The Dow Family

Dear BREW Beagle folks,

We adopted a dog from your organization in the spring of 2010. I had seen Brandy on your website and immediately fell in love withthis cute little dog. In less than a week my son and I attended one of your adoption “visits” at a Pet Smart store in Machesney Park, Illinois to see Brandy and the rest of the BREW Beagles on display. We immediately decided this is the dog we wanted and literally spent the next 2 hours walking and carrying her around the store to make sure that no one else was able to spend time with her.

I need to commend you and the rest of the BREW Beagle organization for a very thorough background check. There were also significant questions about how we would treat and care for our potential new dog. I do appreciate how some of the process was expedited and amazingly in less than three weeks Brandy was ours.

This little dog is a wonderful part of our family, a constant source of joy to my children and a “pack mate” to the other two beagles we have. She is full of energy, busy and loves to snuggle.

We want to thank you for allowing us the priviledge of adopting her and will always cherish the joy she has brought (and continues to bring) to our family. Please find enclosed some pictures of Brandy (actually now it is Brandi) and be assured we are doing everything possible to provide a rich full life for this wonderful little beagle.

Best wishes,
Richard Dow and Family

Erika McQuade

Just wanted to drop you guys a line and let you know how wonderful Wanda Woo Woo has been for the McQuade family. She has certainly livened up Frank who had a massive stroke before Wanda came to live with us. She makes him smile and he talks to her for hours and keeps his mind off his pain. As for Arlene, she has enjoyed Wanda as a companion so much and has seen more of her neighbors of thirty years lately since she is getting out and about when she walks Wanda around the neighborhood! Wanda is loving her forever home because it is just that, FOREVER and everyone comes and goes but there is always someone there for her to snuggle with. She has gained one pound but that is not too bad considering Frank tries to sneak her a little piece of whatever he is eating. She travels in the car well and keeps Arlene and Frank company on their trips to and from the doctors. She has learned to sing and shows off her talent whenever anyone comes to visit and is willing to sing along with her. She also enjoys playing with her cousin Cooper (a 3 year old beagle) and they run and play and tire each other out then settle on opposite ends of the couch to watch TV!

I hope this update finds you in good health and happiness, we are forever in debt to BREW Midwest for adding so much pleasure and happiness to all our lives by bringing Wanda to come live with us. Thank you so much.

Ann Duquaine

On April 11th, 2009,
The day was quite pleasant,
The weather was fine.
From Pittsburg to Wisconsin,
Young Stewart did come,
Because he had found,
His forever home.
His mom rubbed his belly
When he rolled on his back.
Brothers Ernie and Casey
Completed the pack.
Red and white Stewie
Had fur oh so soft.
Cuddling together,
He and mom did a lot.
Then it was off to training
To learn to be good.
Stewie learned just with praise,
No need to use food.
Trainer “Auntie Mary”
Always greeted with hugs and kisses.
When classes are over,
It will be her that he misses.
“Leave it” with treats
Stewie really hated.
But “Come” to his mama
Was his very most favorite.
“Sit”, “Down”, and “Stay”
Stewie learned with ease.
And soon he will test
For his CGC.
Giving kisses galore was
Stewie’s claim to fame.
“The Kissy Monster” was
His new nickname.
So Stewie is happy in
His brand new home.
He loves his brothers,
And especially his mom.
The only one he misses
is his great foster mom.

Drew and Kendra Klier

It has been a little over a year since I adopted this beautiful AARB beagle on April 13, 2014. Since that date my family has been more than complete. I am very fortunate that I found this rescue and was able to help a sweet, sweet little girl.

My Miss Mary fist came to the rescue from a life of hardship. I stumbled upon this rescue when looking for a friend for my beagle that I had rescued from the Nebraska Humane Society. So upon spending months looking and looking and going through the adoption process, my husband and I fell in love with Mary. My husband said it was her absolute gorgeous golden eyes. He looked at her and was like “WOW! Look at those eyes!”

Going through the process of adopting was great. This rescue makes you feel so comfortable and I never questioned anything throughout. When the day came and we got the date that we were going to get our little girl we were so excited. We talked with her foster mom weekly, if not a couple times a week. Then the day finally came. Mary had to be transferred from Pennsylvania to Michigan. With the help of beloved volunteers, which I Thank you so much, we were able to drive an hour and a half to just outside of Michigan to Indiana to get our girl.

