The Joy of Grace

Ode to Charley Aug 27

An ode, as defined at dictionary.com, is a lyric poem typically of elaborate or irregular metrical form and expressive of exalted or enthusiastic emotion. So, technically the following is not really an ode although this blog is about an "irregular" dog who "enthusiastically" expresses great "emotion".

On December 13, 2003, Charley came into our life.  We had been wanting a dog for several months and after researching and researching, we finally decided to make the move to get a beagle.  This decision came after we had almost purchased a basset hound, but all I could picture was this droopy dog lounging on the couch taking up way too much room.  Little did I know that our beagle would evolve into that basset hound vision.  I've always said that Charley was my "therapeutic  companion". We got her as I was finishing a very rough semester of teaching.  To say that I was sad and highly discouraged at this point in my life is an understatement.  A bit depressed is more like it.  

Those first weeks with Charley were a bit rough.  I remember one time in the middle of the night, Aaron and I bolted upright in bed when we heard this awful moan.  Was it a baby?  Was it our neighbor falling down the stairs?  Oh no.  We now term that moan Charley's beginning howls.  Fortunately, she's not much of howler these days.  But that night, we had never heard anything like it.  Also, during those first few weeks we also were very determined to "train" our beagle baby to sleep in her own room, in her own bed.  Not in our room.  Not in our bed.  After Charley's morning bathroom breaks outside, she'd wag her little tail beside our bed and look up at Aaron with those sweet brown eyes.  He'd pick her up and, to stop all her wiggles, stuff her underneath the comforter where she would welcome the darkness and the softness and fall back to sleep.  In our room.  In our bed.  This, of course, began a trend and Charley now sleeps with us.  I'd like to say that she curls up at our feet and stays motionless all night long.  No, Charley takes up over one third of our queen size bed and usually by the morning she is sprawled right in the middle of her "masters", her nose inches from our face.

 For over three years, it was just the three of us.  Aaron. Laurin. Charley.  Charley. Laurin. Aaron.  You can imagine how Charley must have felt when she began to realize that her little world of three might be changing.  As we were moving things out of the extra bedroom and painting the baby's room, Charley began to act very peculiar.  Her tail was tucked between her legs for days.   By the end of the week, I was getting very nervous like maybe her tail was broken.   I finally decided to call the vet.  The first thing she asked me was if anything was changing in our lives.  I proceeded to tell her that I was expecting a baby and that we had been getting the room ready.  She then told me that she believed Charley was sensing this change and to pay her lots of lots of attention and give her lots and lots of love. Just so you know, Charley has not been quite the same since we became a family of four.  

When I take Charley running, she is in either in one of two positions: running like wind way in front of me or barely able to breathe, 10 steps behind me.   When we prepare bananas for Savannah, Charley has to get bananas too.  And, we give her just as much as her baby sister gets.  Charley has a voice.  She may not talk to you, but she carries on full conversations with us.  A constant question Aaron asks me is:  "Do you think Charley thinks she's a human or do you think she thinks we are dogs?". We have now come to the conclusion in recent months that Charley definitely thinks she is a human or at least she is of the same "breed" as Savannah: when we (Aaron, Laurin, and Savannah) leave the house at any time, Charley howls and cries as loud as she ever has.  It is as if she is saying:  Why does Savannah get to go and I don't???? 

Another question Aaron asks me quite often is: "Laurin why do you think we love Charley so much?" She sheds like crazy.  She does not smell very good.  She has basically ruined our couch by perching like a cat on the back of it.  She jumps all over people in excitement when they enter her house.  She will not let us eat bananas or popcorn in peace.  The list goes on...(And, yes, we know we were the ones to train her to do all of these things.)

Why do we love Charley so much?   Simply, because she loves us.  She's always excited to see us.  She's always ready to cuddle with us.  She'll always be our best friend.  Here's to Charley the Beagle.