Lamar Thames

With the Westminster Dog Show just around the corner starting Feb. 15, I am reminded of Uno, the most famous beagle in the world after his improbable victory as best of show winner in the 2008.

For my money, Rusty the Wonder Dog is every bit his equal. Wonder Dog, as in “I wonder what he does all day?”

Rusty is the other man in my wife’s life. But I am OK with that. He’s a 10-year-old beagle who came to us with remarkable coincidence from a teacher who once taught at the same school as my wife.

I say coincidence, because in May 2007, my wife quit teaching at Paterson Elementary

Rusty the Wonder Dog

School with every intention to begin a life of leisure in retirement after 36 years in the classroom. Since she was going to be staying at home for the foreseeable future, she said she would like to have a dog to keep her company. OK, I said. Let’s start looking.

A few trips to Safe Animal Shelter, some pet stores and Clay County Animal Control, plus a couple of referrals from some friends, produced nothing as far as an acceptable pet for us. That’s when my wife saw a notice on the Paterson bulletin board that Alice Snyder had a dog for whom she wanted to find a good home.

We made an appointment to see Rusty on a Tuesday night. He was cute and loveable, as most beagles are, and completely acceptable to me as a new member of our household. My wife said that we would talk it over and get back to them about Rusty, but I knew differently. This dog wasn’t going to be going to any home but ours. As soon as Rusty licked my wife’s hand and rolled over for her to rub his belly, I knew the decision had been made.

I made it easy for her when I told her we should get him, but I really did want him. I had not had a dog in my household for more than 20 years and I thought it was about time. I am just glad she didn’t want a cat. I am not a cat person, for reasons that I could never be described in a family newspaper.

In another turn of events, my wife went back to work that fall as a curriculum specialist with the county school district and then the next year I “retired” from The Florida Times-Union and I am not Rusty’s daytime caretaker.

One of the good things about Rusty is that he came complete with a traveling cage, food and water bowl and two months’ supply of food. The cage even had his name, Rusty Snyder, stenciled on it, which caused Jack, our then 5-year-old grandson, to ask what the words were on the cage.

“That’s his name, Rusty Snyder,” Nana told Jack.

“Why did you give him a first and a last name?” the ever-observant Jack asked, much to my wife’s amusement.

After the Westminster show, Rusty Snyder became part of a worldwide phenomenon as a member of the beagle family. My wife was walking him in the neighborhood the day after the show and got many compliments from the neighbors about what a great looking dog he is. Almost everyone my wife and I talked to said they had watched part of the Westminster competition because a beagle was one of the favorites. A county commissioner in our area had a message on his business sign that said, “Beagle Mania.”

Thinking about Rusty reminds me of my previous pet, a Scottish terrier named Rags because of the matted condition of his coat. Rags was one of the most intelligent animals I have ever run across. He was forever climbing out of our backyard fence by going to one of the corners, bracing himself against one side of the fence and shimming himself until he could flip himself over the fence and be on his way.

He disappointed me one time, however, when we discovered a nest of mice in the pantry of the old house we were renting. As I was trying to shoo the mice out of the house, I urged Rags into action. “Go get ‘em, Rags,” I exhorted, hoping he would help me chase off the rodents.

Ol’ Rags was having nothing to do with the mice, however. He just sat there staring at me, as if to say, “Are you crazy?” He was probably right. Chasing mice wasn’t his thing and he knew it.

Somehow I think that also would be Rusty’s attitude. He’s pretty smart, too. Every night around 9 p.m. he stands in front of my chair as a reminder for me to take my nightly round of medications, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. Mind you, he does this without fail. Every night. Granted, he does get a portion of the snack that I take with the medications, but still . . . I think he’s pretty smart. After all, he chose to live with my wife and me. I’ll be watching the dog show again to see if another beagle can win top honors.