[Dailydrool] Not just a dog

[jules56pt at charter.net]

My bassets are not just dogs.  They are my friends, companions, cuddlers in bed and on the couch, an alarm system, givers of unconditional love, and all around food testers if needed.  I have been loved by bassets since April 1983.  Haven't been without one since.  

We had bassets before we had kids.  The bassets, being forgiving souls that they are, accepted three two legger boys with grace and dignity.  My boys have grown into caring, basset loving young men, thanks to the magnanimous beings housed in those chubby, short, furry bodies.  Right now, the 15 year old has one in his lap with one right at his feet waiting patiently for her belly rub.  

The crabby old basset who is taking silverware out of the dishwasher because she can, has been much harder to love.  You see, someone thought of her as just a dog when she was a puppy.  And because she was just a dog, they did not feel the need to treat her with kindness.  When they finally got tired of the basset who wouldn't conform to their way of thinking, they decided to let someone else have her and chained her to a fence somewhere in the city.  They left no name, age or sign of human attachment but the chain.  They left a beautiful girl who is still afraid of males and feet.   We have loved the old girl for 12 years.  She has been held, fed, brushed, petted, doctored, and treated like the queen she thinks she is.  After all this time she still remembers her treatment as a dog who wasn't good enough for love in that other house.  

Of course there are days when three bassets drive me to distraction.  They run, wrestle, slobber, shed, track mud, chew, bark louder than a batallion, and cause general mayhem.  I have enough hair left in corners to make a new dog or two.  Would I trade any of this for a more peaceful, less hairy existence?  Not on your life.  

My girls provide unconditional love.  They love us.  Period.  

 Bassets aren't just dogs.  They are family.  Always.

Love and licks,
Julie- basset mom to Sunny, Ninja, and Marley  and (Daisy, Sassy, and Sherlock ATB)