[Dailydrool] Flat Basset

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

In the time between the death of our Jane Basset and the arrival of  
her worthy successor, our Elsinore Basset, we were lucky enough to  
have a neighbor, Jennifer, who was very generous with her basset, the  
late Macy. Jennifer allowed me to keep Macy in my home with me during  
the work day, and we also took care of her two nights a week while  
Jennifer was in class. I've always called Macy my friend in need,  
because having her in my life like that made my grieving for Jane so  
much more bearable than it would have been otherwise.

One night Ken and I were taking Macy for a walk, which was something  
she normally liked doing. But on this particular night, we made it up  
the block and across the street, and then Macy went flat basset on  
the lawn of the church on the corner. She simply wouldn't move. Our  
Jane had never done this, so we weren't familiar with this maneuver.  
After coaxing, tugging, and pushing, I finally looked Macy in the  
eyes and said very firmly, "Macy, you have two choices. You can  
either stand up and continue this walk and enjoy it, or we can go  
home right now."

After a couple of seconds of obvious deliberation, Macy got to her  
feet, turned her face toward home, and walked with purpose until we  
reached her gate. She didn't stop once along the way back to smell or  
pee on anything. Ken and I were dumbfounded. When we told Jennifer  
about it, she just laughed and said that she'd had to do the same  
thing with Macy on occasion. Macy knew options when she heard them,  
and she also knew her own mind.

Elizabeth