The Awesome Basset

You may already be familiar with Belle. If not, please let me tell you about her!  After all, she is an “awesome basset hound!”   A lot of people say you choose dogs who are like you.  If that is the case, we are stubborn, sleep a lot¸ comical, and  intelligent, but fun to be around.  Not all bad, but hopefully there are a few differences between us and Belle (other than the obvious).

Here’s what you would find out about the basset breed if you looked it up:  stubborn personality, most dense body mass of all dogs, the long ears catch scent and pull it in close to their nose so they can catch all those wonderful smells.   That's the encyclopedia's take on bassets. 

Now here’s mine J.

First, this is Belle. 

I know, you are falling in love already!  Belle came into our lives about 1-1/2 years ago.  We adopted her from a basset rescue - a group of people as enamored as us with the basset traits and personality. Our previous basset, Abby, had several forms of cancer.  One was a rapid, inoperable form.  It was hard to lose Abby, she had been an important part of our lives for a long time.   After several months it felt like it was time to bring a basset into our home again.  Enter:  Belle.

Yep, she is sporting an ISU collar cover and yes, she is spoiled.  She has her choice of several sleeping places – the Lazy-Boy (recently sold), the overstuffed chair in the office where she “works” during the day while I work nearby, although our work duties are nothing alike!  This is also where she watches Dad leave for work and waits for him to come home each day - perched on the arm of the chair - just staring out the window, with the patience only a loving dog can have.  She also sleeps on the sofa, a dog bed in the bedroom (which she hardly uses as she now sleeps on the bed with us), and another dog bed at Camp Belle (that’s what we call the laundry room – it is where Belle stays when we are gone during the day).  Her food and water are in there, a second doggy bed, and we leave the light on, so we think Camp Belle sounds much nicer.  She has a lot of places to sleep, cuz, well, she sleeps a lot! Oh, and if we are going out of town, she doesn't go to the vet, she goes to the "spa."  It makes us feel better to call it that!

Here are some of my favorite features of the basset hound – and what we think makes Belle a GLORIOUS specimen if we do say so ourselves J. 

First, there’s the ears.

Seriously, her ears are like therapy.  If you are stressed out, down, whatever, all you have to do is rub those velvety soft ears and it is soothing (for Belle too).  Luckily her ears are big, because I constantly sing and talk to her – it takes a lot of ear to handle how much I express myself I guess.  If she could go shopping for ear protectors to keep the sound of my voice out (especially when she is trying to sleep), she probably would.   Luckily she can't :)

Then there’s the feet and legs.

Seriously, how can you not love that??  The basset joints are pretty amazing. Those short little legs and big paws.. (sigh).  But if you think bassets can't move... guess again!  Those little legs can make them fly!

Then there’s that “dome” on the very top of her head.

See it?  It’s very faint, but there.  It is a little lighter in color in this picture.  I looovveeee rubbing that bony prominence.  Don’t ask why, but it works the same as the ears when it comes to keeping things kopacetic (sp?) around here. 

The eyes... come on!!!

 

Unfortunately, someone, somewhere whispers to bassets when they are born how sad they look and to use it to their advantage  and Belle does this well.  Ergo: being spoiled.  It is hard to say no to those eyes.

Put the whole package together and it is pretty amazing.  If you aren’t into dogs you probably don’t  get that, but that’s okay. 

She spends the majority of her day sleeping, but typically gets the “crazies” once a day,  picking up one of her toys (her favorite is Woodstock , a 2-foot stuffed rendition of him about as long as she is) and  doing laps around the house.  You should see her trying to run through a door with 2 feet of Woodstock sticking out from her mouth in a horizontal direction! 

I love all animals, well except for snakes and spiders, but that is a whole other blog!  I have always had a dog and can't imagine not having one.  The love they give you is so unconditional.  No matter how poorly we as humans treat them, they still love us. I think we have a lot to learn from dogs: 

Be nice to others, regardless of what they may do to you. 

Shake it off.  

Let people know you are happy to see them.

Find joy in the little things.

 Slow down and enjoy life a little more. 

Naps are okay. 

Find a cozy chair and just curl up.

Be a good listener.

Getting crazy once in a while is okay too. 

Comfort others.

Live for each day, because none of us are guaranteed another.

Love unconditionally.

At the end of the day, cuddle up with the people you love. 

May we all be more like our dogs.