Read about Flea's little brother, MacGregor.

Naturally, after Bill and I lost CC on October 10th, we were devastated. We moved out of our apartment in Fredericksburg and into post housing at Fort Belvoir. I kept watching other people walk their dogs and remembered how much CC enjoyed taking walks. I watched all of the squirrels and groundhogs run around our yard and thought about how much CC would have loved chasing those little animals. And it seemed so quiet in the daytime with me here by myself. I begged Bill for another dog. He agreed that he missed the pleasure of canine company. Once again, we consulted the BREW website to look for likely candidates.

Truthfully, I already had a few dogs in mind. One dog stood out, however, just as CC had stood out when we chose him. On page 9, there was a picture of a beagle named Flea. There wasn't a whole lot of information provided about him, other than he hadn't been neutered and he enjoyed running around in his yard with a couple of other dogs. There was something about the Flea's face that made me want to meet him. Bill and I submitted another application to adopt from BREW and quickly got the response that we didn't need to apply for a dog since we were already approved. Bill contacted Flea's foster mom, who lived down in Richmond. We made a date to see Flea on November 8, 2003, almost a week later.

Bill commented that Flea's foster mom was gushing about him. She said he was the greatest dog. She thought he was a purebred beagle, maybe someone's hunting dog, who had gotten lost one day. Then she said the pictures didn't do him justice. And she added that Flea was a beautiful dog, but warned that he wasn't housetrained yet.

When we got to Richmond that Saturday night, I brought some treats for Flea. They were left over from CC's final days. I figured that if Flea didn't work out, at least we could use up some of these treats. Flea's foster mom told us more about Flea's history. She told us she had found him on the side of the road back in July trying to flag down cars. She has a habit of carrying dogfood in the car with her so she can pick up strays and find homes for them. She said that Flea had been scrawny and flea and tick infested, but delighted to be with a human. He had jumped in her car willingly and fell asleep in the back. Later, Flea was treated for heartworms and Lyme disease. Bill and I are hoping he's clear of both.

Flea's foster mom didn't lie. He is a beautiful dog. He's about fifteen inches tall and weighs about twenty-five pounds. Although he loves to run and play, he's very gentle as well. There was a nine month old baby in the house and Flea was so sweet. Bill and I could tell he liked kids. He never showed the slightest inkling of fear or aggression toward that child. We took Flea for a walk and he had a great time. We decided to adopt him.

It seemed like Flea's family was ambivalent about letting him go. In fact, his foster mom said that if she didn't already have two dogs, two cats, a baby, and three jobs, she would have kept him. But she said he deserved to have someone's undivided attention. He's certainly getting that in our house. After a teary goodbye, we started the drive back to Belvoir. And then I noticed that there was a lunar eclipse going on... It was a very clear night and I was able to watch the whole thing as Flea slept in the backseat. It seemed surreal. CC died on the night of the Hunter's Moon and we were bringing Flea home on the night of the Beaver's Moon during a lunar eclipse. And CC was such a special dog with almost a supernatural aura. I felt like he had sent Flea to us-- it was like the eclipse was a sign.

A few days later, Bill called the vet hospital to check on CC's test results, which remain incomplete. While he was on hold, the song "Fields of Gold" came on. Bill got choked up. He said, "The first time I heard that song, it sounded like paradise to me. We lost CC at that hospital. It seems like CC just sent us a message, telling us he's okay."

I think CC is waiting for us at the Bridge and Flea is here in his stead. We don't need him as much at Belvoir, so he was free to go home to God. But I also think he's an angel looking out for us. Last night, a big heavy tree that had been hanging over our house fell. It literally came down right in front of my car and about three feet to the right of the house. When it fell, Bill and I were on the other end of the house. No one was outside because it was late at night and no one was in the kitchen. If it had fallen any other way, I would have either lost my car or the kitchen would have been destroyed. The tree only knocked down a power line. Bill and I never even lost our lights. Someone was definitely looking out for us.

Flea is so cute. He doesn't chew rawhides like CC did. Instead, he uses them as back scratchers. Bill and I wish he would learn to like rawhides so that he might clean his teeth. He has breath that would knock buzzards off of shitheaps. He lies on the furniture and relishes curling up between Bill and me and snoring loudly enough to wake the dead. CC never got on the furniture (unless we were out) and never dared try to sleep in the bed with us. He didn't snore. CC needed weekly baths and shed constantly. Flea won't need much bathing and hardly sheds at all.

Flea doesn't have to sniff every single tree like CC did, but he does have a much stronger hunting instinct. He barks, bays, and howls whenever he sees or smells small game or strangers. If we thought CC had separation anxiety, Flea has him beat two or three times over. Flea's main motivator is not food, which is very un-beaglelike of him. Instead, he wants to be loved and given a lot of affection. CC would do anything for a table scrap. He liked a kiss and a pat on the head, too, but he preferred morsels over smooches.

Flea is definitely a different beagle. He's confident and outgoing while CC was shy. He's clingy while CC was a loner. While Flea doesn't have those blue eyes CC had, he does have warm, expressive brown eyes. His body is strong and solid--ripped, actually, with muscles. He looks like a little beagle body builder. CC acted like an intellectual-- a gentleman scholar, if you will. If CC had been human, he probably would have read a lot of books and been a fan of brandy. Flea acts like a sportsman, complete with peeing in the house whenever he feels like it. Flea has yet to learn his manners. He's smart, but his intelligence is more the street smart type. I picture him drinking beer and watching shows about hunting and fishing on TV. All he seems to care about is hunting.

We hope to find Flea a girlfriend soon... really, we do. This time, we can actually get him a girlfriend because we're in a house and not in a shitty apartment that charges outrageous pet fees. We just hope that Flea stays healthy. I don't know if Bill and I can take losing another dog the way we lost our beloved CC. But something tells me that if Flea can survive the elements the way he did as well as heartworms, Lyme disease, and the treatment for heartworms, we may be in for the pleasure of Flea's company for a long, long time.

Flea is proving to be a challenge to housetrain... I just picked up the book pictured below-- so far, it's pretty good! There's a heavy emphasis on holistic cures and understanding doggie behavior, as well as telepathic communication-- stuff I find fascinating. Check it out!

Here's a good book to have around if you have dogs!