My $1200 stray

[Lizizzo]

In late Sept. I began working at a rest area as an easy job while I'm in college. The first day I was came in, my boss and my aunt were holding a puppy. She was dropped off by some idiot who didn't want her. I found out that finding strays out there is a common thing. I was a cat person so I didn't worry about bringing home any new animals.
In late Oct. that all changed. I came into work and there was Fred. He was an adult Beagle who was abandoned by, in my opinion, a dummy. I fell in love with him right away. I snuck him into the office where he laid on my coat terrified. You could tell that whomever had him beat him up pretty good. He spent 7 hours sleeping on my jacket.
When I went home, I was afraid of what might happen. My boyfriend and I had four cats and I had no idea how this new dog would react. My boyfriend would freak out if he were to hurt any of the cats or even chase them. I ended up having to carry him through the door because he was afraid of my cats. Up until Friday he spent his days avoiding our cats claws, taking me for walks (he pulls really bad), sleeping on the futon, or sneaking on the bed and sleeping on the pillows. Everyone falls in love with Fred. We took him with us to my family in Michigan for Thanksgiving. He tore things up, peed all over (he's not neutered), and acted like he owned the place. In the end, I still had to pry my dog out of my aunt's arms so I could take him home. Even people who hate dogs, loved on my Fred.
Friday night Fred had to go out so, we chained him up outside as usual. We noticed that it took him longer than usual to howl, to come in. When we opened the door we found out why.
The girl next door, was throwing a big bash for the end of the semester. Fred, thinking that they were all there to love on him, got off the chain and went visiting. At some point, someone KICKED my Fred and broke his bottom jaw, right behind his canines. We had to wait until the next morning to take him to a clinic. Saturday morning we woke up and took him right to the vet as soon as they opened. They wired his jaw shut and kept him there until Monday, when we took him to a small animal surgeon. They put pins in each side of his jaw and now he's wearing a brace around his bottom jaw. It's costing us 1200 dollars but it's worth it.
The good thing is, he's doing great. He's eating and he gets to come home tomorrow! However if I find out who kicked my dog, they won't even have a bottom jaw!

I'm going to post lots of pictures of my Fred. I'm sure he'll look goofy as can be with that brace

[padeerhunter]

Sorry to hear about your dog! Sounds like he is going to be OK I'm just getting into beagles also, for hunting, but they sure are a great dog! Ours stays in the house and is definitly one of the family. She gets a ton of attention from everyone in the whole house. Were already talking about getting another one Lets see those pics!

Doug

P.S. you will get more replies most likely if you post to "Just Talkin' Dawgs", if it doesn't belong there someone will move it

[JesandDeb]

I hope he's doing ok too.....please let us know.....and pics please. People can be mean to animals at times. When we had our other three beagles years ago, and our basset, they never left our fenced yard, and they had a LARGE kennel also.......for their own safety as well as others, we always knew where they were . Get well soon little guy

[beaglesmom]

Hope your Fred is doing well - it's great that he found such a wonderful home with you. I suspect that before I adopted my "Little Lottie" that someone had kicked her and broken her jaw - I bought her from a breeder - who had purchased her from another breeder who was moving and selling a lot of her dogs. Lottie was tiny - and had always been a "kennel dog". I picked her up at the airport in Spokane about 5:30 one afternoon - had a vet appointment for her the next day at noon - the breeder told me she'd had one tooth pulled (abcessed) - but when my vet examined her he discovered that she had SEVEN abcessed and/or broken teeth. He did emergency dental surgery on her right then. He pulled 7 teeth - and discovered that her little jaw had been broken at some point. I talked to both of the breeders and neither of them "knew" about the boken jaw - but Dr. Randy removed a dime-sized chunk of dead black bone. She was severely "cowed" which broke my heart. She's been here about 3 years now - and is a totally different little girl - tho she still cowers at the sound of loud noises - or sudden movements. She now sleeps as close to me as she can get, and is extremely loving. I don't know how people can do some of the things they do to animals. One of my neighbors had a habit of tossing firecrackers at my dogs if they barked. That really HELPED the barking problem. Of course, he never did it when I was around.
I'm delighted that Fred is doing well - and has found his "niche" in life. If I can help you in anyway, please don't hesitate to ask. I do have a little beagle experience, with the ten pack.