Hank

So where do we begin about the story of Hank and us being foster failures. In April, we were contacted about being a foster family for an older gentleman named Hank. I was convinced that we would just be foster parents until he found a home. We already had accumulated a handful of other pets. Hank is a 9 ½ year old blond basset hound. We picked him up from a previous foster family in May of this year. At first he was a little shy and showed signs of simple nervousness, curiosity of the cats and wasn’t too sure about his new dog friends (a Doberman named Deputy, a beagle gal named Lola and fellow female basset hound named Ballie). After about three weeks he settled in and started to become one of the gang. He even developed wonderful friendships with the kitties, which was supposed to be one of the ”knocks” against him. It did not take long before became very vocal at meal time making sure that everyone was in there positions or by their bowls. I would give him a bear hug morning and night to show that we welcome him and loved him. He would growl quietly but I would continue daily. We would take him for long walks but being his age he tends to take his sweet time. Then all of a sudden one day, he came up to me and brushed his head on my leg like “Hey where’s my hug”. That’s when I fell more in love with him and decided that he could just not leave this house. He currently runs around the house and backyard like a young pup. He loves to carry his ball and play catch with you and the other pups. He loves his sleep and walks around with the cats. He loves to go for car rides, play in the park and inspect while pruning the garden. If he needs to go potty, he will pull the toilet paper off the roll out of the guest bathroom until you notice it in the hall. Sure, we did not need another dog but life without Hank would not have been as fun. Bassets are a huge asset. We are officially foster failures and proud of it.

Sherlock & Sapphire

Dear GGBR, picking up the bassets went well. They are beautiful. The drive down and back went great. They are doing well. They started off slow and scared. Sapphire is the girls name and she took a little longer to warm up but she is still some what scared. Sherlock is the boys name and he is funny. He is starting to chew, play and we heard him bark for the first time today. Thank you very much for telling us about these bassets. They are beautiful. Both bassets went to the vet for a check up and they are healthy. Sherlock is going in for eye surgery for a cherry eye. Now they have been with us a few weeks, Sapphire has warmed up to me but is still a little scared of the guys. Sherlock is now sleeping on my son’s bed. They are beautiful. The cherry eye surgery was a complete success as you can see from the photos. Thank you once again for sending us to these dogs!

Buster

When we first heard from GGBR about a possible “match” for our family, we were very excited. I printed and cut out Buster’s little picture and we placed it at the dinner table each night, talking about how much fun it will be when he’s here. Buster’s foster-father, Duke, was so gracious and generously made the 5-hour round-trip journey to bring Buster to us one drizzly Saturday in February. My husband and I watched out the window as Duke opened up the back of his car… out jumped 2 of the biggest Bassets I’ve ever seen. “Oh my gosh!” we thought, “What are we getting ourselves into?” From Day 1 Buster has been a loving part of our family. Our son, Bennett, was 18 months old at the time, and we worried how a new dog would fit into our chaotic lives, but Buster is an angel. It took him a short while to adjust and to shed some of his understandable nervousness. He is still quite emotionally needy, but we have plenty of love to give. He makes us laugh each and every day. When people ask about him, I tell them we won the dog lottery with Buster. I can’t imagine owning a more perfect dog. Sure, he is slobbery, stinky, stubborn and will eat everything off of the tables and counters in one mouthful if allowed to, but we love our Buster. We love spoiling him with 2 long walks per day, massages and treats. (In fact my husband and I have shed 20 lbs each since acquiring Buster and walking daily!) I thought we got a lot of attention when walking with our toddler – it’s nothing compared to walking with Buster. It’s like walking with Brad Pitt! People always stop us, and are so interested in him. Mostly people share memories of their own beloved Bassets they had long ago, but often too we hear, “That’s the best looking Basset I’ve ever seen!” or, “Those are the biggest ears I’ve ever seen!” It’s been 5 months since Buster came into our lives. Things just haven’t been the same… and we couldn’t be happier. The Spencer Family – Ukiah, CA

Luna

Hi GGBR, This is long overdue, it is just today that I really had a chance to write and read all the updates. We adopted Luna about 4-5 years ago? My husband was very much against the idea, but I have always wanted a Basset Hound since I was a child. So despite it all, I went ahead and got Luna after 2 months of waiting, which I believe was just the perfect time. She immediately became my husbands dog and loyal partner. She follows him everywhere he goes which would always mean tripping over her or stepping on her cute big paws. Luna is very loyal and her temperament with our 3 kids is perfect, and she is the queen of our home. Potty issues are forever an issue, but ofcourse, daddy lets her get away with it! Luna enjoys her daily walks and has shown alot of positive behaviors eversince we have taken her consistently. Luna has truly completed our home. She is now 8 yrs. old and continues to rule the house. We just love hearing the sound of her nails as she comes greet us at the door. And her thunderous barks whenever the mail is being dropped off. Thank you for allowing us to adopt Luna, she truly is a remarkable pet and we love having her in our life and home.

Zoey (was Ruby)

Here are photos of our Zoey girl. I wanted her name changed from Ruby to Zoey so she could forget her past. She is standing on our boat dock looking like a beautiful princess in one picture (click the picture to the left to see the other photos). The other picture is of her on one of her five different doggie beds which are located on outside 2nd floor deck, outside 1st floor patio, living room, TV room, and in her kennel in our bedroom. The third photo is her walking on the beach. We have had both eyes operated on for Cherry Eye. She sees the Vet tomorrow for her follow up visit after her second eye operation. She has gained four pounds and is a very happy dog. She still has house training issues, every couple days she decides to urinate on the carpet for no obvious reason. We walk her every morning for at least 2 miles sometimes 3 miles from our house around the park in our neighborhood. We have been on vacation for 4 weeks (with her) to a friends house in Oregon on the Coast. She loved the beach and the sand dunes. - It looks to us like Zoey has left Ruby far behind and now has the wonderful life and love that she so deserves! Thanks to Barbara Young for adopting her and loving her despite her issues!