When Annie Morris flopped down to watch an Airport Reality show on Thursday night, she fell instantly in love with an earnest young creature sporting big brown eyes and an obsession with stylish baggage. And no, it wasn’t the sexy-but-suspect Spanish backpacker!

Annie had fallen for one of the world’s most family friendly and lovable dogs — The Beagle. Adorable they might be, but one year on after rushing out to buy the three month old pup, Annie realized she’d bitten off more than she could chew, unlike the Beagle!

What kind of work do you do?
I work as a palliative care nurse in the community which means I drive round in my car visiting the dying. I’m often asked if it’s depressing but it’s not. It can sometimes be challenging and sad, but it’s always a privilege. I meet the most amazing people of all ages and walks of life and feel that I’m actually preparing (in a good way) for my own death when I meet these wonderful life coaches.

Any family?
I’m a sole parent of three children, 8, 10 and 17. The ten year old’s a rose between 2 thorns if you know what I mean. We’re a bit of a chaotic household with kids, friends, two dogs and one Siamese cat. I’m the responsible adult in charge of order and the house often feels a bit like “Ab Fab” with periodic attempts at serious parenting.

Between my kids, home and work, I don’t have time for a hectic social life which is why my pets are important — we take them to the park, meet our doggie friends, and chat about Mutt Stuff while they play and exhaust themselves. It’s a lovely way to unwind at dusk after a busy day.

How did your animals enter your life?
Well, first came Penguin. He was this little feral kitten that was found in a box of flowers and abandoned in the park. He remained wild for life, grabbing ankles around doorways when you least expected and sinking his teeth in.

Then came Priscilla our Siamese. She lived six doors up when she came to stay. Her owners were renting and at work all day. I was home with three kids and she heard the babble of play and pretty much moved in. I put her out each night for a week, the last time in the rain. She just sat there looking in on us. I put a note on her collar to tell her owners where their cat was, but we heard nothing. Ever since, I’ve had a beautiful, cuddly foot warmer sleeping under my doona!

I’d promised the kids we’d get a puppy when the cats ‘disappeared’ and when Penguin fell off the back fence (RIP), the time seemed right. Priscilla pined for her old mate and we set about fixing her loneliness. In a bizarre moment of impulsiveness, I decided on a beagle — such cute ears! We found Lily in the Trading Post, three months old and gorgeous. So began the most chaotic year of my life.

How so?
All dogs are pack animals by nature but beagles are particularly so. LilBil (as the kids call her) hated being left alone when I went to work. She actually had separation anxiety, shaking and crying on our return, not to mention the destructiveness whilst we were away! And it was like she had to keep frenetically busy destroying everything in her path to cope.

Everything?

Yep. Everything, including (but not limited to):

• my Dad’s underwear;
• one leg of lamb;
• three packets of chocolate muffins (that’s 24!)
• umpteen loaves of bread;
• prescription drugs
• my daughters brand new Swatch Watch;
• the car gear stick;
• too many shoes to mention;
• library books;
• a street directory;
• stacks of photo albums;
• sheets still fitted to our beds;
• an electric blanket.

And my whole back garden! Need I go on!?

What did you do to cope?
People around me were saying that Lily really needed to have a mate, preferably another beagle. But after all the problems I was having with Lily, I just couldn’t come at that, it would’ve killed me!

In fact I felt pretty ambivalent about having another dog at all! What if any dog I got made things worse, not better? At that stage I was seriously stressed by the daily damage being done to my house and garden! So I decided that if I did get a second dog, it’d have to be small. Surely, no other dog was going to be as much trouble as a Beagle and it might just help to settle her down, so I took the risk.

And you found one?
Let me tell you, I was desperate!

Every day I checked the pound websites and missed out on a few little dogs I was keen on. Often the cute dogs on rescue sites or pounds are snapped up by the time they’re listed and I was getting more and more disappointed and frustrated. Finally, I found Rocky, a little Maltese x Shitzu in the “Trading Post.” He’d been rescued by the same lady who’d given him to some people two years before and they’d just neglected him. She’d had him de-sexed, shaved within an inch of his life because of his matting, and advertised him in the paper. She told me I could have the first option on him if I came straight away — an hour and a half’s drive away to Lilydale!

