Alayne and I spent the weekend trying to recharge our emotional batteries after losing Pepper on Thursday, and here’s one thing that really helped — wobbly blind Briggs arrived at the ranch this afternoon. He has a true Widget-certified Beagle personality, and Widget’s same bossy, insistent, pay-attention-to-me-now attitude. Stuart the deaf Beagle is not nearly as bossy (oh thank heavens) but has more than his fair share of Beagle spunk.
Morgan S., who runs Atlanta Beagle Rescue, had pulled Briggs from a rural Georgia shelter where he had been turned in as a stray. We first learned about Briggs on the day we lost our beloved old Dillon. Morgan had earlier sent us both blind Widget and blind Willie, and we were delighted she’d been able to save this little guy, too. You can read Morgan’s write-up on Briggs on her blog here.
So this morning she put Briggs on a Delta flight leaving Atlanta at 6:50 a.m., and after making his connecting flight in Salt Lake City, he was at the Missoula airport by noon. Alayne drove in to pick him up, and I took the photo of the Alayne holding Briggs this evening when they got back to the ranch. When Alayne got to the ticket counter at the airport to get Briggs, she could hear a Beagle baying from the cargo area in back. The airline staff were only too happy to hand him over and send him on his way!
Briggs is definitely a wobbler, too, although more stable than our other wobblers. I can’t tell if it’s cerebellar hypoplasia or not — he can maintain his balance better than our animals with that condition typically can — but he’s just like them in one respect: when you hold him in your arms, he goes absolutely still and just melts.
His eyes really bulge, and we suspect he has glaucoma. I went to take his eye pressures this afternoon using our Tono-Pen but the batteries had died — and of course they’re a fancy, medical device kind that has to be special ordered. (On Monday’s to-do list now.) We will take Briggs to see our vet, Dr. Brenda Culver, this week for an eye exam when we go to pick up Trooper and Popeye. (Trooper’s hip surgery went well, by the way, and Popeye’s eye is healing, too.) I worry that we will probably have to remove both of his eyes, given their appearance and the tearing and discharge we see. In fact, they bulge more than any glaucoma eyes I have seen in a dog, and if the intraocular pressures are as high as I think they are, his head is throbbing.
For now, although his eyes bother him, he’s still a very happy boy and his baying has announced to all who can hear it that another Beagle has arrived. It’s Beagle mania at the Rolling Dog Ranch.
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Thank you to everyone who gave us such wonderful emotional support in the past few days after we lost Pepper. We read each of those blog comments and emails, and believe me, it makes a difference. It’s not just our grief but shared grief. And there is strength in that. It really does provide comfort and solace knowing so many incredible people care so much about these special animals and what we’re going through when we lose one.
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