Tuesday - All Things Ellie

 

Ellie Jean

There is something about Ellie you might never guess, especially since she is a hound.

Ellie rarely howls.

All our other beagles howled.  Actually, they howled more than we would like.  We could get Sparrow to howl on demand simply by howling ourselves (which looked and sounded pretty unusual).  

But Ellie almost never howls.  I think perhaps she might howl a little when we leave her at home.  If she sees something outside her window, she will bark, but not howl.

Her lack of howling might have been because we brought her home at five weeks of age.  Perhaps she didn't get the chance to learn how or when to howl from the older beagles.

But she can howl.  

Today, I had taken her for a walk and stopped by a neighbor's house to chat for a minute.  Mary Beth was outside talking to a neighbor whom Ellie and I see often walking her two dogs.  Ellie was quite clearly on guard in front of this woman.  The three of us chatted and then Ellie began howling.  A full throated, beagle howl.  She did it several times until I finally decided it was time for us to be on our way.

I was quite surprised to hear Ellie make the woeful sound, complete with the beagle head tilt.  Perhaps Elliie felt threatened in some way and was trying to protect me.  Whatever the reason, I wanted that sound to end as quickly as possible.  Maybe it is a good thing she doesn't howl very often.