Flea has a new brother, name of MacGregor, as of April 3rd, 2004, also adopted from BREW. This past spring, we found out that Flea never completely recovered from heartworms. While he was hospitalized, I was introduced to another beagle named Herbie who had been abused by his adopter and returned to BREW . At first, Bill and I were prepared to adopt Herbie, but we had to wait until both Herbie and Flea were well. Herbie ended up going to a foster home and, due to an unforseen situation at that home, turned out to be a Godsend to that family. After a month of waiting for Herbie, Bill and I were left empty handed.
Then I saw MacGregor's picture on BREW's website. He needed a foster home, which meant that he was being kept in a veterinarian's kennel until one became available. Having once worked in a veterinary hospital, I knew that it couldn't be a pleasant place for MacGregor to be, even under the best of circumstances. But since no one knew anything about MacGregor and we weren't sure how Flea would react to having him around, we were hesitant to adopt him outright. We have since made him ours.
BREW officials agreed to let us try MacGregor in our home for a few days before we made a commitment to him, so Bill and I agreed to drive up to Bel Air, Maryland, which is about 90 miles from our home in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, to get MacGregor. It was a cold, overcast, April day, and it didn't seem like spring at all. MacGregor was exceedingly shy and didn't seem to want to have anything to do with Bill at first, but he came right up to me for some reason. Maybe it's because I had Flea with me.
Flea was pretty upset that we put MacGregor in the car with us. He sulked the whole way home and growled a few times. But on the whole, he took it better than we thought he would. I sat in the back seat with MacGregor, who kept trying to stick his head out the window and leaned across me most of the way home. We stopped off at the BREW adoption day at the Alexandria PetSmart and picked up a few things and introduced MacGregor to folks who hadn't met him.
At first, we thought that MacGregor was housetrained, but that has turned out to be wishful thinking. He's trashed one of my carpets so much that Bill and I spent Easter morning washing it in the bathtub (also ridding it of Flea's months old dried up pee). MacGregor is painfully shy around people he doesn't know, but he's a bit of a nuisance in the house because he craves attention and affection. He's supposed to be anywhere from a year and a half to two years old, but Bill and I think he's still a puppy. And we also think that he's more bassett hound than beagle. His bark sounds chicken-like! He begs a lot, constantly demands attention by pawing me and jumping on my lap, and insists on waking me up in the morning by climbing on my face.
But-- he's got a sweet personality and Flea has become downright mellow since MacGregor joined our family. It's fun to watch Flea and MacGregor play. MacGregor enjoys playing fetch, and it's tough to resist his cute face. He's awfully adorable when he wants to be. Flea and MacGregor make a handsome pair when I take them on walks.
They also seem to really enjoy hunting together and it seems to be an instinctive skill for them to act as a pair. Flea uses his nose almost exclusively, while MacGregor uses his eyes and his nose. Oftentimes, MacGregor will spot squirrels before Flea will smell them, then Flea will take the lead while MacGregor will follow up in the rear. Of course, as long as they're both on 26 foot leashes, there won't be any squirrel bagging going on. But it's still fascinating to watch them work just the same. Bill was attached to MacGregor within a matter of hours and so was I, even as I was mopping up dog whiz. Hopefully he'll learn his manners quickly and things will be back to a relative state of normalcy around here! But maybe I'm dreaming.
Read about CC, Flea's and MacGregor's biggest beagle big brother who is now frolicking at the Rainbow Bridge.