If I had to choose one word to describe our beagle Cricket, many would come to mind: sweet, loving, energetic; and sometimes intense, focused, persistent, bossy, and stubborn. But the one word I would settle on would be “happy”. She took joy in everything she did, whether enthusiastically playing with balls and toys, dipping in her swimming pool, walking at full speed, or just sniffing around her yard. Her constantly wagging tail and smile, even when “yelling” at me to hurry up and throw the ball, were true evidence of that.
We got Cricket from a local breeder, and I’ll never forget her first night with us. We tried to get her to sleep in a crate next to the bed, but that didn’t last long at all. I remember holding a sleeping puppy while watching the Red Sox win the World Series. We were happy and excited about that, but there was no loud cheering since we didn’t want to wake her. I’ll never forget how tiny she was as a puppy and holding her on my chest and thinking how we had this little life to care for. Just two days before, her soon-to-be golden retriever siblings had been born. It was a joyous day in so many ways, with so much to look forward to.
We became the crazy people with four dogs and four cats, but we embraced it, even though those 3 puppies had me pulling my hair out at times!
We brought Cricket into our lives to be a beagle sibling for our other beagle, Kobi, who had been devastated when we lost his sister, our Lab mix Maggie. It took us some time to find a beagle, and she was just one of three beagles in a litter, and the last one not spoken for. We were able to visit her at the breeder on several occasions before we finally brought her home.
It’s etched in my mind the first time that little dog chased a ball, and then brought it back to me. We had no idea that beagles enjoyed playing fetch (Kobi had no interest), and absolutely no idea what we were getting into when it came to that. Thirteen years of fetch almost every day! She ruled her golden siblings and she ruled the ball games every time. If she was injured or not feeling well, no one else had a clue how to play the game (Luke still doesn’t). Cricket didn’t just love but lived to play ball, and that is the one consolation about her unexpected passing….she played ball right up until the day she died. It wasn’t quite daily just recently, but pretty darn close. There was a time I probably got tired of the daily ball play, but eventually that routine became so ingrained in me, I am now lost without it.
She did branch out at times and occasionally play with a disc toy, but only if there was not a ball available. Whatever Cricket decided to do, she did 100% and I am not surprised that even a bad heart didn’t slow her down much.
Cricket was a “princess” at times, and she liked to get her way. She not only ruled the ball games, she ruled all her siblings (other than Kobi) all the time. While I would call her the sweetest dog in the world, her siblings might have disagreed at times. There was more than once that I had to literally haul her off Sheba, and there was the time that Cricket and Moses got into a fight over a toy. I had seen it coming, and tried to get in there and intervene, but I was too late. My wrist ended up in Cricket’s mouth, and even though she didn’t break the skin (her teeth were worn down from the excessive ball chewing), my wrist was bruised and sore for many days.
When Luke joined our family, he quickly learned not to mess with that little dog, and he respected her authority. I worried about their relationship after Sheba was gone, because he did not respect Sheba (though he loved her very much). Fights might have broken out if Sheba had fought back, but she never did. I was afraid that he would push it with Cricket, who would absolutely not back off. There were a couple of scuffles over food, but in the end, Luke did learn that she was the boss.
Cricket was sweet but feisty and tough. She never wanted to be seen as weak, and that was why some of the scuffles happened with Sheba (for example, I’d accidentally stepped on her paw, she would squeal, and then attack poor innocent bystander Sheba!). That also makes me wonder if she has felt worse than she ever let on over the last few weeks, but we’ll never know for sure. We do know, however, that she was still smiling, and her tail was wagging as much as ever. Watching her cruise around the yard with a ball in her mouth, and her tail in full motion never got old.
She loved the snow in the winter, and her pool in the summer. We tried swimming a couple times, and though she could easily swim, it was not her favorite thing. When she once let a ball float away, I knew that was it for swimming! But she was not afraid of water, and she loved to cool off in her swimming pool. While her retriever siblings would only ever stand up in it, she would lay right down to cool off, often with her ball between her paws for safekeeping.
Cricket was extremely high energy, and when she was younger would play ball non-stop; we’d get bored with it long before she would. We often called her “the Energizer Bunny”. She also loved playing with stuffed toys, but mostly only if one of the bigger dogs had already destroyed and de-stuffed it. There was something about those “carcasses” that attracted her. She would make the sweetest little noises, that I called “humming” when she was chewing away on a toy.
Before Luke came along, Cricket was the kisser in the family. She would get up in your face and lick you all over until you could no longer breath! Cricket loved everyone, and often gave that same treatment to company like my sisters and friends. She could, however, sometimes be shy of strange men and there was a spell where she was always barking at my brother-in-law, who loved her (he had beagles of his own). We never did really know why.
She loved the warmth of the wood stove and enjoyed lying in front of it; though this winter the chair or couch were more her favorites. Perhaps her older bones liked the comfort of the soft furniture better, though she was still there some.
While Cricket’s rather sudden passing was very hard on us, it went exactly as I had wanted it to for her. She had slowed down some, but still enjoyed playing with toys, rolling in the snow in the yard, and standing by the pantry waiting for her treats. That morning I left for Maine, she enjoyed her breakfast thoroughly. When Dadz got home later, she played some ball.
Just before she took her last breaths, she was out in our yard sniffing around as she loved to do many evenings; and she passed away quietly in her favorite chair with most of her family beside her. Her last day here on earth, she was exactly as she had been through her whole life: happy. That is how I will remember her forever.