We drove down with our beagle boy Ruppert, to meet his new sister. He was so excited in the car, he could hardly contain himself. While waiting for this little girl to show up we were very fortunate to meet even more volunteers of this amazing rescue that where helping another pup get to her forever home. Then the car pulled into the parking lot. We got Ruppert out, and then the volunteer came over and opened her passenger side door and there she was all snuggled and sleeping still, Little Miss Mary, such a sweet, sweet, girl. Apparently she slept the whole way!!!

She got out of the car and Ruppert immediately greeted her and became -from that day on- very attached to her. She was such a sweetheart. As the volunteers proceeded to leave and create more happy memories with more pups we spent sometime with our pups and then we journied back home. Again she slept the whole way home. When we got home she got to meet the dachshunds that lived with my parents and everyone got along great!!! We gave Mary a new scarf and just let her get used to her surroundings. That first night my Ruppert and my Little Miss Mary and I lay down and relaxed. Mary stretched out in between Ruppert and I, and the next thing I know she was snoring in complete relaxation.

We could not have expected to receive such a good sweet girl. She is daddy’s little girl in our family and my little snuggle bug. She loves to be right next to me and under some warm blankets. Two months after we got her, we took her and Ruppert camping and she did wonderful. She slept the whole time, even in the canoe!!! I could not have asked for a better pup. She fits in so well with the dachshunds. Ruppert is her keeper, he always make sure he knows where she is.

We have had an amazing time getting to know her. Our friends are always like “Oh, Little Miss Mary!!!” Mary has come leaps and bounds. She listens so good that we don’t even have to have her on a leash. She stays right by us. She is quite the hunter in the fenced in yard. She is aways trumping the boys in the hunting department.

Come November 2014 we were lucky to rescue another pup, though it was not a beagle, it was an old coonhound from the local pound. Since we have adopted the coonhound him and Mary has been attached at each other hips, along with Ruppert. It’s our tri-colored pack.

Mary has become a great Michigan State Spartan fan, sporting her cheerleading outfit every game day. She loves her sweaters and loves to be snuggled.
As April 13, 2015 approached we were very excited to celebrate Mary’s first year with us. We use that date as her birthday. We got her a very cute birthday tutu. She got a spa day with our groomer and an ice cream party with her brothers. We are so happy with adopting Mary and we look at the website daily to see if we can help with anything. Mary, though she has been through a rough life both physically and mentally, she has been a very healthy and happy pup. We are just very happy to help an old folk pup like herself and her brothers. We thank her foster mom, who has done wonders with helping animals in need and stay in great contact with her to let her know everything that is going on.

We look forward to many more years with this sweet, sweet little snuggle bug. And we thank MW BREW for what they do and for providing us with a great dog. We highly recommend you to other people and we look to work with you more in the future. Hopefully we can bring Mary down to Beaglefest to show how well and happy she is.

Thank you so much and Mary thanks you too.

Drew and Kendra Klier
Ruppert, Mary. Johnny Cash

Alicia and David Abdilla

My husband and I adopted a sweet little boy beagle from you back in October 2014, and I wanted to let you know how well he is doing.  When we first got him he instantly was attached to me, but not so much my husband or our other two dogs.  Now he is very happy not only when I get home, but when my husband does too!  He has learned to love his fur siblings and he is sad when we take him places without them.  He is still a little skittish of new people, and gets nervous when there is a house full of people, but he is improving more and more everyday. He has become a great addition to our family, and we couldn’t be happier with him.  Thank you so much for giving us a chance to give this guy a great forever home, we love him.

Lisa and Sean Courtney

When I first saw Ruthie’s profile on the BREW site, I said, “That’s my dog.”  My old beagle, Spot, had passed away a few months earlier at age 12, and I missed having a a tri-colored hound in my life.

Ruthie has been with us for almost three years.  She shows extraordinary ability in sleeping.  Unlike most dogs I know, Ruthie is not up at first light.  She would rather stay snuggled in bed with us until we get up.  The lady knows that she needs plenty of beauty sleep to preserve her good looks.

Her laziness once was the cause of a minor injury.  We boarded her while we took a short trip to Michigan.  As we were getting ready to return home, I got a call from the owner of the kennel.  Evidently, Ruthie was lounging near two dogs who were play-fighting.  One dog fell on Ruthie, spraining her leg.  She did not mind at all having to be carried up and down the stairs for the next three days!

Ruthie loves people.  When we’re out for a walk, she will often plant herself in the path of another person and will not move until she is adored.  She flirts–even batting her eyelashes–and wags her tail so hard that it spins.

