Toby is in Residence

This winter I experienced the demise of Buddy the beloved beagle in a very unfortunate stroke in my presence. The Lutheran Chicks were lobbying soon thereafter for a new dog. Honestly, I had neither the physical nor mental energy after Buddy's death. But I swore we would revisit this after the end of the semester.
We are a dog-rescuing family- both of our previous very special pets have been rescued. First there was Stirling who was found freezing on the city streets on Christmas Eve and rescued. She was on her last day at the shelter when I showed up "just to look." Stirling was a pointer mix who chewed her way through many things because my Beloved and I were uneducated dog owners. The recliner, the remote, and the first crate all met her wrath, and our deck was almost unearthed by enthusiastic digging. But She was devotedly with us for 13 years.
Buddy the beagle had owners who gave him no indoor shelter for his first four years- he came to us through the grapevine and spent almost seven years of his life with a loving family even with his special needs.
So we were waiting. And the kids were determined, but so was I- it would be wrong to adopt a dog who would then spend all day in a crate. The waiting paid off and a three young beagle pointer dogs were rescued from a high kill shelter by a local rescue group. Thus led us to Castaway Critters who scoops up pets from such shelters and fosters them until they can find their forever home. Ironically, Toby was less than a mile from us and being fostered by a professional acquaintance of mine.
Ironically, if our first and second dogs had mated, the offspring might look like Toby.
So we are back to world of barking because another dog is barking, face licking at 5 AM because it is "Walk time" and remembering that when you give a dog a sock toy, all socks become fair game.
Life is good.