[Dailydrool] Update on Patsy

[Veronica Deveau]

Some of you might remember that Paul and I brought a new Basset into the fold last week.  Patsy is six and a half but not really; she's much more like an older puppy.  

Oh.  My.  God.  This dog is a hellion.  And we hope she never changes, LOL.

Patsy weighs close to 60 pounds and is a mile long.  That dog can reach *anywhere*!  Nothing on any of the counters is remotely safe, not just food.  She has no sense of what it means to stay away from her people's feet and has trouble turning around in our halls.  Both Paul and I have developed the footwork of a premier league soccer player.  There are teeth marks in paper, crumpled pages of library books, and Patsy is the absolute best kitchen mat anywhere.  She's a *mobile* kitchen mat, too.  

Patsy *has* to be the centre of attention at all times, gives Wilma great opportunities to bark in her face, has been swatted by an unknown creature called a Cat.  She cannot--absolutely cannot--relax anywhere.  One eye is always open, alert to our comings and goings to the point where, if I'm in the bedroom, let's say, standing at one side of the bed, and I move to the other side, Patsy *has* to follow me.  

I used to read other Droolers' reports of carnage and think, "Not *my* dog!"  I am, clearly, eating my words now.  

What's very interesting is that Paul (aka 'Terrier Man') has admitted that, while terriers will always hold first place in his heart, he is now smitten by Bassets.  By their wonderful temperaments, mainly, by the fact that they have never met a person or a dog or a cat that they haven't liked.  We have our kitchen counters edged in black walnut, made by Paul.  They now have small goudges in them (and yes, they're coated in marine varnish, but it is clearly no match for Patsy's nails) and Paul hasn't even been grumpy, knowing that they'll have to be refinished (by himself).  Honestly, that man has turned into a squishy marshmallow of Basset love.  I'm gobsmacked.  

Will Patsy settle down?  Maybe, maybe not.  Maybe she'll even become *more* of a rambunctious roustabout.  But we can't imagine how we ever lived without her, LOL.  


Veronica Deveau


(Stillwater Lake, Nova Scotia)

"Most of us spend our lives as if we have another one in the bank."  Ben Irwin
 		 	   		  
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