Miss Gracie

Gracie is another foster failure. She is just the sweetest. Once again my daughters and I drove to Salinas …. This time to pull 2 female bassets who had been dumped by the side of the road near a farm labor camp. Gracie was a little thin and obviously overbred but not in too bad shape otherwise. The shelter was full and these girls reached their out date and I pulled them both. The other basset (Ruby) was picked up by Susan R at my home. Gracie met Snoopy and LuLu (my resident bassets) and made herself at home. Gracie is gorgeous and there was an immediate (like within a week) inquiry for her. She wasn’t even spayed yet (it was scheduled). I spoke to the folks and I told Donna that I just didn’t feel it was a good fit. After discussing it with my family we realized that there was no home anywhere which would be as good a fit for Gracie as our home, and so she stayed. Part of it probably has to do with our loss of Cyrus (a lab who was nearly 9 who succumbed to a bought of the flu) on 8/1. Snoopy and LuLu took to Gracie like a duck to water and as did we all and couldn’t deal with another loss so soon. Gracie and LuLu love to wrestle and play …. They are each others favorite chew toy. Gracie has a bit more puppy in her than LuLu did, she steals stuff and she makes mischief and she chews on remotes and she counter cruises. She’s adorable and she knows it …. So she gets away with a lot. We brought her home on 8/12 and she’s really been very easy. I claim she’s a dickens but she’ll go 4-5 days between accidents …. Which is wonderful for a dog who has clearly never been a pet before … and getting better all the time. She steals stuff but only really chews up paper. She’s learning to snuggle, at first she would only cuddle other dogs but these days she will curl up and let me hug her for minutes. LuLu is my kissy girl but Gracie is picking it up. In the photo, Gracie and LuLu (can you believe how much alike they look, probably the same #*I@ puppy mill).and Snoopy are on the 3 dog couch, which is where they hang out when I work from home. It amazed me how these hounds love each other like they’ve always been together. Snoopy is another rescue …. Do you almost 2 years ago about a hound who came into the South County Santa Clara shelter bonded to a rather aggressive Austrailian shepard …. The shelter said austrialian shepard rescue took the other dog and left Snoopy …. And I came and bailed Snoopy out before GGBR could grab him … he has his own story, that’s for another day.

LuLu (4/12)

Let me start off telling the story of our first failure, LuLu. My two daughters and I drove to Salinas to pull a basset who was being held there in protective custody for animal cruelty. She was in very rough shape. They had just completed a pyometra spay and pulled an upper canine which was broken and appeared to have been hit or kicked. They gave us the tooth in a plastic bag in case we could ever find whoever left her by the side of the road in that condition, but we never did. Poor LuLu came out wearing a cone of shame and she was so weak she couldn’t lift her head with the cone on. I removed it right there in the lobby of the shelter over everyone’s objections and put my arms around her and promised her that nobody would ever be mean to her again. She was so scared, she wouldn’t even accept the pastrami I had brought with me to introduce myself. We loaded her into the back seat of the car next to my 12 year old daughter Natalie and drove the hour home to Campbell and introduced her to my two resident dogs (Cyrus the lab and Snoopy the basset). She was so skinny you could see every verebrae in her spine and every rib. She weighed 42 lbs (she weights 56 lbs now and is still a bit thin). She had had many, many litters and her nipples literally dragged on the ground. She had scars on her face and ears and was filthy and stinky and terrified. Her toe nails were over 4 inches long and she couldn’t walk because of them. After they were trimmed her feet took months to start to look normal, at first the vet said they may always be deformed because the ligaments had been stretched so much. At that time there was nothing pretty about LuLu but her soul. She was supposed to be a foster but this gem of a lady basset was going NOWHERE. Sweet and gentle and caring through it all she never ever has done a mean thing to anyone, man or beast. She let me clean out her ears. She let the vet examine her and trim her toe nails. After the vet said we could she let me bathe her. She let me pick her up and she let me hug her and she did everything we asked of her. She was on canned food for a while but over time she switched to kibble and she ate what we asked her to eat. She slept where we asked her to sleep (which was on a dog bed on the floor at first). Over a few months LuLu slowly put on the weight she needed. Her coat became soft and started to shine She fell in love with our family. Strangers stopped being horrified by her appearance and instead started saying how cute she was. My husband was going through chemo at the time and she would lay there in bed with him while he was going through the worst of it. Sometimes I would go in there and he would just be holding her in a death grip ….. he might not even be awake, LuLu was though and she’d just lay there and comfort him, for hours if he needed her to. LuLu loves my daughters and my dogs and me. She is the sweetest, kindest, gentlest soul I have ever met. When we lost our lab Cyrus on 8/1 (he went in his sleep) she assumed the alpha role in our pack gracefully. She’s our pride and joy. In her success story photo, she is relaxing in my reading chair in all her glory. Dale & family

