Daisy Williams

Meet Daisy Williams.

John Williams wanted to get his sweet wife Kristin a beagle. He took her to visit breeders, and even to FAO Schwartz to get a stuffed one. But Kristin wasn’t ready. “And I just had a strong sense that when I was ready, the right dog would find me.”

Then, in 2005, Kristin’s dad passed away. “It was a big loss,” says Kristin. “I knew it was time to get a dog.” 

At that point, John and Kristin lived at the end of a quiet cul de sac in Calvert City. “My neighbor came to our front door one evening with something in her arms. She had heard screaming in our front yard,” Kristin remembers.

It was a tiny beagle puppy, only six- to eight-weeks old, with a heart “tattooed” on her butt. “She didn’t belong to anyone in the neighborhood. She had a piece of twine tied in a noose around her neck.”

Kristin shakes her head with the memory, and continues, her hand resting absently where a noose had once threatened a puppy’s life. “It was so tight we had to wedge the scissors under it and cut it off.”

John and Kristin took the pup to Petsmart to stock up on necessities. Everyone was fawning over the little one. “There’s nothing cuter than a beagle puppy,” Kristin points out. “And there was this big, rough guy in the store. You could tell he was just holding back tears. He said, ‘Thank you for saving that poor dog.’”

Daisy is the dog Kristin always wanted. “I work from home,” says Kristin, owner of KRW Strategies, which happens to be a rockin’ iList Paducah sponsor. “Daisy is always in the room with me, and I know it sounds hokey, but it’s that 100 percent unconditional love.”

Another benefit is that since moving to Jefferson Street in Paducah, Kristin and John no longer need an alarm clock. “Daisy hates squirrels. I mean she hates them. And at six o’clock every morning, when they start stirring outside the bedroom window… oh Lord!”

Beagles were bred to bay at the sight or scent of vermin. “One time we were driving out in the country at dusk,” Kristin laughs. “We saw a deer. The interior car alarm – Daisy – was ear-shattering!”

Daisy loves to help John take the recycling to GPS, and she goes along to the car wash. The humans have learned to cover their ears if they see a squirrel.

The Williams’ friends like to indulge everyone’s favorite beagle, sometimes resulting in digestive disasters. “We’re not going to discuss the infamous Whipped Cream Incident,” declares Kristin. “Oh my God.” 

Most days aren’t so exciting. Sunday mornings Daisy takes turn lying on laps while the paper gets read. She is a champion cuddler.

“My grandmother had a saying that people don’t pick dogs, dogs pick people,” Kristin shares.

Well done, Daisy.

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