I was watching the dogs coming in on the garmin and getting them watered and settled in the truck while Pete was out watching the two that were still out running. He called on the radio.

What dog is that?

Which one?

The chop mouthed dog.

May.

Who?

MAY. M-A-Y like the month that comes after April.

That’s a good dog!

She’s okay.

That’s one of the best dogs I’ve seen!

You’ve been hunting with her for years.

You can’t tell anything with that big pack running and all that noise! That dog is about as good as they get.

Still one dog with her.

Kind of a scratchy voice?

Brienne. She’s got a big loud bawl mouth, she’s just tired from running the last two days.

That little dog?

She’s just a minnow.

That May is a good dog. There ain’t no checks. Just steady running.

We drove down the trail, brush scratching both sides of the truck and got close. The rabbit came by and both dogs close behind. I called them in, May didn’t want to quit. The garmin said she ran 20 miles.

Pete passed up 80 years old a while back. He got Lisa started raising beagles, he and I have been trading dogs back and forth for a long time. Pete bred a dog named Cider years ago that set the standard for our dogs. I still see him in a lot of the pictures many of you send me, and in dogs like May and Monday and Melody. Cider wasn’t like other beagles. He was one of a kind, until I got busy breeding more like him 🙂