Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and wowing the crowd lovers! OK, there were no crowds, but all the same she did some pretty good wowing!

Emma needs to become famous. My goodness that girl just captures everyone’s heart. Everywhere she goes people cannot get enough of her. When we got to the vet a few of the girls were opting to carry her in. This girl won!

Really, several of the gals said they would do it. Of course I was a nervous wreck. Thank goodness I was in my right mind to take a picture. I wanted everyone to see how cute our Emmers is braving the unknown!

OK, now you can thank me! LOL – how adorable is this picture? Look at that rump roast. I would give anyting to be able to carry her. Look at those baby back paws that can stand up now. I am just gushing.

Well, when we got into the physical therapy area she was standing and sniffing around on her own. Her PT walked in and put her hands on her hips and said well, well, well………….I am thrilled to see this progress! Her eyes got bigger and she was just praising and praising Emma. Emma got such a good report that we did not have to have the laser therapy! Her PT then took out her staples. OK, Grandma had to spring into Grandma action. A girl needs her Grandma in times like this!

See Grandma looking on and hold her for comfort. Emma did great. When the process was over she got the best treat ever………….

A kiss from Grandma!

Well, it all went without a hitch. After we left the vet office we made a bee line for McDonalds and got some unsalted french fries. I always ask for unsalted for the kids and for the most part they can do it. Oh you should have seen her nose going. She got about 4 fries and then we made it home. A BIG nap was in order and all is well this Good Friday evening. Who can ask for more?

OK, one more french fry! Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Good Friday Lovers: I never could figure out why they call it Good Friday. So of course I asked the all knowing Google and I found this:

WHY DO THEY CALL IT GOOD FRIDAY

I certainly can figure out why it is Good Friday in Basset Hound Town. Today Emma gets her stitches out! OMG – the past 2 weeks have seemed like 10 years. We have babied that back like no bodies business. Yesterday one of the gals called to confirm her appointment and she was so excited. She said that they could not wait to see Emma and they all missed her. So, it will be a fun time for Emma smelling all of those chins. She is such a little chin nipper!

3 more points of interest –

My Wisenheimer Wisdom is not working again and Chaps has been silenced on the home page. He had such good stuff to say, LOL. The powers that be are “working on it”!

When I was a little girl about this age:

I had a hen named HENNY MARY PENNY who died on Good Friday. I can still remember how sad I was and I did not think there was anything good about that friday.

So in honor of my hen, the newest residents of bassethoundtown now have names:

More good fridays later…….Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and odd blog lovers:

If you are following the news about that cargo ship that pirates are holding the captain hostage off the ship, I have an odd blog.

That is the same cargo ship that sent the Lily book to me from Hong Kong. I had the Lily Book printed in China because it was a tenth of the price to get it printed vs the price I got in the USA. I hate to admit that. But now it seems like a great time to do that. I had blogged about it years ago but when I saw that ship being hijacked off the cost of Africa I recognised it.

I love that ship. It had all of my Lily books on it and now it is the center of attention on the world news. I also love that Captain. What a hero.

This video just brings back memories from 2006. Do you want to see it? Maybe we can all connect to that hero Captain through Lily. I have no idea, but maybe he was the captain back when the Lily book was coming home. Lets, hope he is coming home as well.

Hero – Captain Richard Phillps

This is the video I made back in 2006. Again, it just struck me that it was the same ship. I pray for this hero.

More loving this man later…….Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound Town and new resident lovers! I am proud to present our newest residents to my dear readers……(drum roll)

Are those baby blues not the cutest things you have ever seen? Well, Momma sure thinks so!

Yes, fellow robin lovers we have eggs! Remember, I named Momma, Verna years ago. I know it is her. I can tell from her eyes.

Chaps and Emma wandered out back earlier today and it did not even phase her. This was Emma’s first time walking on my tiny back deck on her own. Verna is in the nest, you may be able to see her if you click the picture. (middle pot)

I loved seeing 3 eggs. 3 is my lucky number…….

More lucky numbers later………Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

P.S. Tiffany – eat your heart out! That color belongs to the Robin! LOL

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Milestone Lovers: Today was the first day that Emma has been able to spend most of the working day in my office. It was a real joy for all of us. I know that Grandma is thrilled for her and now she can have some of her day back. Here is Emma resting on a towel that Chaps basically relegated her to. He wants to make sure he can stretch out in a manner fitting to a Mayor.

Heck, Emma could have been laying on a block of ice, she was just thrilled to be in the office. The scene reminded me of my days working for General Electric Aircraft Engines. I had an account in Turkey and I used to love to visit the Turkish rug stores. It was fascinating how everyone in the shop, which was about the size of my office, would throw a plethora of rugs everywhere for my viewing pleasure. It was amazing how many people and rugs would fit in such a small space. Don’t forget the tea/chi, you can’t view rugs without ample amounts of tea. Here is one of the rugs I bought. It was from the Hereke region which was noted to be the best of the best for Turkish rugs. Who new it would comfort a basset hound’s pads recovering from back surgery.

