The second I saw Abby (aka Mira) on the Midwest BREW website, I knew she was “the one”. Thank you to Midwest BREW volunteers for saving her and then transporting her from OH to IL so she could rescue us.

She was a timid little girl when we brought her home and it was such a joy to watch her blossom into the confident little lovebug she was. She was our daily dose of humor and smiles. It didn’t matter if we were gone for 5 minutes or a few hours, her reaction was priceless every time we walked in the door. She loved going on her walks, running in the field with her daddy and she really loved when he brought flank steak in from the grill. She’d sit so patiently, watching, knowing she was getting a special treat very soon. The highlight of her day was the game we played every night after dinner, I would take her out to potty and then she’d run into the house knowing daddy was waiting for her on the floor with treats and she’d jump all over him for her treats and then of course get lots of kisses.

We noticed Abby was straining to urinate over the summer. After several vet visits and a surgery, she was diagnosed on November 7th with urethra cancer. We had to say goodbye a short two weeks later on November 23, 2016.

Her loss has left a huge hole in our hearts and our house. Even though we wanted so much more time with her, we’re grateful we had the chance to love her for seven and a half years.

She really was a special little girl and we miss her so much.

~ Ted and Mona Guy​

We had to say goodbye to our beagle boy, Zapp (formerly known as Leo) on May 2, 2017.

We found out a few weeks back that he had cancer, and it progressed rapidly over the last few weeks, until he stopped eating (a big deal for him, who spent so much of his life devising plans for eating things he shouldn’t!) or enjoying walks, and then we knew it was time to let him go. We already miss him so much.

I wanted to thank Midwest BREW for helping to bring him into our life. We got to share the second half of his life with him, and for that we are forever grateful. He made our lives so much better and we loved him so much. He wasn’t the perfect dog, but he was the perfect dog for us. We play in a band together, and we even included him in one of our recordings, and we wrote a song for him. This is the link:

https://outdoorvelour.bandcamp.com/track/zapps-song.

We will be making a donation to Midwest BREW in his memory.

~ ​Cara Kinnally and Greg Simpson

Sam was our second beagle rescue and brought such joy and love into our home. He loved to snuggle and go for walks with us and our lab Lucy. I always joked that he balanced the pace for walking as Lucy liked to walk very fast and Sam liked to stroll.

While his life with us was not as long as we would have liked, we are incredibly grateful for the time we had with him.

I pray that a cure for cancer can be found for both our pets and human friends.

Sincerely,

​~ The Boggess Family​

In May, 2006, we adopted our little boy Moses from BREW.On his first night in the house, I took the attached photo – he had found his home! More so, he had won our hearts. Every day for these past 11 years has been a joy to our family. He brought light and happiness to our lives every day. Each day I would arrive home and this happy “smiling” little guy was waiting for me. We enjoyed our long walks every morning and again every evening. We visited the dog park almost daily and went on boating trips with his friends. I attached his “Happy Moses” picture because that smile is what I saw every day and is how I shall always remember him.

In June 2017, we were told that our little boy had lymphoma. We began his chemo treatments immediately but after 3 weeks it was clear he was not responding. Yesterday we said goodbye to our sweet boy. Today my heart is breaking – each step of the day reminds me he is no longer with us. I know that the pain shall pass and in the end I will remember all of the wonderful moments of every day.

Sweet Moses – you were the absolute best part of our lives. Thank you for finding us so we could share life with you.

Love you always.

~  Pat, Paul, Zach, and Melissa

Good ‘ole Pirate… First and foremost, he’s a thief. He stole our hearts for sure.

