Adoption stories

Susan SteeleLucy

I adopted Casey now Lucy about 3 weeks ago in July 2015. She has made herself right at home.

Lucy loves walks if they are not too long, loves the playground a few blocks away and car rides.

Can’t ask for a better behaved dog. No barking, jumping or accidents. Nor dumpster diving or poop eating! LOL!

I think she must be hard of hearing. She never did answer to Casey nor does she really answer to any name. Of course she is always within 2 feet of me so there is no need to call her to me.

Thanks for all the wonderful work you do. I love her so much already.

Edy Ballard

It will be eleven years ago this May that I picked up my first BREW foster, a frightened, dazed, lemon beagle (with maybe a little basset hound thrown in) named Toby. I remember the first time I saw him, thinking “Oh good, I won’t be tempted to keep him. He isn’t even cute.” Famous last words!

Toby had been pulled from a high-kill shelter in Ohio where he was three days past his euthanasia date, being held for pick-up by BREW. This shelter must have been a bad one, as Toby was shell-shocked, his ears filthy and his coat as rough as straw. In fact he was in such bad shape that he was advertised as a “senior.” Obviously, since that was 11 years ago and he is still with us, that wasn’t the case. I now think he was around 3-4 yrs old when I first saw him.

Several things became clear in the first few weeks we had Toby as a foster: he had been well-loved and well-cared for, probably by a man, as he fell completely in love with my husband. He knew what a couch was for and settled right onto the furniture, so he had been an inside dog. And he routinely dug his way under our fence or bolted out of open doors, taking off for the neighbor’s house, possibly explaining how he ended up lost in a shelter. He wasn’t the best house-guest, either. He tried to pick fights with my very passive, sweet German shepherd; he lifted his leg everywhere in the house; and then he’d escape again. Toby was our foster for about 6 mos. before anyone even inquired about adopting him. By that time, my husband couldn’t bear to let him go.

So we applied to adopt him, or “foster fail.” A funny thing happened right after we were approved to be Toby’s forever home: he stopped marking in the house, and he stopped picking fights with our other dogs. It was as if he knew he was home again. His coat had become soft and his ears clear. He still tried to take off every now and then, but mostly he enjoyed being part of a family again.

Through the years, Toby – now definitely a senior and decidedly grayer – has been spoiled with long country walks, trips to the park, and garage sale outings (one of his favorite activities). He’s the only dog allowed to sleep in our bedroom at night and he does so on a special orthopedic dog bed. I think he’s the most beautiful hound I’ve ever seen! Now mostly blind and somewhat deaf, he still enjoys his walks (shorter and slower now) and plays with toys. I tell him every night how much I love him.

I’m a designated AKC Breeder of Merit of show beagles, and yet, Toby is my favorite houndie-boy. I’m so grateful to BREW for letting me have this wonderful boy. I don’t know how much time we have left together, but we will enjoy every minute!

Jim & Ruthanne McEachran

Hi everyone. My name is Neven. I came to my furever home some years ago. I had a lot of medical issues that surfaced shortly after I arrived. My people got me right in to the doggie hospital. Not the best week of my young life. The nice doctor treated me for something she called Parvo. My people came to visit me everyday. I made a full recovery and became a family member.

We moved to a new home recently with lots of room to run and explore. Do you know it is hard to stop on hardwood floors? I also have a big deck to lounge on. We go for walks and I love car rides. We have cars that have what I call “holes in the roof”. Nothing better for a big beagle boy than having your face in the wind with a smile on your face.

Although I was living the good life something was missing. I needed a four legged friend -my furever dad thought. He had an idea he told me. “Here Neven”, he said. “Look at this picture I found on Midwest Beagle Rescue website”. I said she looked like a little sister I could live with.

We drove a long way on that rainy day to adopt my new sister, Pearl. Her foster mom must be a special person. She sent a big bag of her things with her that she would need at her new home.

I have been teaching her the ropes around here. She was very cautious for the first few weeks but she is in full stride now. I had to learn what mom calls “share”. I let her know that I would share toys, bed space, deck space but my food bowl was not negotiable.

Recently we had a family meeting and it was determined that Pearl would now be known as Maggie. She must like the name as she responds well to it.

Maggie and I want to thank all our friends at Midwest Beagle Rescue for getting both of us to our furever home. We love you guys for giving us a second chance in life. We are both making the most of it and living our dreams.

P.S. My little sister still has not gotten the hang of hardwood floors!

Becky Coulter

We adopted Trey last June 2016. He is a submissive, sweet, gentle soul and he is so pretty. We really love him. Rex and he get along except if they are both near food at once.

I am enclosing a picture from my Central Minnesota Therapy Animal Association Group. Trey is training to be tested as a therapy dog. He is doing well visiting a nursing home.

I would really recommend Midwest BREW to anyone looking for a beagle. What a beautifully organized and caring rescue.

The Rosenberg Family

We can’t thank enough Midwest BREW and Morgan, our baby’s foster mom.

We brought “Beth” home in September and are so in love with her! We had a young beagle already and two older dogs, so we thought it would be nice to have a playmate for our beagle, Ruby. We re-named “Beth” Rylee and the two girls were instantly the best of friends! They play all day and then snuggle when they get tired.

Thank you to such a great organization and volunteers for the incredible work that you do!

Sawyn Family

It’s been a bit over a year since we adopted Annie, our quirky little beagle who spent the first part of her life in an outdoor kennel, and who has had to learn what it’s like to be an indoor family dog.

Annie arrived at age 7 full of fears–of strangers, loud noises, sudden movements. Slowly over the past year she has learned to relax a bit, although we suspect she may always be wary of those things. She has never barked, and only once did we hear her beagle bay, when she scented a rabbit during a walk in the woods. She doesn’t even ask to go out, so we had to put her on a strict schedule so she would always know potty time was coming.