Cricket was a very special dog and we understand how much she will be missed. But how lucky you were to have her and for so long. The best thing about having a pet blog is documenting your life with your pets so that the memories never leave. Sandra and Dolly
You are so right about that. Thank you so much, Sandra and Dolly. ♥
Thank goodness for memories! I hope they are helping you in easing the pain of her passing. I think this would probably be a post I would revisit, especially during those hard days.
Still thinking of you all.
Thank you, Jodi. I also think it’s something to come back to months down the road when memories are fading a bit. Sometimes we forget little details, and it’s nice to be able to come back and read about them. Ii do that often when looking back at old blog posts and thinking “oh, I forgot all about that!”. I think it helps our past pets to come back to life a bit for us. ♥
Such beautiful memories, I too think Happy describes her best. I always loved her happy smile in her photos.
I’m so glad I could share her life and bring smiles to others. ♥
What a sweet sweet girl your Cricket was. I can tell that you loved all parts of her, even the feisty part that sometimes led to trouble. I love feisty dogs myself so I loved Cricket from afar. I am so glad that she was happy right to the end. If there has to be an end, that’s the best way for it to be. I actually admire all that you said about her – she was a tough but such a happy girl. I am so sorry that you are sad right now. I’m sending you hugs and love.
Thank you so much! I love that you also appreciated Cricket’s diverse personality. 🙂
What a beautiful story of your sweet family member. I wish our dogs would like to fetch, but none of them seem to care. Cricket sounds like a special soul.
She certainly was, thank you so much. ♥
Very sweet post. Cricket was a special girl. We never have enough time with our furbabies. XO
No, we never do. 🙁 Thank you.
Awe what a lovely post about your sweet Cricket! You could definitely see through your blog that she was a sweet happy girl!!
xoxo,
Matt, Matilda & Mama
It was such a joy to share her happy life with others who care. ♥
Stunningly beautiful post. I’m speechless. So much I didn’t know about Cricket – so many more reasons to love her. She was just Cricket. And for anyone who knows her, that’s just the only way to describe it.
What a lovely comment. Thank you so much.♥♥♥
Such a lovely walk down memory lane with Cricket, wow. Really no words except how much we loved these years you had together and how wonderful a dog she was, and how much we will miss her. Those faceplant kisses and endless ball playing will forever be treasured!
What a wonderful and beautiful life story!!
Such a beautiful tribute for Cricket.
3 puppies!?!?!? Seriously though, I love seeing pictures of Cricket. This was a wonderful tribute to her and her spunk. : )
We were a little crazy – and much younger – then! Thank you, Edie.
What a great life she had !
It was always all about her, and she knew it. 🙂
Thank you, Mary. ♥
That was such a loving tribute to that happy gal. I so enjoyed reading it since we didn’t know her until somewhat recently. It did make my whiskers a bit weepy wet, but I can tell you, she always made us smile when we visited you blog. She was one happy gal and we know the happy memories will appear one day.
What a lovely tribute to your girl. We can see how happy she was. That last picture of her is adorable!
This was a lovely post, thanks for sharing. So fun to see the puppy photos especially. What a blessing that her final day was spent doing all the things she loved and that she was happy until the end.
You have me in tears! Beautiful tribute to a beautiful beagle. Hugs
Thank you so much, Mary.
ok I am right, your blog TOTALLY stopped coming to me………(I am thinking it has stopped coming to others too because you usually have more comments than this)………….I did find the subscribe yesterday and when I did, it said I was already subscribed (which I knew) but it is not coming. I think that possibly when you changed your blog format something happened. Can you please add me manually (cancel me and re-subscribe me) my email is cgittleman at mi dot rr dot com
OH DEAR GOD!!!! Please, please delete my comment above! OMG! I hadn’t read the post (til today)……….I was just so upset that your blog stopped coming that I wanted to leave you a comment to tell you. I am soooooo sorry! I never would have been so insensitive if I had read the post first. OMG………..
I am soooooooo shocked and deeply sorry about Cricket and this post was exceptional. You have so many wonderful and special memories. I used to love watching her in your videos. My heart is breaking for you. Please, please know that when I left the comment above I popped over here fast to let you know your blog had stopped coming and I didn’t even read the post, I just wanted to get a hold of you. I am sooooooo deeply sorry!
Such a sweet tribute to a very happy pup. Blogville continues to share your loss and hope these happy memories provide you with some measure of comfort. ❤️ Play endless ball at the Bridge, sweet Cricket.
What a sweet, beautiful tribute to your perpetually happy Beagle girl!! Cricket was such a cute, little puppy!! And a feisty one, too! And she grew into a beautiful dog. One with enough personality for two dogs, it seems. 😍
Such a beautiful tribute to Cricket! She was such a happy, happy girl who brought happiness to the rest of us through your stories! (And I LOVED seeing her puppy pictures–so much of the coloring on her face looks like Rye’s markings and I call Rye an energizer bunny, too, so I’m even more convinced there’s beagle in her!)
So sorry for your loss. She definitely was always smiling if she didn’t have a ball in her mouth. Her life was perfect, and she was able to leave that life on her own terms too, which is really a wonderful thing.
As hard as it was for us, it was really a blessing for her, and exactly how we wanted it to be for her.
it’s a super photo with the ball.. and look her tail is like a statement ;O)))) … I’m glad she found you and you found her… to live a happy beagle life with you…
I always knew she was meant to be with us. She was bred to be a hunting dog, but I think she was much happier being spoiled by us and chasing her ball. 🙂