This is our success story. It’s the story of a beagle in need, a family in mourning and the people of BREW who make all these successes happen.

Audrey died after 10 years at my side…every day, every minute. Cancer took away her life, but never touched her spirit. She came to us from a shelter, having been tied to the fence in the dark of night, smack in the middle of a thunderstorm. Having just turned 40 four days before her death, there I was crying all night long. The next day, after explaining to my 5 year old son that his “most special girl” had finally passed, I took my son’s advice…through his disbelief and tears he said, “Dad, we need to find a dog that needs a home.” That day I found the BREW website.

I looked at all those beagles. Despite the heartbreaking tales surrounding them, their eyes, their personalities and their vitality made me smile through the sadness. Isn't it incredible how that beagle face can make you smile?

We found Sandy. She was about 2 years old and she was one of those beautiful lean and graceful beagles. She came out of some kind of hell in West Virginia and needed a lot of love. The folks at BREW told me she was fortunate to be fostered by one of the best – Judy Coll (and her late husband Chuck Sensel). They also told me that Judy was no pushover…not an easy sell when it came to giving up one of her “babies”. Judy and I talked at length and we connected immediately. The following Saturday my wife and I left out home outside New York and started the 15-hour roundtrip to Manassas to meet Sandy.

As we arrived at Judy’s home we were met by Judy, Chuck and their “babies”. One-by-one we were greeted by Beagles…all of a sudden, a head shyly poked around the corner and sized us up with weary eyes that had seen little from humans until she had the incredible luck to be rescued by BREW and fostered by Judy. So, we had our first encounter with Sandy.

Sandy was shy, but little by little we got acquainted. After 3 hours we were on our way home. Sandy cuddled on my wife’s lap and wouldn’t move for the entire drive. Seven hours later Sandy arrived at her new home.

It was clear she had suffered. She was afraid of fast movements and she was terrified of any kind of noise. Even a fork touching a plate or the sound of her kibbles hitting her bowl would send her flying out of the room cowering. It took three weeks to hear her bay (yes she is a beagle who was silent for 3 weeks!). It took two months for her to wag her tail.

Little by little she came around. She is now a vital, happy, thriving young beagle girl. She dominates our 12-year old beagle boy Mikey (he seem not to mind). She loves to run, she can play with the best of them and she lovingly tolerates her 6 1/2 & 4 1/2 year old human siblings.

She no longer runs from fork sounds or kibbles in her bowl. She’s more likely to try to steal the food before the fork hits the plate or eat-up the kibbles in Mikey’s bowl. In short, she’s a full-fledged beagle these days. Her tail wags, a lot, and she carries it proudly. Her ears are alert and forward facing. She has even developed quite a “voice” which she confidently displays at every opportunity.

Sandy took some work, but it was always a labor of love. The really hard work was done by BREW & by Judy. BREW got her out of a bad situation, and Judy gave her a chance by giving her the love she never had in her first two years of life. Judy (and Chuck) showed her how to be loved, how to trust and how to start the process of letting that indomitable beagle spirit thrive.

Around here the beagle spirit is cherished every day. Their innocence, loyalty, proud demeanor and wacky personality traits truly add to our lives in more ways than we can count. Thanks BREW & thank YOU Judy!