Since putting up this current version of Keefer Madness, I basically have the Blog now. For years, the blog has been the focus of the site, but I was reminded recently that I had lost some other areas of the site. It’s been on my list of things to do, but I was recently inspired to flesh out some of those lost pages, and what better place to start, than with Bongo.

Bongo is our old spoiled purebred Beagle. I first adopted Bongo when he was roughly 2 years old. Bongo, then known as “Bo,” was surrendered by a hunter. Bongo’s past inspired Grinning Beagle to write a children’s book story about his past entitled, “That Dog Won’t Hunt.” Following the publishing of the book, our ol’ Beagle has been immortalized as a stuffed animal.

Bongo has had his share of ups and downs in our household. He had real issues when Amanda moved into the house, even cornering
her, teeth showing when I was away at my part time job. Amanda was scared to death of the spoiled Beagle who considered himself higher up in the pecking order than her – a relative newcomer to the pack. She basically gave me an ultimatum – her or the Beagle. In a way, Bongo, was giving the same ultimatum. But, I came up with a compromise, and ultimately, a much better solution for the whole pack – Bark Busters, an in-home dog trainer that helped us in just a few sessions, make Bongo a calmer, more confident Beagle hound.

When our current house was being built, and our old townhome had been sold, we stayed with my parents who have a bloodhound, named Sadie. Bongo was introduced into our home by the Tri Beagle Rescue, warning he was best in a single family home, and Bongo proved it as the bloodhound pupped, well hounded him. Much like his mother, Bongo can tend to get grumpy. He got tired of Sadie quickly and was ready for his new home as much as we were.

The toughest situation was at the current house, when our failing fence.. well failed. In the middle of the night, I let him out to use the restroom, only to after a couple minutes later realize he was gone, through a malfunctioning side gate. We scoured the neighborhood, and I was heartbroken when we couldn’t locate him. Luckily, Amanda came home later the next day early for lunch to post lost dog signs.

Hurt, he had somehow dragged himself back to our backyard and collapsed against the house. After a gutcheck moment of thinking he had collapsed and died in our backyard, the Beagle opened his eyes slightly and whined to Amanda. I don’t think either of us had been so relieved. After a rushed visit to the vet and a few days of recovery, his personality returned and our cuddly beagle was back.

A ton of pictures of Bongo can be found in his photoset in our Flickr account.