with a new behavior, she yells at me in 4 letter beagle words. She even does that in agility class, and sometimes during runs. Usually when she is confused. She is getting better though. Sometimes when I get frusterated that the yelling my husband has to remind me — he will tell me that she really is trying hard. And she does!
I think in the last few months she’s finally learning that this is her forever home. I also think she trusts more. The best part, is that she is running full courses and doing what I want, most of the time. I can’t rely on her saving my rear when I make a mistake yet, like Marcie does, but I think it will come.
I’ve always felt sorry for her, but lately I’m starting to really like her.