My Feral Dog Named Joy

by Cindy Bolley HHCTB?

My little beagle, named “Joy” is the closest thing to a feral dog that I will ever have. I chased her around my area for almost 3 weeks in the bitter cold of a January winter in Michigan. It was the winter of 2014 and it was the worse I can ever remember. We had several days in a row of –20 degree… and then we had wind on top of that….. And of course we had lots and lots of SNOW. Needless to say it was not fit for anyone to be out in that weather…. especially a little beagle that had no idea where she was.. and was to scared to ask for help.

Hubby was the first to spot “Joy”…. She was walking down the road by our house…. a lady was out shoveling her snow so hubby asked her if that was her dog. She told him no and that dog had been around her house for a few days but it wouldn’t come to anyone. It just walks around in huge circles. Several of the neighbors had tried to get it to safety and warmth but that pup would have no part of it. Hubby told the lady not to worry he would send his wife back to get the dog.

Hubby must think I am a miracle working because that was a task much easier said than done. This little dog wanted no part of me what so ever… I was able to get close enough to see how scared it was and also how cold it was… but that was about it.

I have a community page for my area so I posted about this little dog and asked everyone to please be on the lookout for a little beagle. If you are able to capture it please let me know and I will come and get it. Well that started it all…… This little dogs was spotted by many people from all over the area…. but no one was able to capture it. The weather continued to be cold and the wind continued to howl.. all I could think of was this poor little darling out there by itself. I will admit I thought of little else. My heart was breaking. Every now and then over the next 2 weeks someone would post that the beagle had been spotted and I would go out in search of this little darling. But I was never able to see her.

Then for at least a solid week no one posted anything about the pup that I was so desperate to catch and take care of. I of course was thinking the worse, after all how long could a little dog be out there by itself with no food, no water and no shelter? It was heart breaking to think about.

One morning my neighbor from across the street called…. she asked me if I was still looking for that little beagle… YOU BET I WAS.. I was so happy to hear that the baby I was so worried about had been spotted, I could hardly keep my emotions in check.

The pup was not at the house next door to me but at the house next to that one…. walking in circles around their frozen over pond…… Food and water was put out for this little beagle. They were able to watch the little dogs comings and goings from the inside of their house.. but the moment the door opened this pup was GONE…… We watched from the garage at what this pup was doing and she would walk in circles around the house over and over and over again… each circle getting a bit smaller… then she made a bee line to join their dog in it’s kennel….. grabbing a bit of food and a drink of water before it froze. The little beagle snuggled up to their big dog for a brief moment as if she had done it many times before….. They had no idea the kennel even had a hole in it…. let alone 2 other ways to escape as well.

Can you imagine… I am the one who had been searching for this little darling and she had been spotted by many others all over the area… and she was so close… only 2 doors down from me. No telling how long she had been there… but now that I knew where she was the next challenge was to capture her and take her to safety and warmth.

Over the next 3 days I used lots of cut up chicken pieces as treats.. and I sat outside in that horrible weather. NOTHING was going to allow me to give up on that little beagle that I had thought about so much. And was so close to but yet still so far from…

Finally as if by magic I was able to grab it by it’s collar and I held on with all my might. I put that scared pup in the car where she went absolutely CRAZY… did I care… NO WAY! I was so happy to of won this battle. But of course the next challenge would be to drive home and then to get this terrified pup out of the car and into the house to a waiting crate….. Piece of cake……!

When we got home I took off the collar it had on… the skin/fur on her neck just unfolded. Someone had put the collar on so tight I was surprised she was able to breath. I replaced it with another one that was much better suited for the little darling. She was now at home locked in the crate where it was warm safe and dry… and full dishes of food and water…. And of course my dogs checking out the new addition from the other side of the crate… I left the little beagle alone to relax and hopefully enjoy the food and water and a warm good nights sleep. Something that I was certain it had not had in at least the last 3 weeks since I had been trying to capture it. No telling how long she had been out there before I tried to catch her.

I too slept that night with the most wonderful feeling of accomplishment….. I named her “Joy”.

That has been almost 2 years ago. To this day my little Joy still walks in circles…. We have to walk/run 3 times around the inside of the house before we come to the door to be hooked up to the tether to go outside. No, she is not allowed to run free… I fear she may leave me and never come back… Deep down I really don’t think that to be true but I am not going to take any chances what so ever. NONE! We go for a walk everyday in the late afternoon and we walk/run around the outside of the house 3 times before we are content to come back inside.. To me Joy has whatever is equivalent to a child having ADD.

A couple of weeks ago I left for a few days and Hubby told me that Joy sat in the bedroom and howled for hours.. it was only after he went in and turned on the TV and put pillows under the covers as if it were me lying in bed did the little darling stop howling…. I almost cut my trip short to return home….. When I got back home it was the very first time that Joy came to me. I cried I was so overwhelmed with emotion.

I can’t begin to tell you what pleasure my “Joy” has brought to me. She is without a doubt the closest thing I will ever have to a feral dog. I have no idea where she came from. I am not sure that she was abused or just unsocialized….. But the tight collar leads me to believe that whom ever had her didn’t have the patience that was needed to see what a beautiful little girl this angel was. As all beagles, my little girl Joy has the sweetest face….Seems hard to believe that someone could of ever been mean or mistreated this sweet little girl.

Even though my little darling is still a challenge… I couldn’t love her more if I tried. When it is time for bed…. she forgets everything about being afraid and simply crawls under the covers and gets as close to me as she possible can….. My Little Girl Joy…. the sweet little beagle that won my heart.