Size
(when grown) -
Details
Good with dogs,
Good with cats,
Story
Meet Penny! Our foster home is the very first safe place she has ever known, and she has only been here a little over a week. In that short time, she has already shown us who she is: a girl who is endlessly curious about the world around her, who loves to snuggle on the couch and soak up the sunshine outside, and who — once she has decided you are safe — will climb right into your lap and stay there.
Penny is one of the 1,500 beagles recently released from Ridglan Farms, a commercial breeding and research facility in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin that became the center of a major national animal welfare case. For six years, Penny lived in a cage inside a windowless warehouse — used as a breeding dog, producing litter after litter of puppies sold to research laboratories. She shows clear signs of having been overbred. She has never experienced a home, a couch, a yard, or a kind hand.
She follows her foster dog siblings everywhere, especially her chihuahua sister, practically mimicking her every move as she figures out how to just be a dog. She doesn’t quite know what treats are yet. She is still learning what it means to feel loved. But she is trying, every single day, and it is something to behold.
We want to be fully transparent about Penny’s needs, because adopting a Ridglan beagle is a genuinely different experience from adopting a typical rescue dog. These dogs have never lived in a home. They haven’t walked on a leash, heard a TV, or experienced the rhythms of everyday household life. Experts working with Ridglan beagles recommend a “six-six-six” decompression timeline — six days to decompress, six weeks to learn a routine, and six months to feel truly secure. Penny’s adopter needs to understand and embrace that timeline from day one.
Penny is not yet housetrained, but she will go potty outside reliably when taken out on a consistent schedule — this is very manageable with routine and patience. She is not yet comfortable on leash and will need gentle, reward-based leash training over time. Due to her past, a traditional crate is not a good fit for Penny — her forever home will need to be comfortable using a gated room or x-pen for confinement instead. Loud noises and quick movements are very frightening to her, which means she is not a good fit for a home with young children or a loud, high-traffic environment. Penny does well with cats.
A confident resident dog is an absolute must in Penny’s forever home — this is non-negotiable. She takes her cues from her canine companions and relies on them as her anchor while she adjusts to the world. She also strongly prefers to be near her people and her dog siblings at all times, so a home where she won’t be left alone for long stretches is important. Finally, a securely fenced yard is required. Penny is a flight risk — fear and anxiety can cause a dog to bolt, and a scared beagle is very difficult to recover. Gaps in fencing, shared fence lines, and unsecured gates are all serious safety concerns for a dog in her position.
Penny’s ideal adopter has experience working with fearful or trauma-background dogs, lives in a calm and patient household, has the time to invest in her decompression and training, and is genuinely excited — not just willing — to take this journey with her. She is not a project. She is a six-year-old girl who spent her entire life giving — and never once received anything in return. She deserves someone who understands what that means.
If that’s you, please fill out an application to meet Penny and see if it’s a good fit!
