Chapter 1

It Started with Beagles

Beagle: One of the world’s most recognizable hounds and dogs, the Beagle is essentially a small foxhound, solid and “big for his inches.” (1)

As far back as I can remember, I have loved dogs and horses. We had a collie named Lady when I was very little. I don’t remember her at all, but I’m sure I loved her. Many dogs have come and gone in my life, and you will get to read snippets of their lives.

My love affair with dogs, particularly beagles, was fueled by my great-grandfather, Franklin Martin Casey. “F.M.” or “Mart” was my mother’s maternal grandfather. He was born April 9, 1887 and passed away March 4, 1977.

Grandpa Casey was known as “The Beagle Man.” He had beagles and hunting dogs all of his life. Grandpa Casey had a third-grade education, and yet, on every photograph (he loved having his picture taken) he would write the date, place and people in the photo. On photos, paper where he had written notes, and in his Bible, he would draw a beagle’s head.

There were 13 kids in Grandpa Casey’s family. He was born in Missouri several years after the Civil War ended and lived in the country. Out in the sticks. In the boondocks. Hunting was not only a way of life; it was how he and his family ate. Grandpa Casey (strong Irish descent) and his wife, Eula (strong German descent), had five kids: four boys and my grandmother, Opal (“Meme”). All of the kids’ names began with O: Otis, Orlon, Oscar, Opal and Olen, who died about the age of two.

I remember, when I was about the age of five, going out with Grandpa Casey into the country to get some beagle puppies. I believe he named these puppies Mutt and Jeff. My sister Jennifer remembers watching Grandpa Casey gently catch hummingbirds in his hands. He could also get the neighborhood squirrels to eat nuts and crackers out of his hands. He just seemed to have a way with animals, and he always had animals around him.

Meme’s brother, Oscar, lived in the country. I loved going to his farm to ride horses, play with his border collie, and gather eggs or pick blackberries. My other sister, Valerie, the oldest, remembers watching in horror as Meme caught chickens at Oscar’s farm and wrung their necks! I missed that little life experience. My memories involved galloping around on Sugar, Oscar’s gray and white Welsh pony.