[Dailydrool] Hounds past and present

[Donna Lindy]

There have been so many great hounds we’ve read about for years on
the Drool - so many of them were household names to us.  I think it would
be great to post and name your past hounds and tell about your current
hounds.  I know we all have some wonderful hounds that do silly and
fun things.  We need to get to know these dogs that make us keep going.
We have grown older together on this group but I think most of us still 
have a basset or two or more. 

I had Chuck and Bob before I joined the Drool in 2002.  At the time
I joined, I had Elmo, Pauline and Gracie.  Then along came little 
Dudley and they became the 16 paws, a happy little pack that adored
each other.  Dudley’s sudden illness was played out on the Drool and
his departure for the Bridge broke our hearts along with many hearts of
Droolers who had followed his story and my anguish and even chipped
In and paid down his huge vet bills.  Then along came Bosley who 
was the sweetest boy ever.He took Dudley’s place in the 16 paws line up.  
Following the loss of Pw Miss Pauline in 2010 and Elmo in 2011 we got 
Sunny, an owner return to the breeder.  A few years later, the losses began 
again with the loss of Gracie in 2015, Bosley in 2016 and Sunny in
2017.  

We adopted Maggie in 2015  from Basset Hound Rescue of GA 
after fostering her for a bit.  It has taken her a lot of time to evolve
into the joyful dog she is now.  She’s at least 11, maybe 12.  She
tap dances when she wants your attention, talks to you, shakes paws 
and has a secret wrist watch hidden somewhere because she always
knows what time it is.  This girl LOVES to walk and gives me no peace
until we harness up and head out. She moves it out to all her sniffing
spots but does what I call drag *ssing  when we turn around.  She wants 
to keep going but can no longer walk the distance.  By the time we get to our 
street she is really trudging along and will do basset statue until I pull out
a few tiny training treats and toss them ahead to get her to our driveway.
She’s a smart girl and learned how to open the gate to the foyer in no 
time - it took us a while to come with a way to stop that.  She is a girl
who loves her routine and watches very closely if anyone does anything
that is not the norm.  I have to say that behavior wise she is probably
the best mannered girl we’ve ever had.  We can have guests and she
will greet them but doesn’t approach them again unless invited, except
for known basset addicts.  

Maggie mourned Sunny’s passing more than we thought she would. She 
had been an only dog in her previous owner’s home and she did eventually 
adapt to being an only dog again.  But I got a sign one day which I may
explain some day at the risk of some of you declaring me totally insane. This
led to the acquisition of YaYa from BHrG in April of last year.  Mags snarked 
at her one time, was told NO, and has never done it again to my knowledge.  
These girls don’t cozy up to each other like I wish they would, but they respect
each other’s space and food and there are no arguments.  After having
Gracie for over 14 years this a complete pleasure!  YaYa is a hole digging,
chipmunk and vole hunting, worm eating, paper shredding, screaming like 
a banshee basset hound with short legs and a low set tail which requires 
us to wipe her hiney daily.  This girl brought out some of Maggie’s hidden 
talents like tap dancing and shaking paws  - I think jealously made her dig
a little deeper.  A few months after we adopted YaYa, she was diagnosed
with probable leukemia which ended up being T-Zone lymphoma. She’s doing
well with treatment which thankfully is not expensive.  She’s had some
issues lately, though, and we hope a reduction in her prednisone dose 
will help with that. She’s back to doing her version of howling which is
more of a scream and napping in my lap so I think we are on the right
track.  YaYa turned 9 in April and with treatment for her lymphoma she
may be able to have a full life span for a basset.  When I showed Bill 
YaYa’s picture, his comment was “do we have to keep her name”  ( I 
don’t ask about getting another dog; I just pick one out).  Well, yes 
we do have to keep her name. It’s the only thing she is coming with that 
is hers and it is part of the sign that let me know she was meant to be at 
our house. Everyone who meets her remembers her name so it is at
least memorable.

So those are my good girls, my #9 and #10, my happiness and my
wallet drainers.  Who did you have and who do you have now??

Donna, drool fueler for Maggie and YaYa