Yesterday was just another day, did the work thing, got to babysit my niece in the afternoon and in the early evening, my brother and sister-in-law came to take her home. When they got back to Monroe they took their beagles, Wally and Shiloh for a walk with the baby in her stroller. Just your run of the mill walk that many families take together. This one ended with a ugly twist.
Not five doors down, the beagles started to howl. My brother turned in time to see a St. Bernard leap its fence and make a bee line for them. While sis turned the stroller away from the attack, the beagles took their positions to fend off the attacker and protect the baby. Before anything could be done, the dog had Shiloh by the back then neck, lifted off the ground.
Before my brother could react, this dog was violently whipping the beagle back and forth. Finally after a good whack on the snout of the St. Bernard, Shiloh was released. Before another attack could be carried out, a nearby neighbor of the owners, who had heard the frantic yelps came out and called the dog off. The damage had been done. She suffered a fracture in her fourth vertebrae.
Today, I spent the day up on 15 Mile Road at a veterinary hospital in Farmington Hills. With the news that was received today from the local vet in the morning, we pretty much feared the worst. Besides the apparent fracture, there seemed to be a piece of the disk floating around that could cause paralysis. Shiloh will have another check-up in 10 days or so, and she has been put on crate rest. That’s bed rest to the rest of us.
I have to admit, I figured this dog for a knucklehead. Although both loving and having the saddest looking brown eyes, this dog just never seemed to learn her lessons. The days she would come over, and end up baying in the field would drive me nuts. Its one thing to kick up a rabbit as a result, its just what beagles do, but the goofy dog always seemed to go the wrong way. I swear, if the tracks went one way, Shiloh always ended up going in the opposite direction.
On the way home from the hospital, I thought of a poem by Kipling, in which a movie had been made back in the late 1930’s, Gunga Din. Here is just the last verse:
Din! Din! Din!
You Lazurushian-leather Gunga Din!
Tho’ I’ve belted you an’ flayed you
By the livin’ Gawd that made you
You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!
If you are not familiar with the poem, nor the movie, its all about a water boy serving British soldiers in India in the 1800’s. Saying that the character was mistake prone would be an understatement. At the end, when things looked darkest, there was Gunga Din in his shining moment.
I’ve always known that beagles were wonderful animals, and devoted to their owners. Rated one of the best breeds for their gentleness with children, you can add one more characteristic to the list. We are all thankful that she was there and Wally too, if not there is no telling what might have happend to my niece and god-daughter, my brother’s daughter, and my father’s only grandchild.
That’s Shiloh, right above in the bottom left corner, wearing the red collar. I couldn’t find the pics separately, so this is a collage I had made up before.