Capone

"Capone was adopted early May into our little family in Carmichael, CA...and we just adore him, as well as all our extended family. We are so happy Capone is on our lives and couldn't imagine life without him. He enjoys walks with his mom and dad, hogging all the furniture, being the ham of the party, and his new feline sister Bella of course. Capone is our little gangster and we hope someday to adopt another basset to join our family. I thank all the GGBR volunteers for helping us learn more about bassets and walking us through our first couple of weeks with Capone. Thank you all! ~Krista, Eric, Capone, & Bella"

Boe (and Alexis)

We had lost our two bassets Jonesy & Blue, who were littermates, when they were 6-1/2 and 11-1/2 years respectively. We were not ready to have bassets yet, but my husband knew that we would be someday. And we knew that when we were ready, we wanted to have two again -- they're such good company for each other. Boe (rhymes with Joe) & Alexis arrived at the animal shelter separately as strays but quickly bonded so GGBR hoped that they could be placed together. I learned of them through Gwen & the Daily Drool in a conversation about glaucoma. They had been with their foster mom for about six months. We had been told that Alexis could be stand-offish with men and that Boe was a big lovable guy who loves food. These two both warmed up to us immediately and we knew we not going to be basset-less any longer! They have quickly taken over our hearts and home. By the way, we got them on Mother's Day and they are both definitely my dogs. My shadow has a name and that is Boe! They love Steve, but you can tell by their actions, they know whose bassets they are! Thank you GGBR for allowing Boe & Alexis to become a part of our family!!! They have been such a wonderful addition and we love them so much. Susan Tonjes

Ginger (3/12) renamed Molly Malone

About 6 years we adopted a female Basset we named Liza Doolittle. She had many health problems, but we nursed her back to health with TLC. She was our baby and passed away last May. I cried for 2 weeks. It was so sad to lose her. I loved having a Basset baby girl. At Christmas time I started looking at Golden Gate's site looking at all the pretty girls that needed homes. In January a stray girl basset arrived at the Sacramento Animal Shelter.The ladies at GGBR claimed her as soon as they knew her owner did not come forward. Jessica Dickson picked her up and fostered her. Jessica nursed her back to health since she got kennel cough while in the shelter. Jessica's daughter named her Ginger because her hair is so pretty and gingered color. We got to meet Ginger in the park on February 11. She rode home in Papa's ( Bob's) lap. When we got her home we renamed Ginger Molly Malone to honor Bob's Irish heritage. Molly liked her new name and home except Murphy Molly's Basset brother was very grouchy with her. After many dog cookies Murphy got for a happy attitude toward the new girl he decided that Molly is alright and now he sleeps with her and occasionally plays with her too. Molly and Murphy are sniffing partners on long walks which Molly loves. Molly also has a Lab sister named Sheena and they are best of friends since day 1.Molly also likes our 2 cats. Molly is a part of our family now. Molly is a daddy's girl and sleeps on his lap every night while Bob watches t.v Molly has been such a blessing to us. She is so sweet and loving. We just love her and could not have asked for a sweeter girl. She is also such a pretty girl. Proud Basset Hound Mommy and Daddy, Kay and Bob Beeson