Meet the Beabulls! Mill Dog Rescues Learn Freedom!

Beabulls! (Beagle Bulldog Blends)
Under a year young
Neutered and vaccinated

Mr. Personalities

Rescued from a puppy mill situation on April 21, this is what Luke and Alex’s foster family, Kim and Tim Clune, learned in their first few weeks:

Luke and Alex, are gentle, friendly, and kind spirited people-dogs who love to do everything together. Alex has speckled ears, Luke a speckled nose, and both are adorable beyond words. At just 25 pounds and under a year of age, these little guys will curl into the center of your heart and live there forever.

Luke: NOW ADOPTED!

Read Luke’s adoption story, “Luke, the Rescued Mill Pup, Goes Home!” MUST SEE VIDEO!

Patience is Luke’s strong suit, as evidenced by living with his little friend. Tiny Alex likes to be the boss of Luke, but Luke remains kind and sweet no matter the stolen toy or bop on the nose from a stray paw. There is rarely a growl or bop back. He just gregariously lumbers on his way to the next fun thing.

Luke is as fond of people as he is of his brother. He’ll sit in your lap and rub your face with his head, fully enjoying soft caresses and quiet time.

Alex: NOW ADOPTED!

Read Alex’s adoption story, “Rescued Mill Puppy Picks Tulips for New Mom on Mother’s Day!” MUST SEE VIDEO!

Alex has his own playtime agenda, but he too loves a soft caress, having overcome his fear of hands reaching over his head in a matter of days. If you tickle his inner thigh, his leg stretches back and out in sheer bliss, nearly toppling him over. It’s a wonderful signal of a growing trust, but he does it only with women so far. He can be a bit hand-shy of tall men.

[Week three: These roles have entirely reversed.]

Luke + Alex = Joy!

In a large fenced yard now, Luke and Alex have tested the limits of what their little bodies can do. Racing top speeds around the perimeter for long sprints, they’ve come to truly enjoy this release from the confines of tiny puppy mill pens. Collars are now tolerated and leash walking is a work in progress with terrific strides toward success.

Even with 5 toys in the yard, a single toy often ends up with an end in each one’s mouth. These two ceaselessly run in step, toy in mouths, side by side like charging cart horses. Every morning, we just watch and laugh, breaking only to ensure proper play when excitement heightens. [Week 3: While they are now learning to play with a toy or chew a bone on their own, this is still the scene, more often than not.]

 

Luke loves to pounce upon a windswept leaf, run nose-in-the-air after a low flying robin, or flop down with a tossed stick. He also trots in step at your ankles. Alex loves to run top speed too, typically after Luke who, with legs twice as long, always gets ahead.

Once exhausted, after a hearty half-hour run three times a day, they sleep quietly  in the fluffy bed of each crate, now that they’ve learned new house sounds. If something sounds awry, they’ll let you know, baying for a few moments. Once the alarm is sounded, they quiet right back down.

A+ Accomplishments

A quick and fearless learner, Luke mastered the basement steps in a matter of minutes. He then patiently taught his speckle-eared sidekick, Alex, who can manage but only recently perfected his form. (Mill dogs are often dept-perception challenged, having only lived in a cage.)

Even with Luke’s guidance, Alex still needed some remedial instruction:

This video is such a metaphor for what we’ve experienced with these sweet souls in their first week of freedom… one step forward, two steps back, some hesitation, mostly charging forward fearlessly, and a strengthening of trust. Sometimes, there are sweet surprises that come from those first steps and, at the end of every attempt and triumph, the joy, pride and love is enormous.

Washers and dryers are now standard fare, as we’ve used them often for their bedding. What was once puppy TV as the dryer spun nary warrants a glance anymore.

Both are excellent travelers in a crate and masters of companionship. Once they learn more about the now human world they live in, and they are learning fast, you’ll have some compact friends who will go where you go and do what you do with smiles on their faces – and yours. And when you can’t be there, they can sit content without you for several hours at a time.

Lessons Yet to Learn

• What’s with the reflections in windows, mirrors, televisions and furniture? They just know there are other dogs in there.
• Although weather man Steve Caporizzo drove them to safety from Ohio’s mill, I guess they don’t like him on TV. Hair on end, they were all “Woo woo woo wooooo! Who is that man in the wall?” Thankfully, they no longer howl at big, talking heads and TV is no longer a perceived threat – most of the time.
• Cats have only been seen through a window with mixed reviews. Often the pups bark and paw at them, other times, they just watch.
• They bark at the mop but never the broom.
• The vacuum cleaner is still a stranger.
• They’re beginning to learn that couches are not for mountain climbing, pillows are not to be disemboweled and socks are not for stealing.

Alex, although smaller, can hold his bladder longer, while Luke is still learning. They go outside 4-5 times a day but for at night (when they last from 11pm to 5:30 am). We’ve begun a several day run of no accidents in the house. Considering a lifetime of being forced to relieve themselves in crates where they slept and ate, there is great improvement here and it’s getting better all the time. They are so very eager to please.

The Beabulls met children for the first time on May 2. Tracey Bowman Hempel brought her sons Morgan and Luke, children who know how to treat dogs right, for a visit. This will go a long way toward easing these pups’ minds about little people. Alex warmed up somewhat quickly while Luke kept a wary eye, coming around for a cuddle and a bit of play only after a lot of circling around. (In the Amish mills, children often care for the dogs. This could explain the lack of trust.)

Won’t you share your patient guidance to help mold these pups into the best dogs they can be? Luke and Alex’s happy faces and wagging tails will greet you with nothing but cheer each and every time your eyes meet. And put together, these little guys only amount to a single dog – with twice the personality!

While sponsored by Dog House Adoptions, these dogs are part of the CAPP program. Please visit our rescue network friends:

• Companion Animal Placement Program Inc. (CAPP)
  application process, adoptions fees and and printable applications
• Healthy Pet Center (Troy or Delmar)
  in-person application pick-up
• Email CAPP with questions!