You haven’t seen an energetic pup in action until you’ve met Steve. Whether he is Steve the Wonder Dog or Steve, it’s a wonder he is a dog, depends upon how much you like dogs!

Who is Steve? He is a registered blue tick beagle — honest, I’m not making it up. Better put, Steve is a 20-pound bundle of motion that could leave the Energizer Bunny in the dust!

Ryan and Julie Facemire, Franklin, Ind., don’t have children, but until late 2020, they had Charlie, a mild-mannered, truly devoted, one-of-a-kind dog who could be the poster child for “man’s best friend.” After Charlie passed, Julie searched for a pup. She came out of the hills of Kentucky with Steve.

Fast-forward through time. When Ryan and Julie go down the road to visit Ryan’s mom and dad, Jim and Connie, sometimes they take Steve. My wife, Carla, and I have been “fortunate” to be visiting a couple of times when Steve came bounding through the door.

“Bounding” is generous. The first time, there was a streak into the living room. A ball of fur bounced off one chair to the next. On one pass, he touched down in Carla’s lap long enough to get a rise out of her. Jim was smiling, Connie was laughing, and Ryan was trying to corral Steve. Good luck!

Julie brought out a fuzzy chew toy with a squeaker inside. Apparently, it was a Christmas present for Steve that stays at “Grandma’s and Grandpa’s.” In five minutes, it disintegrated. Steve drug it from one couch to the next, tugging and pulling until the squeaker popped through the fabric. Oops!

Making friends

The second time Steve visited, it was a cold winter night. Just before Ryan arrived, the lights went out. OK, they flickered multiple times first.

“You don’t need to worry,” Jim said. “We hardly ever lose power. They will stay on.”

Right, Jim. Not this time. Do you want to know how long an LED bulb continues glowing after the electricity goes off? It’s around 10 minutes.

Ryan walked in with a flashlight, and Jim got out a light, too. Jim and I were at the kitchen table, and Connie and Carla were in the adjoining living room. I could barely see Steve as he flashed by, but I could hear him, brushing into Carla’s couch and Connie’s chair.

“Is he going to be OK in the dark?” I asked Ryan.

“Yes, he will settle down here soon,” Ryan said. “Believe it or not, he does get tired eventually.”

Sure enough, several minutes later, sitting in the dark, I felt something brushing against my pants leg. It stayed there, just resting against my leg.

“He’s over here now, Ryan,” I said. “I can’t see him, but I can feel him.”

“Good, maybe he will stay put a while.”

Sure enough, he did. I felt his light pressure for maybe 10 minutes. Then just like that, he was up and gone again, lights or no lights.

At home

What do Jim and Connie really think about Steve?

“We’ve got in the habit of taking him down to their house to visit on Sunday nights,” Ryan explains. “I wasn’t sure how much they liked it.”

One Sunday in late January, he got his answer.

“We were at their house for lunch,” Ryan begins. “As we were leaving, Mom spoke up.”

“Now you’re still bringing Steve down tonight, right?” Connie asked.

Seems like Steve fits right in!

This article is dedicated to the memory of Connie Facemire, 1953-2022.