Noble is in Doggy Heaven.

Noble

Age 12, April 13, 1997 - August 21, 2009

He truly lived up to his name!

Noble, the best lemon and white beagle I ever knew!

Nickname: Nobes, Nobey," Fat Dog"

I bought him with my three kids in June 1997 when he was only 8 weeks old! He was a small but beautiful lemon and white beagle pup, slightly undernourished (Later, my wife who used to say "I hate that dog! (NOT!) took care of his malnourished condition)! We were immediately won over by his very friendly and affable nature. He would run into walls he was so happy and would bounce back immediately as though nothing had happened! :)

Once on our street the word got out quickly that we had a beagle puppy. He was basically the first dog on the street and now all of the kids were clamoring their parents to buy them dogs too! Within days or weeks several families acquired different breeds of dogs for their respective homes and kids. However, Noble was the first and the trend-setter.

As he grew up into a young adult, 13 inch beagle, I was amazed at how truly fast he was! No one could catch him unless he wanted to be caught! A beagle off-leash is not a good thing as they think with their noses and their stomachs. He sometimes would get out of the house running through the porch door and down the steps. One day, he almost got run over doing that but for the Grace of G-D, the driver of the car speeding down our street was able to put on the brakes within inches of him! Generally, if he got off leash, he would make us chase him around the neighborhood as though it was a game. Finally, being tired, he would stop, rollover and let us leash him, wagging his tail the entire time. His bark was loud and he occasionally gave soft bey's which sounded like "roo rooooo!" One not knowing he was a small dog, would think there was a big dog inside the house! He certainly was big in our hearts!

In his 9th year with our family, tragedy struck. A dreaded eye disease that affects all breeds, called Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome or SARDS, afflicted him. He was permanently blind within 3 days! We were totally devastated by the suddenness of this incurable and irreversible disease! He was obviously confused and didn't understand what had happened to him. It took a very long six months and a lot of patience, love and care to get his routine back to normal but we did and he functioned very well despite the blindness. Two months later, our family's mettle was tested again and when Noble developed Round Cell Sarcoma, a cancer of the blood disorder. With our help, and a very good veterinarian named Dr. Murphy, he fought this cancer following the SARDS for over two years! He was initially only given 3-6 months to survive. He was one tough little beagle with a very strong will to live! Things seem to be progressing okay and every year I would pray that God grant him one additional year of good health. A few months ago, I noticed a definite slow down and lessening of his appetite but he still got around as best he could, wagged his tail and barked quite a bit. His rear knees now suffering from painful arthritis, we carried him up and down the front porch steps to the front lawn so he could bask in the sun! How he loved to just lie in the Sun and then roll over in the grass. When he was ready to come in he would hobble over to the base of the stairs and wait for one of us to try to come and get him. He never had to wait very long. Somebody was always there to get him.

Last Friday, while we were on vacation and getting ready to return home to get Noble and his buddy, Chester, another blind but younger beagle we had adopted to save from a bad fate and also to keep Noble company, his tired little body gave in during the early morning hours and he crossed over the "Rainbow Bridge." We felt so horrible that we were not there to be with him but it appears he passed away quietly in his sleep.

Play hardy my buddy and run well. Someday, we will meet again in that special place and I will be looking for you and listening for your deep barks and roo-roo's!