We got Charlie as a replacement in June 2007. He was about 2 years and 8 months old.
From the first time I met Charlie – I knew he was special. Everything about him appealed to me. He was in the living room with his mother. Mother beagle stole some toys from him, and he made it very clear that it was not okay. Mother beagle wouldn’t give up, however – so Charlie gave up – and found another toy. With it in his mouth he came over and gently pointed out that he had something he wanted to show me. I talked to him and then he sat down – up on my leg and waited for me to pet him. At that time I had no idea that this very behavior would become the way he would seek me out in the years to come.
From the very first night – after we met Charlie – we knew he would have a home with us. And so it was.
Charlie was an easy-going and very gentle beagle. He quickly settled in when he got to know our everyday life. I was at home and therefore it was primarily me who was in charge of him during the day.
Charlie had signs of having been abandoned. His previous family had not had the time to take care of him enough, and it was noticeable.
Therefore, the first time was about – just being with him – that he could trust us and that he was a family member on an equal footing with the rest of us.
Charlie bonded with me because I was the one closest to him during the day. Our sons, who were teenagers at the time, also played a role. They were both very caring towards Charlie.
Charlie had some gaps that I worked on improving. He had not learned recall. He had not gone for walks very much either. And he lacked learning to be able to be cared for. Those were the first important tasks I tackled.
At first, the walks were only 15-20 minutes because Charlie couldn’t walk any longer. As I trained him, the walks became longer. We have a less “wild” area – there are deer, pheasants and other things up there and I often walked him here. He was put on a long trail line and then I taught him how to come to me. A relationship with a beagle goes through the stomach – so the way forward is with treats. Charlie quickly learned to come to my hand signal and when I said “HERE”
That’s how the first summer went. And we learned that Charlie was a so-called reserved beagle. He wanted to greet others – especially people – but he was more reserved with dogs. He could/would greet – but when that was done – he would position himself next to me and turn his back. My instincts told me – I shouldn’t try to get him to be more present – he should manage that himself.
If I/we met someone on a walk that I knew – we would chat a little about the state of the world – while Charlie would sit in his usual position until the conversation was over and we moved on.
At home he was clearly more relaxed and followed what we were doing well. When Mr. Mand came home from work, Charlie knew exactly when his “father” would come – then everything was fine – the pack was together.
We don’t know how long Charlie was out for rehoming, but he had had access to other beagles down there, including his father and mother. So he had had plenty of company – and here I found out something else – namely that he had separation anxiety. This meant that I couldn’t be away for long – only to shop locally and for one of the sons to look after Charlie. It wasn’t a big problem, but it was there, because it was ME who couldn’t go.
At the end of the summer, there was a litter of puppies on the way, and one of them was going to join us. We agreed that Charlie would benefit from some company. We had no doubt at all that he would be well suited for it.
In October, Oscar moved in. And the two quickly became best friends.
Charlie now showed his true side. He raised Oscar well, in his own dog-like way. He taught Oscar to dig holes in the garden. He taught Oscar what hunting games were. And he taught him to behave properly.
Oscar’s arrival alleviated Charlie’s separation anxiety.
Another thing that could be a “problem” was Charlie’s need for attention. Because of his previous family, Charlie needed to be seen and heard. If he didn’t get attention, he could steal things (that he knew he shouldn’t take) – it could be the kitchen roll, it could be a sock, it could be one of Oscar’s toys, and similar objects. Then he took the thing into his cage and we were not allowed to have it back until we “paid” for it. If I tried to take the thing, Charlie would gently nibble on my hand and have a snarky expression on his face. If I brought a treat – I could have the thing and then everything was fine again.
Another thing Charlie did was “talk”. We could have endless “conversations”. He used it when he wanted attention. It was when it was time for a walk – it was when he was “dying of hunger” – but we also had “conversations” about the weather, where Charlie would sit in his basket and babble. NEVER before or since have I met a dog who talked as much as Charlie did.
There have been changes in everyday life over time – that’s how life is. For example – when Mr. Mand was in the hospital for several weeks and I often had to visit him – it was outside of normal everyday life for Charlie. And that’s why he didn’t leave my side when I came back. Another example was my father’s funeral – here we were also away for a long time and it meant that Charlie was practically glued to me when we returned. So much so that I decided to go for a walk with him.
Charlie slept in the bedroom where he had his basket, standing next to my bed – so I could cuddle him in between. Oscar also sleeps in the same room, but in a different place.
I have diabetes and sometimes I can go low at night. Here again Charlie was on the field, because for some reason he knew when something was wrong. He walked back and forth and jumped on my head to wake me up. Then I got up and then Charlie followed me downstairs to make sure I had eaten something edible. Meanwhile, he sat glued to me until I felt better again – and we could go back to bed.
Other dogs:
Charlie didn’t like big dogs. It turned out that he and Oscar, during a walk in our area – were attacked by a Saint Bernard, who tore himself out of his muzzle and went after the beagles. Oscar was swung around in the air and thrown to the ground. While Charlie pulled back and whined wildly. Fortunately, there were some people present and together they got the big dog away. My youngest son was with us and after getting the personal information of the owner in question, we brought the beagles home as quickly as possible. The case was reported to the police.
Physically, nothing special happened to the beagles, Oscar had a bite wound that had to be treated – but otherwise it was psychological. And that required training again afterwards.
Subsequently, Charlie couldn’t handle big dogs at all. He would only greet smaller dogs and preferably at his eye level.
After this attack, I/we made the decision not to greet – or come near dogs we didn’t know beforehand.
Throughout the 11 years we had Charlie – years we wouldn’t want to be without – we learned what an angelic mind Charlie had. He was very unique in every way – and he taught us a lot about dog language – all of which we were able to pass on to Oscar and Darwin through him.
