She is SUCH a great dog!

You know, you have a basset in your home for 6 years and she is in the shadows of another basset who is (sadly) always in need of medical attention, so the other basset gets inadvertently pushed aside in a manner of speaking. And (most sadly) she is not completely noticed until the other older basset makes his journey to the bridge.

Della-Ware Summer's End...aka Della, aka Bear, is the sweetest, adorable and most precious pup in the world!

I have no crazy story to tell here just a quick run down of the day and what I came home to:

I departed at 8:30 AM for work and usually get home during the lunch hour--but not today. And as the day wore on with no hope in sight of getting home I accepted the fact that I was going to have to do some steam vac-ing. And who could blame the dog--she's "good" for 6-7 hours, but 10?? Not a prayer!

I entered my home to find a delightfully happy dog who was extremely excited to see me--who raced out of the back door and right into the backyard with a huge look of relief on her face. Oh, and not a single "accident" anywhere in the house.

Della--you are wonderful!

New Addition....not a basset

Well, Oscar is here. He's now 15 weeks old and he's a MENACE...oh, and he's a kitten.

He's adorable, should never have survived his "birth" (he was FOUND during a routine spaying--never was born naturally), and yet is more full of life than any other animal (or human) that I have ever encountered--GO OSCAR!

Della is in love with him---which is good. She has finally started sleeping in Buford's chairs (yes there were 2 that were specifically his) and has clearly moved on. I am, however, convinced she missed a doggie companion so I'll have to do something about that over the course of the next year.

Meanwhile Guinness has accepted the little squirt and the three of them are getting along just fine.

Spring is Here!

It's been an interesting transition to life without Buford--I miss him horribly, but I have to admit life has calmed down around here. Buford, may he rest in peace and run free from all pain, was a very needy hound. This was part personality and part medical. I fault him for nothing and if I had to do it again I wouldn't change a thing. However, changes have occurred:

• We all sleep through the night--no 1 AM and 3 AM bathroom sessions;
• Della RUNS, and there is no drag and beg about going back home at the end of a walk;
• Della has finally decided it is ok to sleep in Buford's chair;

And the list could go on and on. In essence, life has settled into a new routine and it is pretty good!

WOW! What Fun!

Della's play date yesterday was terrific. We spent it with 5 of Cindy Miller's Rapscallion Bassets: Booker (7), Bobbi (5), and the three of the 9-month old pups--George, Cara and Gemma. What a wonderful pack of bassets. Della romped, ran, chased, played, flirted, raced and rolled with all of them. She hasn't had playtime in ages and it was a wonderful thing to watch. They all got along so well that I'm sure there will be future play dates down the road.

The red and white basset is Booker. The two other pups are Gemma (in the back) and George.

Della--a Play Date!

In about an hour or so Della is going to have a play date with 5 other basset hounds! We're going to join Cynthia Miller and the Rapscallion Bassets for an afternoon of romping and hilarity. I'll post photos and video (if I can capture any--they're fast little buggers!) later tonight.