Every summer, we take a road trip to the Jersey Shore and we bring Ruthie with us.  Not only does she get to meet more people and sniff new smells at the ocean, she gets to ride the elevator in the hotel.  When the elevator doors open, she prances out like a princess.

She is a quiet beagle, somewhat pensive but never stressed out.  She practices yoga daily, executing a perfect Downward-Facing Dog pose.  She encourages us to live by her example.

At dinner time, she performs her famous “Snoopy Dance” to show her excitement over her food.  She is also particular towards Chinese food; she once helped herself to an egg roll and some soup that we accidentally left in her reach.

Ruthie is a constant source of joy in our lives.  We are so thankful to have her!

Lisa and Sean Courtney
Chicago, IL

Jerrod and Heather Holley

In early February of 2015, our family decided that we would like to adopt a fourth beagle. We had three beagles at that time, Lucky, 15 years old, Jazzy, 7 years old, and Wrigley, 2 years old. I had recently become a volunteer for Midwest BREW and our family started going through the adoption process.

A few weeks into the adoption process, we lost our 15 year old beagle, Lucky. We were hoping that he would live long enough to integrate the newest beagle into the pack. Our hearts were broken and our other two remaining beagles were depressed from the loss of Lucky. During the adoption process, I was fortunate enough to meet Liara because Liara’s foster mom is the Indiana events coordinator for Midwest BREW and I volunteer for her region. My husband met Liara, she put her paw on him, looked into his eyes, and it was a done deal.

We adopted Liara, now Lia, on February 21, 2015. Lia is the most amazing beagle. Ever. She licks so hard and so much because she has so much love in her heart. She is goofy and kooky. She makes the goofiest snorkel and singing sounds that crack our family up. She is basically a beagle comedian. She listens well. She knows commands and tricks. She has this move when she doesn’t want to do something she pulls this awesome “slug” move and is pretty much dead weight. We just laugh, pick her, up, and off she goes. She loves being outdoors. We have a fenced in yard that she and her beagle siblings play in. We love to take them to the local dog park, too! She totally loves running with the big dogs at the dog park. She is a perfect match for our 2 year old lemon beagle, Wrigley. Wrigley and Lia have bonded unbelievably. They are inseparable. Jazzy and Lia are close girlfriends and we even have spa days just us three girls.

I truly believe that Lucky sent Lia to us. She is an angel. We could not imagine our lives without her sweet face in it. Lia was waiting for us. Our family can never thank certain people (who just knew she was right for us) and Midwest BREW enough for bringing our Lia into our lives.

Kathryn Ramsdellemma

My husband and I wanted to adopt a dog and were setup with with this group. I was introduced to Emma, a 7 month old little girl.

Since I was not able to meet her, I had to have faith in the foster parents to provide me with information. That being said, Emma is a great addition to our family. She is sweet and truly loves her family. She celebrated her first Christmas this year and is learning what it means to be a spoiled beagle baby in our house. She and our older beagle, Riley, get along well and have really settled into being siblings.

Attached is a picture of Riley and Emma during Christmas (Emma is in the thicker stripped sweater) and laying next to each other on the couch (Emma on the left).

John and Sara

Ziggy, Annie, Cindy, and TJ were all saved and adopted through Midwest BREW. They came to us with their very own sad stories:

Ziggy was heartworm positive and was surrendered by his previous owners. He was a day away from being euthanized when Midwest BREW stepped in and saved him.

Annie was covered in ticks and fleas and had a growth on her leg when found as a stray.

Cindy was emaciated and terrified of people. She spent 3 days hiding under the coffee table when she first arrived in our home.

And last but not least, TJ. TJ had been hit by a car and left in the middle of the road with a broken leg, a dislocated hip and a fractured pelvis. The driver never stopped. Cars were simply going around him until a good samaritan came to his help. He was so emaciated that we could easily put our hands around his waist. It took 3 surgeries, months of therapy and tons of loving care to get him back in shape.

But that’s all in the past. Fast forward to today and they are very much loved, very much cared for, and totally spoiled beautiful and healthy beagles. They are the light of our lives and we can’t imagine having a home without those four sweet, loving, howling bundles of joy.

We can’t thank Midwest BREW enough for making it possible for us to adopt our furbabies. But they can rest assured that -as long as we’re alive and well- those four sweeties will always have good food, warm beds, medical attention, and all the love of our hearts. And if we leave this world before they do, legal arrangements have been made to ensure they will be loved and cared for after we are gone.