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I am so way behind, and I apologize for not sending condolences yet to those who have recently lost their beloved one, Olive, Lucy and Stella foremost in my weary brain, but I have communicated with Pierre Sr., and he will do his best to greet them happily, and he was an incredibly social hound, and I know the party is just rockin' ATB. But, I agree, let it be enough for now.<div><br></div><div>I have noticed something for a while, but really did not give it much attention, regarding Colette. She is the only hound I can NEVER get a HAPPY picture of, and this concerns me. She is a beloved pet to us, but bought from a byb during Mom's reign of over buying bassets during the early stages of her dementia. We spent several hours at the family's house, and Mom insisted we get a female, but the only way we could get the only female yet available, Colette (then named Chocolate Chip) was to get a male also. Chip was bonded with a son in the family, and with all his being he was trying to prevent the sale. I know that feeling. My Dad bred poodles when I was very young, and I was attached to one in particular that was sold. The son ran away to the bottom of the property, hid in a tent, and was trying to keep Chip from being sold. I was SO ready to walk away, and not realizing Mom was in an altered state, and since it was her wish and her desire, and I was just the driver, so we waited and negotiated until Mom got what she wanted. But, we had to take a male to get the female, and we didn't want to breed, but Mom wanted a female. Then our choices for the male were Patches and Chucky jr. (now Nigel) Jr. was the father's favorite, and he has the alpha personality. Patches had a hernia, so I told Mom no for Patches. </div><div><br></div><div>So we bought CC and C jr. (Now Colette and Nigel). They had a lot of health issues young, but are doing fine, health wise now, but I am worried about the always sad face of Colette. Also, she doesn't mingle with the herd as much as I would like. She (almost 7), especially, but a lot of times with Nigel, will spend most of their day in the lower level of the house, isolated and somewhat distant. I think Nigel stays there to stay with her, but he really rather be with the pack. I am probably over thinking, and for the longest time, my biggest worry was Mom, but now that I can pay attention to more details with the hounds, I just want to make them as happy and comfortable as possible. I thought if I connected with a communicator for Colette, I could understand her deep needs, and I think one of the rescues was offering this service, either for pay or woffle or raffle. Or it just may be that they are snobs, having been raised by a family rather than a mill puppy, rescue or not, that is the story of the rest of our grateful hounds. Not sure about Pierre jr., though, as I think he may have had a nice start, but was not handled correctly for a while. He has really wormed his way into my heart, now, though, but he puts effort into it, and Sr. told him to do so.</div><div><br></div><div>Hugs and love to everyone,</div><div><br></div><div>Jackie and the herd (I am probably over thinking, Maybe, she just doesn't like her picture taken!!!)</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Any advice is appreciated,</div><div><br></div><div>Hugs,</div><div><br></div><div>Jackie</div> <br /><hr />The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars with Hotmail. <a href='http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?tile=multicalendar&ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_5' target='_new'>Get busy.</a></body>
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