We have lost another friend. When he was rescued, he was chained in a backyard without shelter, food or water -- how could anyone do that to a puppy with a face like that? He was a mix of beagle and basset hound otherwise known as a "Bagel". He had the soulful eyes and mournful howl of a hound but the freckles and belly of a basset. His coat was so soft and silky that petting him felt as good to you as it did to him. When he wouldn't answer to Augie, he picked his own name - Harry Potter. Once, on a cold winter night, he went for a walk alone. My husband put on a long winter coat and, as it was icy, took a long walking stick with him. He stood in the middle of an intersection in our small town looking like Dumbledore and called for Harry Potter. Harry didn't appear so he headed home thinking people might call the cops about the drunk wizard calling for Harry Potter. When he got home, there sat Harry in the garage, waiting for him.. He was just a baby when we got him and outgrew his pillow before very long. He also outgrew our laps but managed to curl around us when we sat in our chairs instead of on the couch. Someone was very cruel to him before he was rescued and so he hated men when he came to us. It took him 48 hours to warm up to my husband but they really became friends when my husband had surgery and spent 6 weeks at home recovering. It was quite a "bro-mance". He was afraid of loud noises so spent many a thunder storm in one of our laps for comfort. He hated the buzzers on Family Feud so we quite watching it - sorry Steve. He loved cherry tomatoes!! We had a pot of them growing on the kitchen deck and, when he went outside, he had to check the tomatoes. He only ate the ones that were ripe. He loved carrots and broccoli and cauliflower. He appreciated it when we put vegetables in his food. His howl was a sweet greeting anytime he heard a car that he knew was us coming home to him. He loved to mess with the afghans on the furniture; sometimes he would drape them around his head so they looked like a shawl. Other times he would just snuggle, snuggle, snuggle till he was buried in the afghan. He had his own afghan but really preferred those in our chairs. When he wanted to cuddle, he would stand at your knee and just look - asking to get up. Because he was all hound, he couldn't be outside without his lead but that didn't stop him from hunting - squirrels mostly. When he quietly approached them and they finally noticed he was coming, up the tree they would go and then tease him because he couldn't reach them. That didn't stop him from trying to climb the tree to get them. Harry left us October 8 in the afternoon. He was happy and active, even trying to steal our tuna salad sandwiches at noon. Then about two o'clock he became very listless and weak. He ended up under a bench in the "mud room". We were working outside and kept checking on him. About 4:30 p.m., we came in and my husband knelt to check on him. He took Harry's beautiful soulful hound face in his hands and Harry looked at him, closed his eyes and stopped breathing. The only thing that's good about this is .... he's not afraid anymore.
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