Rascal

Rascal Jean Louise Estelle McDaniel was born October 15, 2006. She was also called Rascy, Rasc, Sugar Bear, Baby Girl, and RJ. We adopted Rascal from a family in Winterset, Iowa in August of 2011. We fell in love immediately. She was so loving; her fur was so amazingly soft. Rascal was such a mellow dog unless the mail carrier/UPS/FedEx showed up. She would bark, bale, and howl at them until they were out of sight. She knew those sneaky delivery people would attack someday. Rascal basically loved EVERYTHING else about life, especially food.

If extra food was left on the counter, she couldn’t forget about it and wouldn’t let you either. But that’s if she couldn’t jump and get it. She loved digging in the trash. Rascal couldn’t resist the extra flavor on wrappers. She learned how to operate the kind of trashcan with the pedal and lid. When we turned it around, she would pull the bag out. We came home to a lot of trash confetti.
She was really good at rolling in poo. She was always so proud when she found some nice, stinky poo in which to roll around. She would approach us with such enthusiasm. Usually, we would see the skid mark but sometimes it wasn’t until later when we had been petting her that we would smell it. She was a dog that always wanted to be touching you. Throughout the night sleeping, she would push herself closer and closer to us. And when you would pet her, she would deploy what we dubbed, “the strong arm” and slightly push away. Her favorite spots for you to rub were the white spot above her tail, her belly, her ears, and right between her eyes.

She had only a few toys she really liked; she just licked and sucked on them. She also liked to lick and suck blankets. That beagle would lick everything! We would find her with a chunk of the comforter in her mouth, sucking on it. Eventually, she got her very own sucking blanket that she loved.

Rascal loved to be outside in the sun. In her younger years, she was no fan of the rain, snow, or cold. But as she grew older, she enjoyed all weather. Rascal really preferred exploring in tall grass, plants, and bushes. She wasn’t much of a hunter, just curious. She loved to lay in the grass or the sandbox and sunbathe and after her sister Pepper came, she learned to dig for and eat earthworms.
Rascal and Pepper had a love-hate relationship. They loved to cuddle, wrestle, and chase each other. When Pepper was chasing rabbits, Rascal was her biggest cheerleader. She would get some rabbit blood on her paws and feel so accomplished. But they would get into fights if someone were too worked up at a cat or the UPS truck. And Pepper learned not to mess around with Rascal’s frozen green beans. But they were usually partners in crime.

Rascal was the typical smart and mischievous beagle. If there was something stinky, she was rolling in it. She would jump, use chairs, or build stairs to conquer any obstacle for food. We couldn’t speak normally around Rascal. If she heard a word she knew, it was a done deal. Banned words in our household included but were not limited to: walk, talk, chalk, green beans, treat, food, nummies, anything rhyming with those words, and any random word she thought she thought she recognized.

If you had a treat, she was your best friend and at your disposal. Often, without prompt, she would just throw out all the tricks she knew until you gave it to her. Very proactive. If you had a treat and walked across the room, she would sit and scoot as fast as you were walking until you stopped. If you held food for too long and were distracted, she would take it right out of your hand. She had humans figured out sometimes. She was very sensitive to our emotions. She would cuddle with us and give lost of kisses is we were sad.

She loved people and attention. She would show her big brown eyes and floppy ears and melt hearts. Her presence could light up any room and she knew it.
Rascal was such an amazing, loving, and fun dog. She brought smiles to faces wherever she went. With a wagging tail, she fought to the end. She was a lover, a cuddlier, an explorer, therapist, a security system, but most importantly, a sister, a daughter, and a best friend. She is loved incredibly and will truly be missed. We love you so much, Rascal!