My Beagle Bandit is Quite a Character

by Henry
(Alabama)

My dog, Bandit is a purebred Beagle. Like any dog, he is a dog that enjoys his walks, but the unfortunate thing is that he has gone beyond the average dog ability to recognize the signs that a walk is soon to happen.

Not only can you not say the word "walk," "run" or "jog" around him, but he gets excited if I tell my family that we are going for a "jaunt" or a "saunter". It doesn't matter. He still jumps around, runs through the house and howls at me. Sometimes I don't say anything. If Bandit even catches a single glimpse of me putting on my socks, he goes crazy!

This happens even if I don't plan on taking him for a walk. Sneakers are the worst. If he sees or even senses that I'm paying any attention to a pair of sneakers, all bets are off and I had better take him for a walk or I risk going deaf. It really does make perfect sense.

Bandit is your characteristic Beagle. He barks at everything, anything that either does or doesn't require barking, or anything that doesn't exist that he'll bark at anyway. He makes a very large attempt at communicating with my family and I. He'll answer questions as if he understands every word. Even if we're using words he is familiar with, like "food", "out", "water" or "treat" he will give a bark or howl as a response.

In addition, he also has that cute cocked-head look, but the best part of his communication skills is his tail. Of course every dog wags his tail, but since he was a puppy, Bandit has had a tail that I think is just too big for him. This tail wags his entire body so that he appears to be shaking his hips! It looks like some sort of canine hula dance and his body wiggles into banana shapes. It's absolutely hilarious.

Bandit just turned five last month. We make sure that he is eating exactly what he should be and he is not at all overweight. I am pretty sure that this contributes to his exuberant energy level and thus, his ability and willingness to communicate with us as much as he does.