[Dailydrool] This and that...

[Dossey, Gwen via Dailydrool]

Good morning droolers!  Sorry, but I think this is going to be long because I want to get everything in at once...

First I want to tell Bev how sorry I am about her son-in-law!  I am sending prayers to your family at this difficult time!

Second I want to say WTG Rolph!  Continued healing drool is being slung your way!! Keep up the good work!! XOXO

About dog parks - we used to almost live at the dog park when we had Teddi, Casper and Sadie Jean and then later when Madden joined us she loved it too!  We had meetups at the park and had all kinds of friends.  Casper didn't play much, but she roamed and sniffed and looked for kids to love on her and people to rub her belly!  Sadie Jean wandered around a bit, but she was content staying around the people, and if she thought she wasn't getting the attention that she deserved, she would sit-up on her back end and then all the ooh's and aah's would start and she'd be happy!  Teddi played when it was HER idea! For example, if other dogs were running, she would run after them being perfectly content to chase, but if a dog fell behind or started chasing her, she would quit!  We LOVED the meetups with all the bassets!!  We even had parties at the dog park - birthday parties on their odd years (because we were odd people)!  Easter egg hunts (in the park the first year, and then we learned to move it outside the park so dogs not in our group wouldn't help themselves!); Howl-O-Ween parties where costumes were optional, but trick-or-treating was mandatory and even Christmas gift exchanges!  We LOVED the park!!  And then we got Sasha... she seemed to like it and all of our friends, but after she turned a year old and she started the house fire things changed!  We had to move out for 6 months and it was hard for us to get to the park on a daily basis, plus I had knee surgery so it was hard to wrangle 3 dogs...  Then Teddi tore her ACL and we didn't want to go to the park without her, so when we were able move back home and return to the park, things really changed for Sasha!  All of a sudden, if you weren't part of our play group you didn't belong and you were going to get attacked!!  It didn't matter if you were a puppy, an elderly dog, small or a large, basset or pitbull she would attack!  Not just bark, but bite as she went!  We hired trainers and bought her a muzzle and finally just quit going because the meanest dog at the dog park was my basset puppy!! :(  We occasionally go to other parks and it's totally different then at HER park.  We've gone to our park at night in the winter time when there are fewer dogs there, and she's ok - not 100%, but about 90%!!  It's just not as fun for me either!

As for dogs coming into our home, we've always talked to our girls and let them know that we were bringing home another dog 1st.  For example, when we were looking for a puppy for Teddi for her 1st birthday (before we knew about rescue), we told her all the time that we were getting her a puppy and it would be hers and she would need to teach it how to behave, and damned if it didn't work!  They were the best of friends from the time we walked out of that store with them both!  When we got Sadie Jean we met her & her foster mom at the dog park and introduced them.  After we went home, we told the girls that she was going to come live with us and they needed to behave because she was older than they were and sure enough everything was great about 95% of the time (1 great (and bloody fight) was over pig ears, so we stopped getting those!)!  Same when we got Madden - we took them all on a long walk and I told them that we were going to be taking her home because her momma and daddy couldn't keep her any more and she needed a home.  That worked wonders until we said out loud that we were going to adopt her, and then Casper started picking fights with Madden.  Turned out I was petting and feeding Madden before Casper and that was NOT in the correct order!  Once I stopped, so did the fighting!!  We never told the girls that we were getting Sasha and I'm wondering if that had anything to do with the cold shoulder she got from Teddi?!?!?  Sasha was a real stinker (to put it nicely!) and Madden took her under her wing and taught her the doggy door and when she was being too rough, but Teddi totally ignored her for the first 18 months straight!! Even after that, she really didn't have much to do with Sasha, but Sasha tried to take Teddi's role as queen, and Teddi was having none of that which caused a couple of fights!!  The last one, Teddi ended up with the bloody ear, but I'm sure she won, because there wasn't another fight after that and Teddi was still the boss until the end!!

When Sadie Jean passed away, Casper moped and mourned for 2 months, until we got Madden.  When Casper passed away, Teddi mourned for a long time!!  That was HER puppy and we could tell that she missed her terribly!  Madden has always been stoic and we can never tell if she's sad with first Casper and recently Teddi's passing's.  I told myself that she didn't know that Teddi wasn't there any more because her smell was still all over the house and Madden is completely blind so she can't see that she's not there, but I'm not so sure any more... she has to know that we don't call out to Teddi or that I only put down 2 bowls for dinner... but what do I know... :)

Hugs and healing drool to all those in need!
~Gwen, Madden & Sasha~ (:>
gdossey at te.com<mailto:gdossey at te.com>
Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect. It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections.


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