My wife and I lost a geagle in 2010, our basset hound was lonely (so were we) so off to BREW we went. My only requirement was that our next beagle be very affectionate. Lovey dovey, a cuddler, however you’d like to say it. I found my notes from way back then, and under Buddy’s (Pirate’s) name it said “big time cuddler”. Oh yes. Good lord, what a cuddler!! Perfect. He joined our family in April of that year, he was a little unsure of daddy at first, but quickly realized he was the primary “petter”. Silly daddy would sit and pet Pirate for hours….sucker! As is the case with many rescued pets, poor Pirate had a rotten life prior to coming to reside with us. When healthy Pirate was a 35lb 15″ beagle. Big boy. When he was rescued he only weighed 18 lbs (he was about 7 years old)!! His life did a 180, and now he was livin’ the high life! Pirate lived on a lake and got to go fishing with daddy, “wooing” at all the passing boats, he really gave it to em!! We had a wonderful 7 years with Pirate, adding another BREW Beagle “Cloey” when his basset buddy passed on. Pirate didn’t have an aggressive bone in his body so Cloey was in charge from there on out, but he didn’t care. Just keep petting me, silly humans.

For maybe the last year Pirate started to get “old dog syndrome” as our vet put it. He started to lose weight, his back legs were getting progressively weaker, and he just slowed down in general. The upside for him (is there one?) was he got to eat fancy “sled dog” food and whatever else he wanted! He gained some weight back, but alas, the final blow was yet to come.

Around six months ago he began to wander the house and act confused. Dementia. Boooo!!

It worsened to the point where he was up all night getting stuck everywhere, and whining all the while. He was difficult to console, as the poor boy was constantly confused. Not sure he even knew exactly who daddy was anymore. His last day he couldn’t even eat nice succulent brat chunks with pain meds in them. Daddy couldn’t get him to drink water no matter how hard he tried (they forget how). The dreaded appointment was made, the balance of the day spent hugging and kissing our wonderful “Beagle Butt”….

During my grieving process, I became aware of Pirate’s twin brother Scoobie (from the Rainbow Bridge). The similarities were eerie, and just knowing I wasn’t the only one to go through what I had was comforting! Thank you Jim and Carol (and Scoobie).There will not be a day that goes by that I don’t think of my boy Pirate, we miss him very much, and always will.

“There are things that drift away like our endless, numbered days”

-Sam Beam – Taken from the song “Passing Afternoon” by Iron & Wine.

~ Jason and Bridgette Bonifield

My dear Leena (Belle) went to the Rainbow Bridge December 8, 2017. She was approximately 13 years old. 

I adopted Leena from Midwest BREW in June 2010 after she was rescued from an Amish puppy mill. She was originally adopted to “youthinize” Beagle Boy (BBoy), my previously adopted beagle. He found her at the 2010 Beaglefest, and it was love at first sight. All was well until Leena actually came home with us. It was an invasion of BBoy’s space! Leena allowed him to rule, but after he went to the Rainbow Bridge, Leena’s true personality came out.

What a sweet girl she was, but the most food aggressive dog I’ve ever owned! She had been known to grab something she wanted right from my hand if it was near enough. She never totally got the hang of doing her business outside, but puppy pads helped with that. She hardly ever used her voice. Sometimes I could hear her howling when I got out of my car in the driveway, but she would stop as soon as she heard my key in the door!

Unfortunately, Leena developed fast growing mammary tumors this fall. Her health was failing and she no longer seemed to enjoy her life. But, down to the end, her beagle appetite remained!

I miss her so much, and keep looking for her in her usual spots around the house.

~ Coby Mueller​

​​​We drove several hours from PA to VA to see little Baz – a lemon beagle. His heart was huge, but after being abused, little Baz was afraid of the world he lived in. Shortly after arriving bazhome, Baz ran away for 5 days after being frightened from the swaying clothes line. Fortunately, a near by neighbor came home and walked her dog who was pulling her to see something. The something was Baz tangled in some fencing with the retractable leash he pulled out of my hand. As we went to retrieve Baz, he was standing on her sofa wagging his tail!

He managed to escape one more time after the patio furniture scared him. Fortuantely, this was only overnight and the next morning I awoke to walk the walk we did daily. Lo and behold there was little Baz! Although frustrated, the tears welled in my eyes at the sight of him.

After accepting Baz for Baz, we eventually began to bond. We nurtured Baz to not be so afraid of the world and to stop hiding on the landing when visitors came to see us. Baz only needed love for short spurts and he was good, but always the tail wagged and he always greeted us.

