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).

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?”.