[Dailydrool] How to get a basset to sleep

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

> Okay, it's been awhile since we've had a younger basset and I know  
> they have a lot of energy but Rockwell DOES NOT SLEEP. Maybe dozes  
> off for a half hour or so then he's up wanting to play, run around  
> and go outside on walks.


This reminds me so much of our young Charlie, except young Charlie,  
blessedly, thankfully, did sleep all night as a puppy without waking  
himself or us up.

Young Charlie joined us at the age of eleven months and was busy busy  
busy all day long every day until he was a little over two. He was  
the first puppy I've ever had (and will definitely be the last!), and  
I'd been under the impression that puppies, like babies, have to take  
naps throughout the day. I thought puppies actually drop over from  
sheer exhaustion in the middle of the day and nap. Not Charlie!  
Charlie didn't nap ever. He was much too busy finding things to put  
into his mouth to take a nap. When he got up in the morning, he  
didn't stop moving until we put him into his crate at bedtime.

Charlie would begin and end each day by playing hard. The rest of the  
day was spent playing slightly less hard and looking for things to  
destroy because destroying stuff was great fun. Our Elsinore was  
extremely gracious about playing with him every time he asked her to,  
which took some of the load off me. But I quickly realized that if I  
was going to get any work done (I'm a freelance editor who works from  
home), I was going to have to keep Charlie and a bunch of toys in the  
same room I was in. I still found myself having to stop every ten to  
fifteen minutes to go take things out of his mouth or redirect his  
attention, but at least with him in the same room I wasn't having to  
run as far to get to him before he left indelible marks on something.

For Charlie, attention, even negative attention, is important. This  
was why his first family surrendered him to rescue. He wasn't getting  
enough attention from them, and they didn't like the naughty things  
he was doing to force them to pay attention to him. I guess that's  
when he realized that being naughty is a whole lot more fun than  
being good, and he still enjoys doing things he shouldn't (like  
getting into the toilet paper) and laughing at whoever discovers him.

It never occurred to young Charlie to bark at his food and toss it  
into the air, but I know if it had, he would have done it because he  
was so very playful as a puppy. He saw everything in his life as  
being a toy, and he could turn anything into a game. Even running  
around with contraband in his mouth turned into a favorite game-- 
Chase Me! followed by Trading Post in which I'd give him a treat in  
exchange for what I didn't want him to have. We don't play Trading  
Post nearly as often anymore, and that's okay by me.

Now at the age of five, Charlie spends more time dozing on a dog bed  
in whatever room I'm in than he does awake. I don't miss his puppy  
days at all, not even the ones where he was especially cute and  
photogenic. But I'm really glad that the light spirit and merry  
twinkle in his eyes didn't disappear when his puppy busy-ness did. He  
still exudes joyfulness--in between his daytime naps.

Elizabeth