Only after adopting a puppy did we truly realize how sheltered Baz was because of his abuse. He never played with the toys we purchased for him, every little noise scared him, all the belly rubs he missed out on and the list continues. It gives my husband and I greater appreciation for those who foster beagles -or any dog for that matter- until their forever home is found. We also love our puppy a little more because Baz would have wanted that.

We are grateful for everyone at Midwest BREW who had faith in us to adopt Baz and give him his forever home. We all brought each other a lot of love and joy over the 12 years we were together.

~ Deanne Buck​

On Tuesday, June 12, 2018 we lost our beagle Mo that we adopted from you. We adopted him on December 09, 2008. He had turned 17 this past December as we would celebrate his birthday on his gotcha day since we didn’t know the exact date except that he was born in 2000.

He was a very shy, scared, timid pup when we welcomed him into our home, but it didn’t take long for him to become the dog he was always meant to be. He was so loving, gentle and kind. He always waited his turn when he was curious about something, unless food was involved. We are so thankful for our time with him and we’re thankful he reached the age where we had him longer in our home, than without. We miss him terribly, but we are grateful for the time we had. He will always be missed, and he will always be our Moey Mousey, MoMo, Moey. Until we meet again sweet boy…

Love,

Matt, Kim and Lucy Brubaker
And beagle boy brother Chase

​I was trying to rescue a laboratory beagle, but somehow stumbled upon this elderly gem I named Glen. His past will always be a mystery, but my vet suspects he had a very difficult life. The few teeth he did have left were severely worn down, he flinched from human touch, and moved like his spine didn’t allow him to fully stand up. Midwest BREW suspected he suffered a stroke. We were able to find a diagnosis (cervical stenosis) and he was prescribed medicine that instantly improved his quality of life. Sometimes I was convinced he was 10 years younger! This little man instantly forgave humans and our love affair began. His favorite nap spot was in my lap even though I bought him 4 different styles of dog beds. We walked/waddled at the same speed when I was pregnant with my second daughter and he clearly made an impression on my oldest. “No momma that’s not Glenny, that’s my pal, G-man!”

But this is where we part ways, my friend. The 15 months I had with you were incredible. You taught me patience, to slow down and enjoy a good sniff (for you- mailboxes, and for me- Cabernet), and to continue rescuing. I only hope I had a similar impact on you in our short time together. You were an absolute angel Glenny and I will miss you every day. You’ll meet another crazy beagle up there named Lilja, be nice to her, she means well. I love you buddy, I hope you’re dancing in the sky. Rest in paradise my sweet boy.

~ Jessica Miller

In loving memory of our Sweet One, Boogie, the quiet beagle

We knew you hadn’t had an easy life before we met you, but when we met you and saw your sweetness, we knew we needed to give you forever love.

You weren’t a typical beagle….you didn’t howl, or bark or go sniffing… you had some persistent nose issues that kept you from being a full on sniffer. All you wanted was to be loved for the beagle you were and to be with us. So, we loved you as much as we could and it was easy. We helped you smile again and you, in turn, gave all that love back.

You were, silly, goofy, innocent, sweet and so loving! You went everywhere with us. You liked everyone and they liked you. As long as we were all together, all was right in your world. We were a family. You liked to go for rides in the car, resting your head on my arm, and go camping. You even went on some boat rides!

We have so many fond memories of you Boogs…from the first time we returned from a road trip and you ran around the yard smiling and excited to have a real home, to all of wonderful, sweet songs you would sing for us when we would come back to the house after being gone, all of the chair snuggles, lying in Mommy’s arms for sleeps and the nuzzles and loves we shared when we would look in the mirror together. You were a loving, loyal, constant companion. You were a good dog….simply
awesome!

You were also a brave dog…you fought hard to live before you came to us. To have come through all of the health issues you did, it was heartbreaking to know age would catch up with you and would get the best of you. We take great comfort in knowing you are no longer sick or in pain. You were a wonderful friend to us both and we were so proud to be your Forever Mommy and Daddy.

Thank you for choosing us Sweet One.

R.I.P. Boogie, until we meet again.

Love, Always and Forever,
Mommy and Daddy