Pam was as distressed as I had been to see Lula's condition. After I had taken Lula to the woods a couple of times, Pam noticed that her teats and belly were getting scratched. She called our veterinarian, Dr. Kristine Sands, and asked if she could bring Lula in. Her idea was to have a tummy tuck done on the Lulabelle so that she wouldn't get scratched up. Dr. Sands did some testing and told us that Lula had some internal problems and that an operation would be needed. I called Jim and told him of this. He said he couldn't (or wouldn't) afford to take care of her so I told him that I would and that I would not be bringing Lula back to him. Finally ... Lula was part of my family!

The operation went well and doc told us that Lula had been sick for a long time. The problem had been with her ovaries. Evidently after having her last litter including Molly in 1996, her ovaries went caplooey. That's a technical medical term! They continued to signal her body that she was pregnant and she continued to produce milk and other hormones that depleted her body over the years. The ovaries were removed, she came home and her breasts shrank. Now mind you, they didn't shrink back to her "I'm a year old with firm boobs!" days, but they did get much smaller and did not get scratched as much when she did her thing in the woods. While this ailment was treated successfully, Lulabelle's medical trials were not over.

Early on, when I was handling Lula as we tracked deer, she would occasionally have a seizure-like experience. I attributed it to heat stroke as it was often very hot when we were trailing deer. I always had plenty of water and kept them satisfied in the thirst department but the heat was still omnipotent. When Lula came to live with us, we noticed that she would occasionally have these seizures while at home. We learned on the internet that beagles are susceptible to epilepsy so off to the vet's we went. Dr. Sands gave Lula phenobarbital and the seizures seemed to lessen in number but persisted.

Later, when she was tested again, the vet discovered that her thyroid was not functioning properly and gave her soloxine. When taking both meds, Lula was like a zombie. It took a year of trial and error on Pam's part but we finally got her off the pheno and got the dose of the other right. After that, she was seizure-free, alert and the ol' Lula we had known.

Lula, full of 'kisses'.

Lulabelle became a permanent member of the family after the operation. The most loving member, always wanting to love and be loved. If you ignored her or at any time she felt the need, she would come up and nuzzle you. She got to do this when I would be working on reports at my computer in the evening. She would come up to the side, put her front legs on my lap and nuzzle my hand away from the keyboard to get me to pay attention to her. I would push away from the desk and she would jump into my lap and lather me with kisses 'til it got to be irritating to me. Then I would put her down and she would wander into the other room until she needed more attention and the process started over. I rarely didn't give her the attention and affection she wanted.

Lula's 12th Birthday announcement.

Remember about Lula's birthday? Well, Pam does daycare and she and her charges will take any excuse for a party. We had birthdays for everyone but Lula, so ... March 29 it became and everyone partied hearty on that day or the nearest weekday to it that the kids would be around. Lula got to wear a party hat—I got pictures—and eat all the cake and ice cream she wanted. A real queen for a day! She also became the number 1 dog in the family. That was the number we bleached onto her side.

Molly and Lula with their party hats on.

Later in 1998 Lula didn't have to come for her vacation. She was a permanent fixture, sucking up all of the air conditioning and iced water she wanted. She also had a penchant for hot chocolate, as we learned. Pam would make a cup and sip it as she watched television. During commercials she would go onto the screen porch to smoke, as she does not smoke in the house. Often she would come back to an empty cup and a beard of chocolate foam on Lula.

In the fall after archery season, I purchased a hunting truck for us. A true hunting truck: old, with missing parts, a CB radio and a dog box. It was a green 1973 Datsun [see photo, next page]. You remember them before they became uppity and changed their name to Nissan. We called it the Green Bomb or the Mulamobile. It didn't have four-wheel drive but it would bust through the woods pretty good. Lula, Molly and I became an inseparable hunting team from then on. We spent many weekends in the forest together. That first year I would sneak the girls out to the woods on weekends and let them run, hunting season or not.

Continued—»