Luckily I had a day off so I threw LilBil in the car, packed our lunch and went on a mission from god! Rocky really was the ugliest little dog! Not my type at all — shaven with buggy eyes and an overhanging bottom jaw that my daughter and I had always scoffed at before. But I’d driven all this way and I’d promised Lil we were going to get someone for her. And then this little guy jumped into my arms and snuggled in.

I thought — “It’s okay, he’ll look better when his hair’s grown.”

And so was Lil happy with Rocky?
Definitely. Luckily, Rocky’s quite robust and he put up with the grueling daily playful pummeling from Lily. Lily still destroyed everything, but was much happier doing it!

What do you most love about Lil?
Definitely her crazy ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” beagle nature.

Living with her was stressful but she had this beautiful nature and this wild sense of fun. And unlike most beagles, she could be off lead at the park or beach and would always return on command saying with her eyes, “Here I am! I love you too!”

From your own personal experience, what advice would you give to anyone with a pet like yours?
I’ve got an impulsive personality and believe me, it’s not the way to buy a dog.

I know so much more about beagles now. They’re strong willed, stubborn and difficult to train, hence they need firm boundaries and consistent messages. We loved her too much and gave her too much reign. We gave her an inch and she took a mile.

How did you end up adding value to Lil’s life overall?
Look, the crunch came when she dug out yard and was found wandering the streets by our neighbour. We live right by a very busy highway and her death would only be a matter of time.

With great sadness, we got help from Tam at Beagle Rescue to help us find Lily a safe and happy home. We gave Lily to a beagle savvy family who have had beagles over 30 years and understand the beagle mind. They know how to put boundaries around her behaviour, whilst still loving her as we did. And they have Cooper, a male beagle that she can play with all day long. Lily didn’t look back as she left us. She was just going off on another exciting adventure. But we cried all day. Lucky for Rocky, we’re fostering a little guy from Rigby’s Rescue until he finds his forever home. He’s keeping Rocky amused until we carefully plan our next move. We all know a lot more about bringing up a dog right now!

A bit about owning a Beagle

Beagles are a great family dog. They’ve got a dynamite happy go lucky nature, have wonderful, well-rounded personalities, are full of pep, are loyal and patient with a fantastic ways with kids, not to mention being also highly intelligent.

However, if you’re a first time dog owner, you might want to ask yourself a few “reality check” questions before bringing one home.

Are you a Family kinda peson?
Beagles need two legged friends to spend heaps (and I mean bucket loads) of time with. A Beagle won’t just chill out in the backyard twiddling her paws either. No siree Bob! Their hound nature means that they’ll have your neighbours baying for your blood as your Beagle bays for your attention!

The Beagle has been bred as a pack dog (you’ve seen Royalty ride off with a pack of Beagles looking for some poor bloody fox right?). As such it’s got one of the strongest needs of all dogs to be part of a family. Your Beagle needs constant human or canine company. No two ways about it.

Got a backyard like Fort Knox?
Beagles have got a nose to make a professional wine taster green with envy with a hunting spirit to match. Your backyard therefore, should be 100% absolutely, positively escape proof! The smallest hole will have a Beagle scratching its way out to follow a scent across the River Styx, and then you gotta pay the ferryman, and ..boy, it just becomes a big hassle, ya know?

Does the idea of Beagleproofing every single cupboard in your house sound like your ideal weekend?
Again, it’s the nose thing. If there’s food to be had in the kitchen, the Beagle will find it, tear it apart and eat it alive.

Same goes for shoes, handbags, bras, lipsticks. Well, lets just keep it simple shall we and say everything and anything he can get his chops around.

Are you a Buddhist at heart?
Meaning, can you “surrender” and chill out when your house, clothes and garden have been destroyed. Experienced Beagle breeders say that it’s bound to happen sooner rather than later in your Beagle’s lifetime.

If you can answer yes to all of the above then YAY! Your Beagles gunna love ya and the rewards are many — they’re a gentle dog without a “bad” bone in their bodies — and they’re great with kids under the age of 10.