This is Fred. Mike and I got him on June 29th, 1995 - 26 days after we were married. We decided we just couldn't live without a dog so Mike started searching all the local SPCAs for a puppy. He knew that I had always wanted a Beagle, so he was looking for a puppy that was beagle like.

When Mike found Fred at the Suffolk SPCA, the man working there said that he was a lab/hound mix. He was the most energetic, happy puppy there so Mike said he'd take him. I am so glad he did.

He was such a happy puppy at first.However, three days after bringing him home he was diagnosed with a very severe case of Parvo. He almost died, but the wonderful vets at Todd's Lane Vet Hospital saved him.

After he came home, though, he was back to being happy and sweet. He loved attention. I couldn't even do the dishes without him pawing the backs of my legs and barking at me til I stopped. He was spoiled from the start.

The rest of his life was not without incident, however. He dislocated his hip and had to have a sling then surgery. Then he suffered from arthritis in it. He had allergies and a lot of ear infections. Then in September 2002, we brought Phoebe home. This caused him lots of stress, but he grew accustomed to her. Fred was not really a dog person. He was a people person. He never met anyone he didn't immediately love. Dogs, well he could live without them. He would warm up to other dogs after spending several days with them, and then he wanted to play on his terms.

Fred unexpectedly died on January 17, 2003. He had an undiscovered tumor on his spleen that ruptured. We were heartbroken. He is my special angel and I will always love him.