Annie LOVES her walks, especially in the wooded area across from where we live. No matter how long a walk she gets, she’d like to go longer. She also likes playing with the part-beagle down the street, and keeping their leashes from tangling while they run, romp, roll and play is quite a challenge.

One of Annie’s little quirks is that she loves getting on our bed in the morning and snuggling close for back and belly rubs and shoulder massages–but if we join her on “her” couch, she sits back very aloof, keeping her distance. Annie has her own funny little rules.

Unlike our previous beagles, Annie isn’t a chow hound. She downs her meals quickly, and will always accept a treat, but she doesn’t forage through the wastebaskets or the pantry like our previous dogs have done. She’s a good rider in the car–but won’t lie down. She has to stand on the back seat with her front feet on the console so she can see out the front window.

Since we’re both in our 70s, Annie will probably be our last dog. She’s a quiet, cooperative, loving little girl who makes a perfect finale for our home–which we named BeagleSong. We’re so happy we get to be Annie’s furever family!

Jim and Kathy Cichowski

We adopted CeCe #1330 in November 2009 and drove from Michigan to Indiana to pick her up. We changed her name to Gracie and we just love her! She is about seven years old now, but sometimes still acts like a puppy. She was advertised as a low to medium energy dog and let’s just say she fits the bill. She has many high energy bursts immediately followed by a nap. She owns our laps, but we love it. It is her favorite napping position.

One of the things she does that still makes us laugh is that she will crawl across the floor on her stomach, pulling herself along with her front legs. When she decides she has gone far enough, she rolls over onto her side with a sigh and takes a nap.

She loves her squeaky toys. Sometimes she will pull them all out at once, go from toy to toy, then lies down in the pile of them and takes a nap.

When it is cold, particularly in the winter, she likes to take a nap in the sun coming through the window. She will move about the house accordingly as the sun moves and continue to take naps as she goes. Gracie really likes taking naps.

Shortly after we got her she started having seizures, but is being monitored by the vet. Her love of chasing after squirrels got her a torn ACL in 2014 and had to have surgery. She recovered very well.

We take her camping with us every year and for the most part loves it. It takes her a couple of days to adapt to the new surroundings of the camper and noises of the campground.

When we take her for walks, people always think she is a puppy because she is a petite beagle. When we got her she was 17 pounds, and is now holding her own at 18-19 pounds.

Many thanks to your organization for all you do and for hooking us up with Gracie. It was a love connection from day one and has brought us much joy and lots of laughs.

PS. As we write this, Gracie is lying in the sun … napping!

Nick Stergercallie

I adopted Callie from MW BREW in March 2016. My girlfriend and I have applied to adopt with our hearts set on a different beagle. One of MW BREW’s volunteers arrived for our home visit with her foster at the time, Callie. That was the moment Callie stole my heart. After receiving our approval to adopt,we came to the Toledo PetSmart Adoption Day a few minutes before noon to adopt Callie.

It’s been 3 months and I’m still smitten. I cannot express the love I have for this pup! I even got a tattoo for her which I think shows my devotion to this rescue girl.
The day that I got the tattoo I posted this note on my Facebook page:
“Got this tat done for the dog that literally changed my life. I’ve been forever changed and became better for her. She’s my best friend. She’s always up at 6am to see me when I’m getting off work. She falls asleep in my arms and she’s just all around my perfect first dog. I’m gonna love this girl forever. She has a major spot in my heart forever. Callie I love u girl”.

Lori & Doug Inderdahl

After losing our 13 year old beagle, Gertie, to cancer, it took 3 and ½ years before we were ready for another dog. We found the Midwest BREW site and started the adoption process. Everyone at every step was wonderful to work with. They found us the perfect boy, Boris. He was in Ohio. We’re in Wisconsin. We met in Indiana so we could get him right from his foster parents. We connect with them at least once a week, as well as posts on Facebook so our adoption counselor and others who met him can keep tabs.

Boris is perfect; 40 pounds of love. He doesn’t beg, doesn’t jump on the furniture, doesn’t chew on anything, doesn’t bark in the house and sleeps in one of his 2 beds from about 8:30pm until about 5am. He’s been wonderful with the neighbor’s kids, ages 8 and 2 and he ignores people and dogs walking by. He is sometimes startled by noises but the noon siren and thunder don’t bother him at all.

Dinnertime is around 5 so at about 4:30 he will stare at me. He uses his most pitiful “Eeyore” look to make sure I understand he is dying of starvation.

He’s not crazy about rain or heavy snow coming down, but other than that, would spend all day outside if he could. We have a large yard but not fenced in so he’s on a tie-out with one of us out with him. His favorite thing to do, and pretty much the only activity he cares for, is sniffing the ground and barking at critter scents. In the house, he doesn’t play but we’re working on that. He gets the zoomies almost every night after our evening walk and tears around the house, sliding around corners, just racing around. Then it ends as quickly as it started with him jumping in his bed and acting like he’s been there the whole time.

Things we consider “progress” are him lying near us in the living room, not in his bed, coming to the door after we’ve been gone – with his tail wagging, or picking up a toy or ball. He doesn’t seek attention often but will come to us to get his ears or eyes rubbed. That makes him melt right onto the floor.

We‘ll never know what brought him to be abandoned at a shelter. We try to focus on the future and give him all the love we can. He deserves it…like I said, he’s perfect!

Laura Guskiewicz

Hello Midwest BREW.

Just wanted to let you know that Lyddie is doing great!!! She is such a very loving little girl. She and my other rescue beagle, Willow, get along great! She loves to go for walks and greets everyone we meet with a wagging tail.

The adoption process went very smoothly. Thank you for allowing me to love this sweetheart.

The Sturgill Family