Something was undeniably different about November 10, 2021.
The sight of our parents waiting in the school pickup line, a place they typically avoided like the plague, was the first clue. Then came the news: a surprise, not just for my sister, the birthday girl, but for all three siblings.
My brother and I were absolutely convinced that they were taking us to ride horses, as at the time my sister was a “horse girl.” We were both less than thrilled by this idea. After a one-hour drive, we finally entered a long gravel driveway and stopped. Upon hopping out of the car, I saw the tiniest, squirmiest Beagle ever. Then it hit me – our family was finally getting a dog!
Once we eventually corralled her into the car, she of course instantly peed on my brother. I later found out that Winnie (we named her on the ride home) and I had been born on the same day, September 7, and I instantly knew I had found my soul dog. Peeing on my brother will also earn you major brownie points with me.
The first few weeks with Winnie were tumultuous. She was extremely adventurous, sometimes dangerously so, and she was obsessed with food. The latter has not changed. She was so small that we worried about her being stolen by a bird while romping around outside. She also never slept through the night, and my entire family spent about a month feeling very sleep-deprived and taking any quick naps we could while she slept. Winnie went through the typical puppy phase of chewing on anything she could get her tiny, sharp teeth on, including us.
Eventually, Winnie started to get comfortable and show us her personality. She is what my grandmother affectionately describes as “a love.” She adores snuggling and people. Winnie is very protective of her humans and likes to try to herd us all into the same room. She will sit at the dog gate and cry when anyone leaves the house, making sure we are all very aware of her sadness.
She loves car rides, the mailman, walks, and above all else, whatever there is to eat. She will jump up onto the counter and grab anything that we leave even remotely close to the edge – salmon, raw chicken breasts, bread. You name it, she’ll take it.
Winnie has the biggest smile in the world when she’s panting, and will put her paw in the air to say “please” when she wants something. True to her Beagle nature, she is the loudest animal in any room and is obsessed with chasing down squirrels, bunnies and birds. To say she makes her presence known would be the understatement of the century.
Winnie has made my family better in so many ways. She has overtaken our camera rolls and become the subject of almost every text in the family group chat. She has even won over my begrudging mother, who would never self-identify as a dog person. She’s encouraged us to get outside together and taken us on new adventures, even if those adventures include chasing her around the neighborhood when she gets loose.
Every year on Thanksgiving Day, we turn on The National Dog Show Presented by Purina and try to get Winnie to look at and interact with the dogs on the TV screen. Without fail, she has zero reaction. Nonetheless, we always try, and end up commenting on how much better-behaved every single dog is than she. The sentence “Winnie would never do that” is uttered often.
If you’re dying to see these pups in person, the National Dog Show will be at Oaks Expo Center in suburban Philadelphia on November 15 and 16. Tickets are on sale now at The National Dog Show. You can also check out The National Dog Show Presented by Purina TV special on NBC from noon to 2 p.m. in all time zones on November 27!
Last year at The National Dog Show, my boyfriend’s dog breed, the Pug, won Best in Show (deservedly so; Pugs live up to all the hype). This year, as I do every year, I’ll be pulling for the Beagle.