[Dailydrool] Our Elsinore's Sixth

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

Today we've been celebrating our Elsinore's sixth anniversary with  
us. Six years ago today, March 27, we met Meg Harris of Basset Hound  
Rescue of Alabama and looked at both Elsinore (or Alexis, as she was  
known then) and another female basset. We chose Elsinore to be our  
late and always-missed Jane Basset's successor. Although they have  
very different personalities, Elsinore has indeed been a worthy  
successor to Jane.

We estimate Elsinore's age to be about 8 or 9. Her face is quickly  
going white, but her energy and intensity levels (I swear she's got  
some terrier in her) remain as high as they were when she first came  
home with us. Elsinore likes to be active and constantly doing  
things. She thrives on the mental stimulation of her dance  
(freestyle) lessons. People are another passion of hers, and she's  
yet to meet a stranger. No matter where we are--the dog park, her job  
at the hospice, walking around the neighborhood--Elsinore wants to  
introduce herself and ask the people she meets about themselves (and  
encourage them to keep on patting her).

Looking back over the six years we've been enjoying her makes me  
realize how much Elsinore has done with us. She's traveled to many  
states and put her toes in Lake Michigan, the Atlantic Ocean, and a  
really cool-looking fountain on the Yale University campus. She's  
gone through obedience courses and dance lessons. She's held a  
regular pet therapy job at a hospice for three years now. She's been  
a charming hostess when we've entertained. She's adapted with good  
grace to sharing us with another basset and entertaining him when he  
needs playing with. She's made many friends, both canine and human.   
She's practiced her singing enough to be considered quite  
accomplished. She's turned into a formidable protector of her home  
and the humans in it (a good thing in our inner city neighborhood).  
She's become an integral and important part of our lives. Elsinore  
wants very much to please us, to the point of trying to anticipate  
what we might want next from her and then doing it before we ask. She  
doesn't always hit the mark, but she always gets an A for effort.

Elsinore's special day was spent sunbathing in the backyard, napping  
on her favorite bed in the dining room, and going for a walk along  
the river with us and young Charlie. In a few minutes, we'll go have  
some dog-friendly cake with her and wish her at least another six  
years with us.

Elizabeth