Lucy Basset Hound

LucyLucy cracks me/us up. She’s our Basset Hound, who now relaxes even more on her own circular dog pillow/bed, which was bestowed upon her last month from, um, Santa Paws. Now when Lucy waddles up to me I notice an unfamiliar, yet recognizable scent – that of cedar chips.

Granted we live in the Northwest, but Cedars are not indigenous to our back yard, but apparently are found inside her new bed. She wreaks of it – cedar, which indicates her relative happiness with the gift. She loves it. When she’s not eating, or cruising outside, she’s on it – morning, afternoon, and night. She still walks with the kids on their way to bed in the evenings, sitting by their side during story time – at times jumping on the bed to catch some of the story – but in the mornings we’re now finding her on that cedar pillow, in some sort of awkward Basset position, no doubt dreaming of sleeping – in a cedar forest, eating cheese (She’s a French Basset – but we love her).

Marley, Coco and us

CabamarleyWe cruised out to see Marley and me this afternoon with the kids – a cute movie that had us all in tears as we left the theater. The book was better.

I had read the book about two years ago after our first lab (his name was Marley) died at the age of 8 – before his time. He made his best attempt to eat either a pine cone or cob, which caused a severe blockage (the x-rays were inconclusive, but it looked like it could have been either). The chewing and consumption of non edible items is apparently a lab trait, one which we – at times – laughed at. He had eaten it in the evening. We found him laying by our door – barely alive the next morning. Coco was his older companion, our first family dog – his mom for all he knew. In the years past Marely’s demise, she began showing signs of age. Her hair grew coarser, her sight was failing, gray hairs dominated her muzzle and paws. Our frequent trips to the river and parks with her diminished as her enthusiasm for outdoor activities was lack luster. Towards the end she kept her self relegated to her room and to a strict path of – room to food – room to door – door to backyard – backyard to door – door to water – water to room.

CocoI can’t remember the last time she had barked, but her tail wagged till the day she passed. Both our labs were great companions – fun, loving, and inspiring. We miss them for sure.

Now we have a Basset Hound, Lucy. We got her on a trip to Portland sometime after Marley had past. We thought it was a good idea to have another dog in the house. Lucy’s puppy energy kept Coco on her paws, and we liked to believe it kept her going. It was cute to see them cuddle up together in the evenings although towards the end Lucy kept her distance, it was interesting to observe. Dogs know, I suppose.

We had to put Coco to sleep December 23. We’ll miss Coco – but I’m sure Marley’s excited to see his companion again.
Marley and Coco

Front porch Penny

We went out yesterday to look at some property for WW. The owners had a Basset Hound named Penny. Very sweet dog, who apparently was at one time part of the show circuit – she had no problem posing for some pictures.

Our Basset Hound

So we have a Basset Hound. Very cool dogs really. Never thought I would own one, but now that we have one, the thought of another is appealing. Lucy (that’s her name) is super mellow, a total sweetheart, and loves the company of people. She’s small for a Basset Hound and doesn’t really howl as much, or at all actually. She does whine quite a bit though.

She always looks drunk, hung-over or completely stoned, so I took this photograph of her during her ‘active time’, so if she ever did party I would be able to tell the difference.

Walks and the occasional chase around the house, sure; But the daily walk from one end of the sofa to the other is quite enough for her. She sits on the sofa like a person, with her back up against the sofa cushions and her head slightly up and front paws on the arm rest. She loves the best seat in the house and grunts when you try to move her. Not an angry grunt, there’s not a mean bone in this dogs highly dense body, but more like a ‘why are you moving me, can’t you see I’m comfortable’ grunt. It’s equivalent to the grunt you’d give to someone who nudges you awake at night to let you know they can’t sleep.

Her ears are ridiculously large and her legs are disproportionate to her body. But what she lacks in looks, she for sure makes up in personality. A good dog for sure.

Basset Nose

As interesting as it would be to have a dog that talks (like we see on TV shows and movies), I think there’s something to having the undivided attention (at times) of a dog whose response to our presence is marked by an array of body movements and a bark, or howl/grunt/whine in our case. No lip service. Mostly ears.
Instead of the talking dog, I would take the thought bubble dog. The thought bubble dog would have ‘a thought bubble’ over his/her head whenever something occurred to him. During sleep, while eating, playing with other dogs, shredding yard items, staring at you, farting. At any of these times I would have insight into a dogs comical yet cynical-at-times mind. There would be no doubt as to why she’s doing the things she does – it would be legible about a foot over her head.

Naughty dogger


My parents went on a vacation and left their dog with us. This dog, when in the care of my parents, lives the lavish life; Warm meals, soft pillows to nap on, daily leashed walks (with the proper attire of course), etc.
Now Chanel (the dog is named after a European perfume) is in our care. We love Chanel, and I’m pretty sure she’s loving her visit w/ us. Us being a family of 4 w/ two dogs of our own: A chocolate lab in her Platinum years, whose named Coco (yes, a chocolate lab named Coco) and our latest addition: Lucy, a Basset Hound. Lucy and Chanel are buds. They play around all day long, wrestling, chasing, biting.

It’s a riot watching them act like the pups that they are.
Her visit gives me another perspective into this cute little pampered lap dog. Once stripped from her little dog fashion garments and her couture namesake environment she’s a dog like any other. A cute little dog having a really good time w/ her goofy cousin hound dog while Mom and Dad are out of town.

It’s a break from Finishing School I suppose. A private school dog on Spring break: “Chanel Gone Wild.”
Never-the-less she’s a good dog and we’re glad to have her visit, but I think Lucy is starting to miss her multiple daily marathon naps and at times looks at us w/ those droopy eyes and asks “why?”.