My Princess Daisy *dot* com - The Family Reunion

The Family Reunion

The day I had been waiting for all year had finally come this past Saturday (4-17-04)! Daisy, my girlfriend and I made a trip about an hour away from home to visit Daisy's mom and dad and one of her sisters. I got in contact with Daisy's breeder once again and I asked him if it would be possible to come by and have Daisy visit her mom, Dot, and her dad, Buddy. Around the same time, I got in contact with a family that had taken in one of Daisy's sisters from her litter. Since the breeder and the family lived pretty close to each other, I wanted to visit both while I was out that way. The plans had been made and Daisy and I were ready to take a drive.

I woke up on Saturday morning to the sound of rain. Great. It hasn't rained in several weeks, and the day that I have these plans, it has to rain on my parade, literally. By the time were ready to leave, the rain had actually stopped and the clouds were slowing leaving and the sun was trying to creep through. As we left Pasadena the rain had started up again and there was a car accident on the freeway, so we were about a half hour late to our first stop.

Our plan was to visit Daisy's sister, Baylee, first. We arrived and pulled up to the house. Daisy had no idea what we were doing, but I was really excited to see what one of Daisy's sisters looked like. We walked up the drive way and out of the front door came Baylee's owner and Baylee! Daisy saw Baylee and Daisy instantly became interested in who that other dog was. Baylee's owners invited us in to their house, of course. They were really nice, hospitable and made us feel right at home almost instantly. As we stood in their entry way, Baylee was really excited to see new people and especially Daisy. They were sniffing each other and of course, Daisy was very timid, as she normally is when she meets new dogs. Baylee was so cute!!! She was actually smaller than Daisy. Baylee's owners told me that she weighed about 22lbs. Daisy weighs 33 lbs., so you could imagine the size difference. I remember back when I was choosing which puppy I was going to bring home, one of the reasons I wanted Daisy was because she was the biggest puppy, hee hee! Now, I'm assuming Daisy might still be the biggest puppy from her litter. Baylee just has a smaller framed body and her legs are a bit shorter. Now, I'm wondering if Baylee would be considered a 13" Beagle. I don't know too much about that kind of stuff. I know Daisy is easily a 15" though.

After we got acquainted a little more, Daisy became more playful with Baylee. At first Daisy was real quiet, just sitting there in the living room, and Baylee was trying to play. Baylee would hop around and howl at Daisy. It was so funny! After about 20 or 30 minutes, Daisy finally opened up and the two began running around the living room and playing! It was so entertaining. Both Baylee's owners and I were trying to take pictures and movie clips while they were playing. It was tough, let me tell you. They were moving so fast, by the time you'd take the picture, they were already gone! I never knew that two Beagles playing would be the hardest thing to take pictures of. I took about 50 or 60 pictures of them playing and I only got about 10 decent pictures. Thanks to Baylee's owners, they also took pictures and gave me copies. Their pictures were so much better!

Finally the rain stopped temporarily and we got a chance to take Daisy and Baylee outside to play. Baylee had a ball and a Frisbee, so Daisy of course had to play with both. After they played for a short while outside, we went back indoors to finish up our stay. We stuck around for another 45 minutes or so before it was time to leave. Daisy and Baylee were still running around and playing when we had to leave. It was time to move on to our next destination, Buddy and Dot's house!

The rain started up again and we were on our way to meet Daisy's mom and dad. It took us about 20 minutes to get there and I was pretty excited and almost nervous about this visit. I was hoping that Dot and Buddy would get along with Daisy. I don't know... you just never know what to expect I guess. We walked up the house and I was greeted by the breeder. He was just as cool as the first time I met him. He invited us into his house and then told me he'd go get Dot (mom). She was in the kitchen because it was raining and he was also keeping mom and dad away from each other, because I guess dads been gettin' kind of "itchy" lately... if you know what I mean. Dot entered the room and I could hear Daisy's tail start wagging, so I knew she could see her. Dot is one of the cutest Beagles I have ever seen. She has the sweetest face and the friendliest personality. Like normal, Daisy was being submissive to Dot. Dot took a few sniffs of Daisy and then came over to where my girlfriend and I were sitting and said hello to us. Dot then went back to Daisy and was sniffing her all over. The breeder and I sat there watching Daisy and Dot interact, and we compared the two. Right away we noticed that Daisy was bigger than Dot. The breeder mentioned that Dot was 25 lbs. The breeder was looking Daisy over and said she has the same build as Buddy (dad). I told the breeder that I had just come from Baylee's house and that Baylee looks like Dot. The smaller body frame and the slim face.

The breeder said, "Let's go outside on to the patio and bring out Buddy." So we went outside and Buddy came on over when he saw us out there. The breeder was right. Daisy did take after Buddy. They both had the big tough chest and the strong back legs. Buddy sniffed all over Daisy then went all around the yard to mark his territory. It was pretty funny. As the breeder and I stood there watching all 3 of them, Dot wanted to play with Daisy. She was howling at Daisy and jumping on her back as if to say, "Hey! C'mon! Let's play!" It was too cute. Buddy was just kind of doing his thing, sniffing all over the yard. He's pretty independent I noticed. After a while, Buddy came back over and was sniffing Daisy, and Dot was still howling at Daisy. So by this time, Daisy was just standing there while mom and dad stood around her. I asked the breeder if he had a tennis ball. He said he did, and brought it out. I showed Daisy and it caught Daisy's attention. I threw the ball and Daisy instantly took off after it, but as she got about half way to the ball, she realized that she was being chased by Buddy and Dot, so she stopped in her tracks and Buddy grabbed the ball and Dot was jumping all over Daisy. This was the first time Daisy has played with 2 dogs at once, so this was a new experience for her. After a few throws, Daisy was pretty used to Buddy and Dot, so she was chasing her ball. I would throw it and all 3 of them would run after it and either Daisy or Buddy would get it. (See the Movie Clips) Dot would run after it, but she was more interested in playing with Daisy, rather than the ball.

I was so happy to see that all 3 of them were getting along. I mean, I should have just assumed they would because they are Beagles. We stuck around there for about an hour and watched them play. Luckily the rain had stopped just in the nick of time for us to enjoy Daisy, Dot and Buddy playing with each other. I took as many pictures as I could, but again, it's hard taking pictures of Beagles playing, so I got only a few good ones. See the Photo Album for pictures! We finally said good bye and agreed to do it again one day. The rain was starting up again, so we wanted to leave before it got dark.

It was a long drive home and Daisy slept the whole ride home. It was a busy afternoon filled with everything I had been wanting for a long time. The breeder and Baylee's family were all nice enough to let me come by with Daisy. If it weren't for them, then I would always wonder what Daisy would do if she met her parents or one of her sisters. So a BIG thank you to them for making the day possible!