[Dailydrool] Introducing, 'Meatball' - an amazing if not longish story!

[Nancy Gallagher]

Thanks to everyone who has helped us find our new buddy. Well, I think Meatball's story is pretty amazing, it really is a strange set of coincidences and I think he was meant to be here! 

I'm sure you've all heard my stories about 'almost' getting a basset, or adoptions falling through, or being almost swindled by a rehoming scammer - it all happened. After putting out an APB about finding a new basset on the Drool, Suzanne Fitch from MidAtlantic emailed me about some possibilities. Then she said, well, I have a new rescue who just came in. She's a lemon and white and came from a breeder (not BHCA) in Delta, PA. She was 1.  I thought 'Delta??'. That's about 10 miles literally down the road from here! Then I thought - oh, I don't want a ONE year old. But since I never heard of the breeder, I figured I'd check out their website. 

Not impressed, I clicked on their 'retirees' link. There stood a DOUBLE for Caruso. I thought they used a photo of him and put it on their site for a minute. His name was 'Thompson's Sweet Alabama'. I said to TIm, OMG - that looks JUST like Caruso. If they adopted out their retirees, I'd take THAT one!!

Not 15 minutes after looking at that site, I was checking out various apps on my iphone and thought I'd try out the 'Craigslist' app and see how it worked. I loaded it on and for kicks, just opened 'pets'. The very first ad and photo to come up was Meatball. I thought - that's the kind of basset I'm looking for! So I emailed for more info. Meatball's owner got back to me and they were looking for a new home for Meatball as they had just moved, had a 13 month old child, had 3 cats and just had to take in her grandmother's 3 cats because she went into a home, and were expecting twins in October. They were overwhelmed and unable to train and keep up with Meatball. 

SO I asked where he came from. Well, he came from the SAME breeder as Suzanne's little lemon and white girl and ALSO just turned one. The mother and father were Venus and Custer, which meant the Grandsire was Caruso's double, Thompson's Sweet Alabama. 

I went back to the site again. Meatball's mom is Caruso colored and her sister is the exact color of Scooter-Pie. Plus, the sister's name is Ragdoll (we have 2 ragdoll cats). I emailed the breeder for the pedigree for Thompson's Sweet Alabama and then contacted John Tait and he confirmed Caruso's mother was also from Thompson's line with common names in each. Waiting to get the full pedigree faxed to see exactly how they are related, but Meatball is a great nephew, cousin or something to my own sweet Caruso! 

Trust me, there is no personality traits in common - Meatball is quite lively and could stand to gain a couple of pounds, but in profile, he really looks quite similar. I've posted photos of 'Meaty' on the drool site so you can see him, along with some side by side photos of Meatball and Caruso. 

He is a sweet laid back houndie who is good with car rides and quiet when left alone - perfect for waddles so we can once again attend! :))

http://www.dailydrool.com/meatball.html


Nancy & Meatball (yes, he came with that name)