Beagles: The Beautiful Disaster

I know that today many people are blogging and talking about the brand new year. It has been unspoiled by heartache and frustrations, and is a time of new beginnings. I'm not thinking about the new year right now though. I am thinking about my beagle Daisy Mae.

I heard the term "beautiful disaster" years ago, and I think that it perfectly fits Miss Daisy. She is a sweet little ball of fur. She can look at you with those big, sad eyes and melt your heart. She can curl up against you in the bed and let a huge sigh out of that tiny body and make you feel so happy. Yet there are also times that you hear that high-pitched whine accompanied by the scratching at the door that makes you wish she knew how to use the toilet instead of having to go outside. And then there are the times that she goes outside simply to "sniff the flowers;" a term that I use for when she does absolutely NOTHING!

I don't know if all beagles are like my Daisy, but she is certainly interesting to say the least. I have never had a dog that chewed shoes, yet if you fail to keep your shoes in the entryway, she will roll around, play with the laces and start chewing on them. She will stick her little head into the edges of the couch and find tiny pieces of chips that no one even cares about much less remembers. The chewing, the whining, the bumming for food, and the standing on your shoulders to lick out your ears are things that make Daisy a disaster.

BUT, there are also the times that she lays down on the couch beside you, places her head on your leg and goes to sleep. There are those times that she looks up at you and gives you a little lick on the cheek and lets you know that you have a friend that loves you no matter what.

Just a moment, she needs to go outside again.

Okay, back again. I love the quote by Charles Shulz, "Happiness is a warm puppy." Daisy is a hound through and through. At night, she'll push me over in bed so that she can curl up at my back and watch the door. There are the times like today when I am sick, and she comes back downstairs to see if I'm okay. I hear the unmistakable thump, thump, thump of her running down the stairs, and then she seems to fly from the doorway to my bed and she sniffs me all over to see why I'm still in bed.

I am a hound person, and I dare say that I am now a beagle person. Despite the annoyance and frustration, despite the disaster that is beagle-dom, the warmth and love of Daisy is all that I could ask for. She is a good dog, and good dogs show perfect love; they love you no matter what, and always want you to be happy. If more of us were like good dogs, we would see a real difference in this world. If we all loved each other no matter what and put the happiness of others above that of ourselves, what a world we would see!

No, we won't always do it right. We may very well turn it into disaster, but like the beagle, we need to shake ourselves and try again to make people smile. Daisy is a little clown, but I love her.