Rest in Peace Rigel Sirius the beagle

Rigel Sirius McKnight Arnold (his AKC name) was born in Monument Colorado on January 22nd, 1996. We picked him out when he was 3 weeks old and brought him to our home in Colorado Springs when he was 8 weeks old. David decided to get Rigel to keep Doreen company while he was overseas in Diego Garcia, BIOT.

Rigel kept Doreen busy when he was a puppy, eating everything he wasn't supposed to eat such as mouse poison, the kitchen floor and live electrical cords. The vets call this dietary indiscretion. Rigel used to bark at the yappy dogs next door until we trained him to not bark at them with a Super Soaker water gun. After he turned two, he became quite a mellow dog. He never bit anyone in his life. He loved to tear apart toys with the squeakers inside. He would play with them until he tore apart the toys and destroyed the squeaker.

We were worried about all the moving (8 different houses) but Rigel took all the transition in stride. He was very quiet in hotel rooms in our many trips across the country. When the children came, the biggest change in Rigel was his new love of eating baby socks which eventually came out one end or the other.

He was a good dog who loved to eat especially ice cubes which we started giving him as a treat when it was hot and wouldn't drink water. In his later years, he would whine and beg for broccoli stems. He would steal any food off the table or counter if you left it unattended.

He was very healthy until the last week of his life. He passed away on June 30th, 2009. He was a wonderful companion for 13 1/2 years. He was loved by Doreen, David, Erin & Kit as well as many extended family and friends.