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<p class=MsoNormal>As some of you know, I had a Daphneyland Adventure last
week. I truly believe that if you breed, you MUST also be involved in
rescue. I have been involved with Michigan Basset Rescue for eons (and
will continue to be as involved as possible). I met Dawn in 1999 when
Nick was King of the Waddle and have always wanted to visit Daphneyland.
Since I retired two years ago, I decided that it was time for me to do
this. I decided I was going to fly out, stay a week, and work with Dawn
through a full week of wrangling bassets. Now, I am not a “young chick”
but dog shows have trained me well and I as strong (physically and
mentally). I think Dawn was surprised I could keep the pace … but I
was determined. The hours are long (up at 8 AM and rarely to bed before 1
PM); the work is hard and the hounds are WONDERFUL! The day starts
with preparing food bowls (there were 83 dogs in the kennel and 7 house dogs,
plus the 9 puppies), getting the kennel dogs out of their indoor runs and out
into the yards, bleaching down the kennel runs (inside and outside)(ceiling to
floor, beds and bowls on M-W-F and bleach mopped on T-TH-Sat-Sun),
changing bedding in all the runs, scooping poop (non-stop), washing all the dog
dishes and sanitizing them, doing laundry (18 hours a day …
literally!). Sometime between noon and 2 PM (depending on the number of
volunteers), morning chores are done. Then it is time for some belly
rubs, grooming (about 5 dogs each day get their nails trimmed), behavioral and
obedience work with select dogs, and more belly rubs. About 5 PM, most of
the dogs are ready for a nap, so dogs are returned to their indoor/outdoor runs
and the dogs who can’t handle the larger pack are grouped into smaller
packs for extended exercise and socialization. By 7 PM, all dogs (except
Phil who is feral and doesn’t want to go into a run because the last time
that happened he was neutered!) are in runs. If all goes well, we
returned to the house and got some dinner, checked emails, Dawn returned phone
calls and we rubbed bellies for the house dogs. At 10 PM it was back up
to the kennel, dogs were fed, all the dogs were put out for a 30 minute
exercise period, indoor and outdoor runs were scooped/mopped of any “accidents”,
bedding checked/replaced, water bowls filled and all dogs brought in for the
night. The outdoor run doors were shut, furnace and heaters turned on and
then it was time for the nighttime ritual of cookies for all and Dawn singing “When
you wish upon a star”. It is amazing to be able to hear a pin drop
in a kennel of 80+ dogs as you walk down the center, listening to Dawn sing to
them. Put the last load of laundry in … and back to the house
about midnight. Cookies and belly rubs for house dogs, last call for
potty stops and hope to be in bed by 1 PM or so. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The majority of the hounds are seniors (at least 8 years old
or older), many arrived with inoperable tumors, glaucoma and other
problems. All get lots of love, quality food, a warm place to sleep,
companionship of other bassets and many people, good vet care and loving
passage when it is time to go to the Bridge. Obviously, the younger and
healthy hounds are adopted first. I KNOW I would have trouble being
non-judgmental and nice when the phone call comes in from someone who says (I
actually took this call and quickly handed it off to Dawn) they want to relinquish
their 2 year old female because they have two little kids now and don’t
have the time for her! But those seniors, blind, deaf, disabled, sickly
babies are precious and tug at your heart. Those hounds are given special
treatment, some (6) staying at the house, some (8) sleeping/hanging out in the
grooming room, some (10) sleeping/hanging out in the suites on each side of the
grooming room. Daphney has decided that the bathroom is her private
suite, but she does allow the humans to use the facilities! <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I wrote a daily account of my adventure on Facebook, but for
those of you who are not on Facebook, I have put together a Picasa album of
some of the pics I took. BTW – I had the privilege of running (well
walking) a pack of 28 hounds on my last day --- Cesar Millan only ran 22 hounds
… BWAHAHAHAHA!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I had a WONDERFUL time, learned a lot, met many dedicated
volunteers, members of the BaRNI board, members of the Basset Hound Club of
Southern California and fell in love with about 100 hounds!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<td style='border:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:.1in 9.6pt .1in 9.6pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='color:#333333'>You are invited to view
105549262686688849868's photo album: <a
href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=105549262686688849868&target=ALBUM&id=5462045033568593553&authkey=Gv1sRgCPik9qG8_-74mwE&feat=email">Daphneyland
Adventure</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><a
href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=105549262686688849868&target=ALBUM&id=5462045033568593553&authkey=Gv1sRgCPik9qG8_-74mwE&feat=email"><span
style='color:blue;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=144 height=108
id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01CAE247.7CE5A2A0"
alt="cid:5462045033568593553"></span></a><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td valign=top style='padding:0in 0in 0in 8.4pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='color:#333333'>Daphneyland Adventure<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:#666666'>Apr 8, 2010<br>
by <b>105549262686688849868</b> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:15.6pt'><span style='color:#666666'><a
href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=105549262686688849868&target=ALBUM&id=5462045033568593553&authkey=Gv1sRgCPik9qG8_-74mwE&feat=email"><b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>View Album</span></b></a> <br>
<a
href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=105549262686688849868&target=ALBUM&id=5462045033568593553&authkey=Gv1sRgCPik9qG8_-74mwE&feat=email&mode=SLIDESHOW"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>Play slideshow</span></a> </span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#666666'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:#00681C'>Message
from 105549262686688849868:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;color:#333333'>These pictures
were sent with Picasa, from Google.<br>
Try it out here: <a href="http://picasa.google.com/">http://picasa.google.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:#666666'>If you are
having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your
browser:<br>
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href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=105549262686688849868&target=ALBUM&id=5462045033568593553&authkey=Gv1sRgCPik9qG8_-74mwE&feat=email">http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=105549262686688849868&target=ALBUM&id=5462045033568593553&authkey=Gv1sRgCPik9qG8_-74mwE&feat=email</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:#666666'>To share your
photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, <a
href="http://picasaweb.google.com">get your own free Picasa Web Albums
account</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=right style='text-align:right'><a
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none'><img border=0 width=206 height=31 id="Picture_x0020_2"
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style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Sandi Wittenberg<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Red Bay Bassets<o:p></o:p></p>
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