My Beagle, Buddy, had to be euthanized yesterday. He had a seizure, and the vet said he had pancreatic cancer; euthanizing him was the best option. How tragically sad. Buddy had been pulled in '02 by Beagle Maryland from a shelter that was about to euthanize him. He was terrified and acting vicious. Mara saw through this and knew he was just scared. When I adopted him from BRSM, he was a year and a half old and weighed 17 pounds. He was truly terrified of EVERYTHING...ear muffs, the sound of a window envelope, etc., etc. He was especially horrified of belts and mops. My ex- and I spent more than six months walking around the house in slow motion and trying to make as little noise as possible any time we were near him. I spent countless hours holding and comforting him. I taught him words...including "thunder" and "noise," as in "it's ok, it's just noise...it's just thunder." He could tell when there was a storm coming that was two hours away, and he would start drooling uncontrollably. It took about a year and a half to get him to the point of being at peace. He never fully recovered from his rough start, but he got to the point of loving us and life. When my ex- and I split, I brought Buddy to Missouri with me. He began reverting to his insecure ways, so, my ex- said to bring him back to the home he was secure in until I found a house. I finally found one and will be moving in at the end of June. I could, then, get my Buddy back. His death is very painful; I didn't even get to say goodbye to him. I wasn't there. Rest in peace, sweet Angel.