[Dailydrool] Separation anxiety

[Hilary Stevens]

When we were looking for our first hound the breeders we spoke to were rightly very concerned how long he/she would be left alone, and pretty much all the information we read highlighted the fact that Bassets, generally, hate to be alone.  Fortunately for us Dadslave runs a business from home so its not currently a problem.  

We did have problems leaving Alfie for any period initially but found that adopting Millie was the absolutely BEST thing for him.  Shortly before we got her Alfie met another basset on a local beach and his delight with hanging out with one of his own was obvious.  He desperately wanted to follow him home.  I'm not sure Alfie was quite what Millie had in mind (given her pedigree the madam has false illusions of grandeur) but she's been a tonic and is loved by us all.  I guess in a round about way, what I'm saying is, if you have a single basset suffering from separation anxiety in my (admittedly limited and recent) experience, you probably can't go far wrong by adding another hound to your household.  We've found in many ways, two are easier, than one.  Although of course, it doubles the food bill which is shocking in our house.       
  
We're looking to move at some point so it won't surprise you to learn that the perameters of the house search are governed by (i) distance to my work (so I can come home lunchtimes to make sure food bowls hit the floor at the correct time), (ii) distance to local park (Alfie drags his paws so his nails can't take too much pavement pounding), (iii) garden (naturally), (iii) and the existance of room worthy of becoming a hound day-room (we've learned the hard way that the Kitchen holds too many temptations for Millie).  I dread to think how much additional mortgage debt that pair are going to cost me!

They are currently both snuggled up on the sofa they appropriated (the one closest to the log fire, of course).  They adored their earlier romp in the snow and according to Dadslave we've had six inches (I could make some joke here but this is a family group). I only measured 4 and a half in the driveway.  Still, its more than we've had here in zillions of years, apparently and importantly, my route into work is closed (yay!).  Although, I'm sure the inhabitants of the 200 cars that were stuck on the road over night were so happy about it:    

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/article.aspx?cp-documentid=13781570&icid=ukhotmail

Anyway, I'm rambling when I should at least be pretenting to do some work.

Hilary, Alfie (zzzzzzzzzz) and Millie (only half sleeping in case there is chance of a walk).



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