Beagles and Brother-In-Laws

It is a gorgeous, sunny day...windows open...would be nice if the beagles weren't so talkative today...but I guess they are happy it's a sunny day too. Many people love to hear the yelp of a beagle. I admit it is a nice sound sometimes...when they are hunting...but not so much when 9 of them are talking to one another.


Ah yes, another benefit of being a redneck’s bride. Hunting dogs are necessary, even if they never go hunting. This phenomenon is actually the result of being the sister-in-law of a redneck. John has differing taste in hunting dogs than his brother. Therefore, the dogs that belong to us are beautiful retriever types with silky coats, warm eyes and a high degree of training.

Fred’s breed of choice is the beagle. Yes, they are cute. Yes, they can hunt like crazy, when given the opportunity, but when the redneck comes to the age where he no longer wants to climb the hills for a rabbit or squirrel; adding dogs to the pack is just not necessary. Currently, of the nine dogs he has, only two have ever actually hunted. Yet he brings home a new one when an elderly dog is gone and has even bred a couple of his females in the past few years, resulting in new additions to the farm’s K-9 family.

He does have one dog that is not a beagle; she is a Chesapeake Bay retriever. Now, generally, these dogs are amazingly smart, hunt forever and, being territorial and loyal, make great guard dogs. They are muscular with a coat of wavy chocolate colored hair. Unfortunately, poor Shiloh is not the prime example of the breed. She has never learned to hunt, although he did take her out a few times when she was young. She only barks at 2 a.m. when an opossum or something walks by, but when thieves are loading tools from the barn into their truck, she watches in silence.

These dogs are well cared for, even though they really serve no readiliy identified purpose. They are not companions, as they are all outdoor dogs. They are not guard dogs, they are not hunters. But, Fred loves them, He feeds them, waters them, and cares for them everyday. He makes sure their immunizations are up to date, gives them the preventative treatments recommended by veternarians for things like heartworms and calls each of them by name. (although a few of them have the same nick name) He doesn’t care that they aren’t of champion lines, or that some of them aren’t even very smart. He loves them unconditionally – and they love him.

As I watched him load the weekly supply of 50 pound bags of dog feed from his pick-up to the front porch (redneck remember) I thought of all the work he puts into these dogs. It made me think of the way God loves us. Unconditionally…and all we have to do in return is love Him. He doesn’t ask us to be anything that we are not. He cares for us and protects us every day, as long as we stay in His will.

Fred has lost a couple of dogs because they dug out of their pen or broke their chain. It breaks his heart for one of his dogs to run into danger and be hurt. Each time he has to say goodbye to a dog that has run blindly onto the highway, not understanding the danger when they leave their pen, he hurts deeply.

Oh how it must hurt the Lord when we run away from His presence, just to chase something that caught our eye…a rabbit or a butterfly is all it takes to lead a dog from safety, sometimes it is less than that for us.

The beagles are quiet now, they will shout with excitement in a few hours when Fred heads to their kennels and pens with buckets of dog food and water.

It’s amazing what a redneck’s bride can learn from beagles and brother-in-laws.