[Dailydrool] Our Elsinore's Eighth

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

It is my good fortune that our Elsinore is such a forgiving hound  
because I was eight days late with celebrating her eighth anniversary  
with us (March 27) and even later letting our Drool friends know  
about it. On the day of her anniversary, I was up to my eyeballs in  
an editing project with a tight deadline. So, while I wished her a  
happy anniversary and sang her anniversary song to her, I didn't make  
her cake that day.

In a way it was good I waited until this Thursday to official mark  
the day she's been with us eight years because that meant she could  
celebrate with three of her friends, Owen, Chloe, and Lola. Our  
friend Jennifer moved into a new house last weekend, and we're  
keeping her dogs for her while she's waiting on a fence to be built  
in the backyard.

So on Thursday night, I adorned a peanut-butter carrot cake with  
eight Milk Bones, gathered all her friends around her, sang her  
anniversary song with Ken, and served up cake for five dogs in our  
little kitchen. Everyone was very excited about this, and I'm sure  
all her friends wished Elsinore a happy anniversary and many more.

It's hard to believe we've had Elsinore eight years now. It's even  
harder to believe that means she's now eleven or twelve years old, as  
best her vet can guess. Her face and other body parts are getting  
whiter and whiter. She sleeps more now and insists on being put to  
bed for the night in her crate at 7:30 p.m. (I tell her she can go to  
bed in her room by herself anytime she wants, but she wants the  
bedtime treat that comes with officially going to bed. However, once  
she gets the treat, she really does go to sleep for the night, and we  
can hear her snoring in there by 8:30.) When she's awake, though, she  
still has the energy and enthusiasm of a five year old.

Elsinore came to us through Basset Hound Rescue of Alabama, so she's  
our 'Bama Babe. We chose her to be a successor to our recently  
deceased and greatly loved Jane Basset. A worthy successor to Jane  
our Elsinore has been indeed! Elsinore sings, dances, socializes with  
anyone, guards her home well, and strives to please and obey almost  
all the time. She is a very good part of my life.

This particular anniversary has made me aware that my time with her  
is finite and we're definitely on the downhill now with fewer years  
left than years spent together. So I'm making up a bucket list for  
she and I, and I'm trying to be more intentional about really, really  
enjoying her, more than I already have been. There'll never be  
another Elsinore like her, so we're going to make the most of her  
while we've got her.

Happy Anniversary, our Ella B., and many more!

Elizabeth