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HomeLAN

HomeLAN

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Yes, I am indeed a basset fan from waaaay back - as you might have guessed from my av. That was actually my dog when I was a kid.

How old is yours? Two or three color? Weight? Sound like a doberman from behind a closed door? Think he's a rottie?
 
My Elvis turns 10 in January. He is lemon and white, and has that distinctive basset bay. He's been with me through good times and bad for the last eight years or so. His age is starting to creep up on him, and when the time comes I will be inconsolable.

I was working in Nashville when a coworker approached me about him. Seems she heard I was a fan, and she had one she didn't want. He was a "replacement" for a Cocker Spaniel that ran out the front door and got hit by a car. At the time, my house was under construction, so we worked out an arrangement for her to keep him until I got moved in.

The day I met him, we went to a fenced in pen behind her house. It was dreary and muddy. About ten Cockers came out of this little dog house...and then here came "Duke" (their name for him). He didn't even come to the gate...he knew they weren't there for him.

Well, her husband eventually got him to the gate. It opened, and Elvis walked right past him, past my coworker, past my first wife...and directly to me. He wet me from fingertip to elbow without ever opening his mouth, and I knew...that was my dog.

When we got him home, he probably drank ten gallons of water and ate fifteen pounds of food immediately. Needless to say, my relationship with the coworker went downhill...

I've said many times that I earnestly hope and pray that, as bassets go, there is not one thing special or unique about him...that every basset is exactly like him. He has his mannerisms, his own personality, even a prankish sense of humor. In all respects, I can honestly say that I am owned, lock stock and barrel, by this basset hound.

Long live the drool!
 
Every basset is exactly like him in that they all have their own personality and mannerisms - strongly enough that you'll need a strong personality of your own simply to compete.

Lovable as all hell, and dumb as stumps. You know the end of the Beatles song "good Morning", where they have the sounds of a fox hunt as the song fades out? Mine used to go nuts when that part came on - baying at the speakers with his tail down and spittle flying everywhere.

Does yours do that?

Watch those ears though. Keeping 'em clean is a PITA, but they'll get infected if you don't.
 
SouthernN'Proud said:
My Elvis turns 10 in January. He is lemon and white, and has that distinctive basset bay. He's been with me through good times and bad for the last eight years or so. His age is starting to creep up on him, and when the time comes I will be inconsolable.

I was working in Nashville when a coworker approached me about him. Seems she heard I was a fan, and she had one she didn't want. He was a "replacement" for a Cocker Spaniel that ran out the front door and got hit by a car. At the time, my house was under construction, so we worked out an arrangement for her to keep him until I got moved in.

The day I met him, we went to a fenced in pen behind her house. It was dreary and muddy. About ten Cockers came out of this little dog house...and then here came "Duke" (their name for him). He didn't even come to the gate...he knew they weren't there for him.

Well, her husband eventually got him to the gate. It opened, and Elvis walked right past him, past my coworker, past my first wife...and directly to me. He wet me from fingertip to elbow without ever opening his mouth, and I knew...that was my dog.

When we got him home, he probably drank ten gallons of water and ate fifteen pounds of food immediately. Needless to say, my relationship with the coworker went downhill...

I've said many times that I earnestly hope and pray that, as bassets go, there is not one thing special or unique about him...that every basset is exactly like him. He has his mannerisms, his own personality, even a prankish sense of humor. In all respects, I can honestly say that I am owned, lock stock and barrel, by this basset hound.

Long live the drool!
Click to expand...

Bastard. *goes off to mope in private*
 
Lovable, definately.

Dumb, yeah. But the gentlest, most loving creatures ever known to mankind makes up for that.

Elvis used to get a little rowdy during full moons. He'd howl himself out of a voice. He outgrew that. He'll still bark just to hear himself bark sometimes, but all in all he's pretty content to just lay around.

The ears...yeah, we keep 'em as clean as possible. The tips get dipped in Alpo at mealtime, but he doesn't mind baths at all.

I do have one question though. He seems to go through periods when he simply won't eat. Usually two to three times a year, lasting from three to five days. No matter what we try, he just won't eat. It usually happens near the time the weather gets warm to stay, around the time it gets cold to stay, and maybe once in the summer. He's finicky...won't eat dog food with chicken, won't touch a biscuit but inhales cornbread, and we have to switch out the brand of dry food or he gets tired of it...but the not eating at all bothers me. He always snaps out of it, but it's worrisome. Is that common?
 
Hmm. Never known one to do that. Overdrive would eat whatever wasn't nailed down, and a few things that were.

Have you asked your vet about it?
 
Yeah, he wasn't too concerned. Said something about seasonal changes. I got a psych degree, I know about Seasonal Affective Disorder, just didn't know it'd hit a dawg too.
 
SouthernN'Proud said:
Yeah, he wasn't too concerned. Said something about seasonal changes. I got a psych degree, I know about Seasonal Affective Disorder, just didn't know it'd hit a dawg too.
Click to expand...

Maybe your dog is following some strange canine religious cult that fasts twice a year. ;)

Most likely he's snacking on the side. Does he graze when he's 'fasting'?
 
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