Daisy

Daisy is a retired show dog. She got her championship and had one litter of puppies by the time she 2 years old. The breeder who owned her decided to find her a home after she had her puppies and that's how we found her. Michael had called several breeders to see if they had any older dogs that they wanted to place. For our first dog, we definitely did not want to get a puppy. I wasn't so sure about beagles even then, so I wasn't as enthusiastic as he was at first.

We went to see Daisy and if we liked her, we had the option to take her home. Of course, I fell in,love with her instantly. You know, it's hard just to go look and not take one home with you!
Daisy seemed more interested in a certain male puppy named Tommy than she did in checking out her soon-to-be owners. But we scooped her up and put her in a crate to take her home.
My sister came with us and sat next to her crate in the car. Daisy was so excited, she wouldn't even eat a french fry from our lunch!
We took my sister home and brought Daisy in for my parents and other sister to see. Soon, we had her running around the backyard. Suddenly, she raced past us and started heading for the swimming pool. She did not skip a beat as she pushed through the gate and soared over the side of the pool.
Splash! Michael and I leaned over to try and pick her up out of the water but she was too far. So, naturally, I took my shoes off and dove in, clothes and all. I came up from under Daisy and lifted her out onto the ground. By that time, the rest of my family heard the commotion and came to see what was going on. Everyone laughed as they saw me come over the side, dripping wet. Did I mention that it was April and the pool's not heated? Yikes...and with that, I hopped into a hot shower, threw on somebody's loaner clothes, and went home.

Daisy had to explore the house of course, and since she was not yet potty-trained, peed on the first spot of carpet she could. Nature's Miracle became our best friend in training her those first few weeks.

We loved Daisy and it was clear that she was happy being queen of the house. But, she seemed a little lonely. She needed a friend. Someone to play with and sleep with when we were gone. A puppy, perhaps?

Enter Jasper, stage right. Jasper was a 13 week-old puppy when we got him and just a bundle of energy. Daisy instantly bonded with him and became his surrogate mother. They are inseperable, even now.

Starting out with a dog out of it's puppy stage was the best thing for a first dog. Working with Daisy helped us in our dog-training skills and we learned that you definitely can teach dogs at any age.