Copper the Beagle

Good Dog

It occurred to me the other day that I never have shared a photo of our most recent addition to the Burnsland family. So here to remedy that is a portrait of Copper the Beagle.

Copper has been with us since the late days of winter this year. Even though he has not been around all that long, he fits right in with the rest of us, and we are happy to have him around.

And he is usually happy to be around us, too, even though he is not exactly smiling for this photo. I think he likes to nap a good bit of the day, so he was probably thinking, “Could you hurry up and do whatever it is you are doing so that I can get on with my nap?”

Actually, Copper sometimes does not realize that he is a dog. In fact, he prefers to spend most of his time out at the barn in and in the pasture with the horses. He seems to think that he is part of their herd, except that he has the magical ability to slide under the gate to the pasture and join us humans in the yard. Maybe he thinks he is more privileged than the rest of the herd, and that is why he can leave of his own free will. Or maybe he just likes having the best of both worlds. Who can understand the mind of a dog, anyway?

However, Copper is most definitely a beagle, as you can tell if you hear him out barking at something in the middle of the night. Sorry, neighbors. He has a very distinctive bark when he is after something, whether it is a deer, a bird, or even a skunk. Hopefully by now he has learned to stop chasing skunks after getting sprayed by one a time or two earlier this year.

But even with the occasional howling and the aforementioned skunk smell, he is a delight to have around the house!

Dogs Are Different Now

As regular Burnsland readers probably know, I usually include a Bible verse at the end of these posts, and it usually has something to do with what is in the photo or something that I have written about.

However, as someone recently pointed out to me, every time dogs are mentioned in the Bible, it is in a negative light. In Bible times, dogs were only thought of as wild scavengers that roamed the streets, looking for garbage, scraps, and whatever else they could eat. There are no Bible verses about nice, friendly dogs who make good pets. No verses about coming home to dog wagging its tail out of happiness to see you. And no verses about sitting on the couch with your dog and watching TV. Which does not happen in our house, by the way, because Copper is an outside dog.

But then somewhere along the way, dogs were domesticated, and now they are usually considered more as family members than as scavengers. I think there may still be a few wild dogs out where we live, but those are definitely in the minority these days.

So instead of including something like Psalm 59:6, which says, “They return at evening, snarling like dogs, and prowl about the city,” I will choose a more generic verse for today’s post. Hope you don’t mind.

Bible Verse

Who is the man who delights in life, loving a long life to enjoy what is good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech. Turn away from evil and do what is good; seek peace and pursue it. - Psalm 34:12-14

About the Photo

This photo was a quick one taken one morning at our house. I was out taking some landscape photos, and Copper was close by. So I figured I would get a photo of him, too.

Because of his relative closeness to where I was standing, I was able to zoom in on him and get some good depth of field here, which helps to separate him from the gravel driveway in the background. Nothing too fancy, but I thought it worked well here. Although in hindsight I probably should not have zoomed in so close as to cut off the bottom of his foot and the end of his tail. Something to watch for next time.

Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS Lens
Date: August 20, 2018
Location: Home, Williston, Tennessee