[Dailydrool] Jersey (kind of long)

[Jane Hay]

We fell in love with Jersey (originally known as Lulabelle) when we
saw the first picture of her almost exactly seven years ago when the
adoption coordinator from CBHR sent it to us. She was pulled from the
Rocky Mount shelter by Lisa who got the call from a shelter worker
about a basset hound whose family was moving and didn't want to put up
with all the shedding any longer. The family was told that the shelter
didn't have any room and that she would be put to sleep and they said
ok. So Lisa pulled her, vetted her and got her to Theresa who kept her
overnight till we could get there. We hadn't had a dog in 27 years at
that point but I was recovering from back surgery and wanted a dog to
walk with.Unfortunately Jersey picked up kennel cough while at the
shelter which morphed into a horrible bacterial infection. Our poor
girl sounded like someone had shoved a garden hose up her nose! We
thought she was going to die before we even had a chance to get to
know her. That was when we met our wonderful vet who was also the vet
for CBHR in our area. He was the first person to find out that our
beautiful girl had true bassitude and would snap if you did something
to her that she didn't like. He gave her that first snap because she
was so sick but told her she wouldn't get away with it a second time!
They developed a true friendship after that first meeting. He has said
many times how gratifying it has been to watch Jersey grow from the
untrusting, snarky hound she was when she came to us into the grand
lady she became after she found a family to love and love her in
return.

Jersey was the reason we got involved in rescue. It was impossible for
us to believe that anyone would so casually discard a basset that they
had been fortunate enough to have had since she was a puppy. She had
obviously not been well loved and initially had a lot of trust issues.
Jersey was with us for almost two years before she would go belly up
for a belly rub. Of course once she started, she knew that there would
never be a time that we wouldn't drop anything we were doing to rub
her belly if she gave it to us! Of course getting involved with
rescuing basset hounds led to us fostering and foster failing Shadow,
Suzy & Ginger. We really have let many of our foster hounds move on to
other families but we certainly did become adept at foster failing!

Jersey is the Houndette who taught us everything we know about
bassitude. She became the queen of the house and basically kept all of
us in line. She and I had many discussions about who was the boss and
she would occasionally let me think that I was but I know she was just
trying to make me feel good. We all know who was the one in charge.
She was also our pack leader. Jersey never got into an actual fight
with any of the other Houndettes or foster hounds but ruled with her
personality. The most physical thing I ever saw her do with any of
them was to use her chest to bowl Ginger over onto her back a couple
of times when Ginger was challenging her. And that was all it took to
convince Ginger that she would not be the pack leader.

Jersey has always been my demo dog to take on home visits. She was
always such a good guest in someones home and I always figured that,
if the potential adopter didn't fall in love with her, they probably
didn't need a basset hound because she was a basset through and
through. Needless to say, she charmed the socks off from most everyone
she met.

We were told that she was probably between four and six when she came
to us so, of course, we made her four even though she was actually
probably closer to six. Our hope has always been that all of our
Houndettes would live into some remarkable old age. I guess it just
wasn't meant to be with our Jersey girl. She has been my constant
companion for the past seven years. She loved coming in the car with
me even if it was just a quick trip around the corner. She was a
wonderful ambassador for all bassets and would convince anyone who was
thinking about bringing a hound into their lives that it was
absolutely the best thing they could ever do.

We have been truly blessed to have had Jersey in our lives. We are
devastated by this loss and our hearts are shattered. However it's so
much better that we're suffering our heartache than to have our
beautiful girl suffer any longer. The past couple of months have been
terrible on everyone (including our vet) as we have tried to get her
liver failure under control. Some things just aren't meant to be. Our
vet has been so discouraged as time has gone along and nothing has
helped. He and his tech cried right along with us as we let Jersey go.
We are at peace with giving our girl the gift of final rest but I
think it will be a long time before we stop crying. I know I will
never, ever stop missing her.

Thank you all for your kind notes. Marty and I know you have suffered
the grief that we're going through right now and your support is so
appreciated.

Jane, Marty & the Houndettes
Jersey, Shadow, Suzy & Ginger