Feature Story
The First Beagle A
fter we moved into our house on 40 acres in rural Moniteau County, I realized there were plenty of rabbits to hunt just out the back door. They were abundant, and I hunted most weekends during the winter with my Lab. For reasons I don't completely understand, I never thought of getting a beagle to hunt with, which is a popular and traditional way to hunt rabbits in Missouri. One day I came home from work late as usual after an extra-long day. Our oldest son, who was 10 at the time, was sitting on the back porch petting a puppy, a beagle mix of some kind. I knew he had found this dog because stray dogs and cats were always showing up on our place dropped off by people who didn't know what else to do with them. We weren't running a stray animal shelter, so I would take care of the walk-ons telling our sons that
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CONSERVATION FEDERATION
I delivered them to a place where they were loved and cared for adequately. I told our son he could take this puppy back where he found it or give it to me and I would take care of it. He looked up at me with big defiant eyes that gave me a glimpse of the dark teenage years on the horizon and said, "Dad, I think we'll wait until Mom gets home to make that decision." You can imagine my shock at being overruled, outsmarted and neutralized by a ten year old. Of course, when Mrs. Urich got home, she fell in love with the puppy and bonded with it immediately as it melted into her arms. The family was united against me on this. I'm not too fond of it when that happens.
