[Dailydrool] Basset holds hostages at bark point

[Valerie]

I am at an Internet cafe in Italy! My husband and I are on the honeymoon we did not take 27 years ago. We are in Florence for the MFA graduation of our son from the Florence Academy of Art, where he received an award for the best painting of the year. He is an exceptional portrait and figure painter in the tradition of nineteenth century realism-- www.williamzwickart.com We are proud parents.
I have been missing our bassets terribly. I was worried about their well being and arranged everything I could. We hired a pet sitter to walk them three times a day and sleep overnight with them (12 hour nights guaranteed). We left a credit card imprint with the vet, any needed care guaranteed on the dogsitter's sayso. We left a deposit at the doggie daycare facility for half-day stays to burn off energy. We alerted the friendly neighbors on one side. The dogs have the run of the house and 24-7 access to a large fenced yard through a doggie door (and our heated water bed to sleep on). I left two weeks worth of home cooked meals. The boys get to stay at home with their needs catered.
So how has this worked? Not at all. The day we arrived here we received an emergency call. Harley has been barking continuously every second he has been alone and the (friendly) neighbors are worried the police will be there soon to collect the hounds. (Now,mind you, I am the same drooler who could not get the animal control to do anything about other neighbors starving their dog to death--but that poor soul was quiet). Harley suffers NO abuse (this is probably why we are his seventh home).
So, many emails with the dogsitter later, the hounds now have company around the clock--between extra hired babysitters at the house, services of a nearby kennel, extra hours at the daycare center, the mother and sister of the dogsitter putting in shifts for a fee--Harley is behaving better I am told. And our dog sitting fees are going to rival the cost of the trip to Italy.
I am not thrilled about this, but at the same time I can't help smiling. I kind of admire that Harley is not one to go silently into the night--that he will stand up for himself--that he got himself kicked out of six homes before he came to us, and has decided I pass muster. He is my heart dog. I miss him too. I think I will need to earn more money with my quilting when I return home so that I can pay Harley's ransom fees. P.S. I have seen a number of beagles since we arrived here, but not a single Basset. Val ( of Bo and Harley Machiavelli of Hawaii)
Bill