BBB -- Basset Butt Bonding

What is UP with this?! Every night it is the same thing. I get pushed to the middle of the couch by the "big guy" (Buford). Within minutes the "little one" (Della) has jumped up on the other side of me. I am now wedged between two bassets--and that may be fine, but....

At some point during their evening shut down BOTH of them rotate so that each has their butt shoved up against one of my legs! WHAT IS THAT??

No matter where either of them sleeps, if I'm next to them it is inevitable that they will have their butts attached to me. It is so incredibly bizarre.

Della Graduated!

I AM SO PROUD OF HER!! Della just finished her Basic Obedience Class at the Wilmington Kennel Club. I got this great certificate and she got to choose a toy...which she successfully ripped to shreds before we were half way home. (And how she did that to one of those extra tough tennis balls I will never know.)

She had a pretty good night...ok, it was exceptional because I have been away for the last 2.5 weeks and we had ZERO practice time! SHE EVEN DID DOWN TONIGHT!!

We failed miserably when we played Musical Chairs though. She wanted to EAT the paper instead of sit on it! But what do you expect from a basset hound?!

COGRATULATIONS my little wonder pup!

Caught In The Act (part 2)!

All this time, almost a full year now, I have been feeling sorry for Guinness. This poor cat is constantly being pounced on, trounced on and slobbered on. He has been chased, knocked into walls, knocked off chairs, and headed like a soccer ball into the air. He has been wrestled with, tostled with and plain old beaten up.

And all of this "abuse" is provided by Della, the basset who thinks she's a jack Russell terrier.

And then I caught them. Right there in front of me! And on MY BED!! Della was lying on her side and Guinness was giving her a complete facial!!

I guess there isn't really anything to worry about as they seem to really love each other. ...thank Heavens there's no such thing as interspecies breeding!

Buford's Favorite Activities

Being 6 1/2 years old one doesn't like to carry on quite as much as a younger pup. But Buford still has his quirky approaches to living. His favorite things to do are as follows:

+Stand in front of the gate blocking the living room and barking to be let in---
---only to stand on the other side after being let in and barking to be let out.
+Sit in front of the refridgerator and look back and forth from the box of bisquits to mother.
+Growl at Della simply because she exists.
+Play and romp with Della when mother isn't watching.
+Bark out the living room window because someone, somewhere in the neighborhood closed a car door.
+Sleep--on any and every chair and couch in the house.

Caught In The Act!

Every morning it is the same routine: Della jumps off my bed and in one leap is on top of Guinness (the cat) who is sound asleep on the big, round doggie bed. (Right, there is this big doggie bed that NEITHER of the dogs use--what's so strange about that?)

The poor kitty cat gets all slimed. He protests, he slaps back at Della--never with nails extended however--and he does his darndest to get away.

And then EVERY evening the truth is exposed--this poor cat actually LOVES this nutty basset hound! Each night Della is lying on the couch and each night Guinness climbs up next to her and gives her this big facial bath. Unbelievable!

Technical Support Phone Call--if they only knew

The wonders of computers means that one becomes very acquainted with various hardware and software tech support people. Last night was no exception and if the guy had any idea what was REALLY going on he would have disconnected me!

I'm trying to get a bit closer to "today" here at home with my various computers, internet connections, printers, etc.--so it was time to network everything. Seemed easy enough to start with the printers so that I could work on the notebook and wirelessly print to the upstairs printer---yeah, right.

After doing EXACTLY what the instructions say to do...it was time to call "tech support." Everyone who has ever had to do this knows the routine--but have you ever had to deal with those people when you had a basset puppy in the house?

Ok, so I forgot to close the gates to keep Della from going into the living/dining room. And ok, I forgot to close the gate from the living room to the foyer that allows access to the entire house. All of this means: "Hey! Mom's on the phone---the playground is WIDE open!"

We all know that at some point during these tech support phone calls you have to "reboot" your machine. This only takes about 30 seconds to 1 minute with a MAC....for me it took over 3 minutes. Why you ask?

The tech guy kept asking me if the machine had rebooted and I kept saying, "No, still waiting." This small conversation occured while I was running up the stairs, then down the stairs, then up the stairs, then taking a sneaker out of her mouth, then down the stairs, then taking a throw pillow away from her, then up the stairs, then dragging her out from under the guest room bed and FINALLY getting the "pwincess" into her crate!

Oh, and yes, the print server finally works.

Peanut Butter--fun for everyone

All I have to do is look at both pups and say, "Peanut Butter" and it is a mad race from wherever they are into the kitchen. Both stop on a dime (ok, they slide on the dime across the linoleum) in front of the kitchen counter and bark like crazy!

Peanut butter serves mulitple purposes: it is one of their favorite treats, I get a good chuckle watching both of them try to lick if off the roofs of their mouths, and well, at the risk of being a little gross, it helps "speed things along" if you know what I mean.

Expanding a tad on the speeding along process, with all the shedding these bassets do (24/7/52) they ingest a lot of hair. That hair can "slow things down." So a little help from Skippy is just what the doctor order!