[Dailydrool] Hounds in our lives

[Jane Hay]

I guess the question is how we came to adopt basset hounds. The DH and
I were given a puppy in 1973 who we named Barney and he grew into a bagel.
He really was mostly basset with a little longer legs. Barney was our first
"child" and, even though we had three two legged children when he died in
1980, it was a devastating loss. We decided than that we were never going
to go through that kind of heartbreak again and never got another dog while
the two leggers were young. Fast forward 20 plus years and a couple of back
surgeries later for me. I needed to walk more to rehab my legs after the
surgeries and wanted a dog to walk with. We couldn't imagine bringing any
other kind of dog into our home other than another Barney and that's when
our Jersey came into our lives. Of course, then we got involved with rescue
and Shadow, Suzy & Ginger all appeared and the rest is history.
Unfortunately, I've had a third back surgery and my legs still aren't 100%
but they sure are a whole lot better than they were pre-Jersey! My
neurosurgeon is a great guy who told us to not let me lift more than
a light weight bag of groceries but, when he found out we rescue basset
hounds, said to do what I had to do to make sure a hound doesn't die. He's
definitely has his priorities straight!

Bev's story of reaching down a horses throat actually sounds a little like
when I give my daughter's mastiff her pills. Sasha is up to 165 pounds now
and I feel like I'm up to my elbow when I shove her pills down her throat.
YUK!!! It grosses me out with the dog, I don't think that I'd do too well
reaching down the throat of a horse!

Tybee went on a home visit to a potential adopter yesterday and came back
to us today. The lady has a couple of small dogs and one of them was being
really nasty to Tybee. Tybee is a lover and not a fighter and was on the
losing end of this battle. I'm so glad she didn't try and work it out
between the dogs because I don't think it would have ended any differently.
Ty has a sensitive soul and I would hate to see him traumatized because of
something like that. So he got quite a royal welcome when he got home this
morning from the Houndettes and the DH and I are very glad he's back with
us. The right situation will come for him and he's right where he belongs
until then.

I haven't figured out how I'm going to keep the hounds and mastiffs out of
the kitchen while we cook but I'm going to have to or I know one of the
four legged creatures will make off with something. The mastiffs only have
to lay their heads on the counters to reach something but I swear the
hounds are just as tall as the mastiffs sometimes! Wishing all of you a
Happy Thanksgiving full of two legged and four legged family fun.

Jane & the Houndettes
Jersey, Shadow, Suzy & Ginger
with foster boy Tybee, who is back where he belongs
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