Today was a Ripley day, with the morning spent amongst his many friends and fellow beagles at the Al Lopez Park in Tampa. The Tampa Bay Beagle Rescue holds these "meet & greets" several times a month, and today the bell was rung twice as two families completed the adoption of their rescued beagle, and took the dog to its "fur ever" home.
Tampa Bay Beagle Rescue (check out their web site) does an excellent job in placing dogs, starting with a foster family. That's Ripley's foster mom, Lori, holding him, and his foster dad, Kevin, in the background. Today Lori and my wife were able to spend a lot more time talking about Ripley, and we learned that he's come a long way from when Lori and Kevin got him. They're very happy with Rip, and glad for us, but we know they miss this little guy. If we go on vacation, Ripley has an open invitation to stay with them.
While in Tampa, Ripley discovered his inner beagle AND his voice - he's been a notably quiet dog, but when he discovered the fun of running with the pack, he jumped in with all four paws. We haven't heard him say that much in the two months we've had him. Ripley also asserted himself quite well, in telling a couple of the more ambitious beagles he wasn't interested in their overly amorous instincts. Now we know the beagle words for "put that pistol back in it's holster, I'm not having any of that stuff today".
On the way back to Sarasota, Ripley slept. We were going to stop at a pet store and purchase some dog shampoo (did you know the best stuff has oatmeal in it?), but when we got there we also saw a "mobile pet wash" called Bubbles. So, we bought the shampoo for another day, but spent $12 to get Ripley all clean, shiny and smelling much better. The dog park is a great place for fun, but in the end, fun is only the first three letters in the word funky, and that's how he smelled.
As I write this, he's still asleep in the corner, and after a hard days work at the dog park, no wonder.
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