January 5th, 2011
Those of you who read Earnest Talks know about Shorty and his health issues. Freddie, our other Beagle, came first, though. He was born on December 1, 2003. Gayle found him at Beagle Rescue on-line in November 2004. We drove to Oklahoma City to pick him up on New Year’s Eve of that same year. Little did we know the lessons he was about to teach us.
Freddie is a sweet, loving, smart little half Beagle and half Corgie who looks like a Beagle. Unfortunately for him he was born into a family that raised and showed Corgies, not Beagles. We believe that he probably didn’t get a great deal of human attention in his first year of life. He was immediately afraid of us when we met him in a service station parking lot that day. He cowered under Gayle’s legs in the car all of the way back home. He met one of our friends and our two other dogs at the end of our driveway that first night. He snapped at both dogs and wanted no part of David.
The next few months were an exercise in patience (or lack thereof) for both Gayle and me. Freddie was frightened of almost everything. When we let him out into the back yard he might not come back inside for days. One night I found myself chasing him around the back yard, in the dark, trying to force him into the house (and you could say I was not still in my work clothes.) I’ve been around Beagles all my life. I’ve never been able to chase and catch one. That night was no exception but in my anger and frustration I tried anyway.
Many times we were ready to take him back to Oklahoma City. Ultimately we didn’t because we couldn’t. We were already in love with his innate sweetness and intelligence.
We slowly became more patient. We loved him when we could and let him be when that was what he wanted. He spent a lot time in the corner of the living room behind my recliner. Back then we had group therapy every Wednesday night in our living room. We asked the members of the group if they would allow Freddie to join. They agreed and he began a year long stint in therapy. In the early days he attended in his crate, but over time he slowly became acclimated to humans. We also used techniques we were learning from the Dog Whisperer TV show and slowly but surely were able to win his trust. He still is a bit human shy when you first meet him, but he has become a much loved member of our family. The grandkids love him too. You should see him eat Cheerios from between our 3 year old grandson’s toes!
So what did we learn? Don’t hurry relationships. Practice consistency and patience. Don’t allow frustration to overshadow the good points of a relationship. In our lives, when we meet and fall in love with someone we often want to dive right into the relationship. Like Freddie, the harder we chase the more frustrated we get and the farther we may push the relationship away from us. It’s like chasing a Beagle. We want to catch that relationship so badly we totally forget all we’ve learned in life. Relationships aren’t Beagles but they sure can seem like one when we are chasing them.