Here I am with my interpreter/driver right inside the Turkish Bizarre. I still thank the heavens that I am alive when I think that he was my “driver”. You have not loved life so much as when you successfully speed past a pickup truck, loaded as tall as a semi, with chicken filled crates. Feathers flying.

The tiny rug shop was right around the corner. I think I have pictures of it somewhere in my vast archives of slides.

This is me with Illhami. AKA – bad driver, good interpreter. Great Kabob finder!

It’s funny how just a fleeting look at the kids laying on all of those rugs will bring back such a different memory. Darn……..I miss those Kabobs! I have never had another one like it since then.

More milestone/memories later………..Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and wanting to see a YouTube Video Lovers! Come on! Who can resist the Mayor, AKA town crier begging Emma to walk back to my office? Sometimes the planets line up and the video camera is handy. This all happened early this morning prior to setting up all of the rugs. That is why the kids are so anxious. They knew something was going on! hehehehehe

So, without further ramblings, may I present your feature presentation…………

More inspiration later………..Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Princess Promenade Lovers: Yes, you heard me right. When Emma takes her exercise we call it the Princess Promenade! It is just so fitting and she is just so proud of herself. First of all, let me tell you something. When you are discussing back surgery certain things may not come up. For instance, do you have hard wood floors? Guess what? Your hound cannot be on hard wood floors for 8 weeks or maybe longer. I found this out on her discharge papers. Hum……..

I have hard wood floors and I took every area rug up when Emma was diagnosed with severe allergies. OK, it was less work for me as well. It cut vacuuming way down. I digress.

Well, I dug up all the rugs and pilfered some from my Mom so we could cover every bit of space for Emma possible. I still need to run to Walmart to get a few more. Here is a shot of the new Promenade area. This was Emma’s first time on this promenade. Usually we just do a short lap around the Norway spruce in the ladies room.

(No, I do not have rats – the gnaw marks are from a certain Miss Emma as a puppy. I had just had all of the walls and base boards painted. Sigh)

If you walk down the hallway, you wind up in my office, a big time goal for Emma.

This is Emma, achieving her goal 14 days after surgery. She promenaded like know one has ever promenaded before. Of course Grandma lead her and I had her in the sling giving her hardly any assistance at all.

Chaps was a big help and he really likes all of the rugs as well. Hi Mommy!

We let Emma rest and then we promenaded back to the living room.

OK, this is kind of funny. When we got back to the living room, Emma went flat basset. She was not about to go back into her luxury recovery room. No way. So of course she got her way and took a nap on the promenade path.

Well, I had to get back to work and Emma could not be left on the promenade path so she had to move!

OK – do you see what just happened? Chaps got up and moved in front of Emma and said if she moves then you have to move me first. He was so thrilled to have her out and about he laid his ground.

Emma was going no where. You can’t fight CITY HALL. The Mayor won and I just had to bring my work out to the promenade area.

More following the Mayor’s edicts later……..

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Slinky and Maureen Lovers! I just wanted to let everyone know that Our Slinky is going to have to have a rather large cyst removed from her back paw this Friday. She is going to need some extra drool.

To make matters worse, Slinky will have to wear the dreaded cone. Maureen is going to take off work for a few days to care for her girl.

Good Luck Slinky and your Mommy better keep us posted.

Slinky is such a selfless gal that she even wrote a poem for Chaps. She is never thinking of herself.

Please enjoy her poem and be thinking of her this coming Friday. Maureen will update us on Monday when she gets back to work.

Ode to Chaps

Hello, my name is Chaps and I am a Basset Hound.
I am also the Mayor of Basset Hound Town.

I am a statesman, not just another bureaucrat,
Like some politicians who are nothing but polecats.

I keep things running smoothly so nothing breaks down,
I take my job seriously as the Mayor of Basset Hound Town.

My best friend Our Emma helps me out quite a bit.
Our Emma makes sure everything is working and legit.

Our Mom, Grandpa and Grandma always make us feel specially loved.
We both love to give them snooter kisses, snuggles and hugs.

We absolutely love the Ode to Chaps. We will cherish it forever!

More Slinky updates later……Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Internet Friend Lovers! Emma has a new friend who knows what it is like to have glaucoma! Please meet Bailey! This is her right after she lost her eye in 2008!

Boy do I recognize that face. There is nothing more pathetic than a hound in a cone after an eye removal.

Hey, I am not going to let this thing stop me from moving!

What a good girl. According to her Mom Debra, Bailey is “receiving top notch care from the Michigan State University Hospital in Lansing, Michigan. I understand they are one of the top teaching hospitals in the USA.” Bailey still has sight in her other eye! Thank Dog!

Bailey’s Mom goes on to say,

“Losing one eye didn’t really affect her (she can still catch a treat in mid-air). So I am hoping if she loses her other eye she will still be able to enjoy life.”

Debra, if Bailey goes blind from Glaucoma she will be just fine and will enjoy life just as much because you are with her and you care so much. I think that losing one eye at a time helps them in some weird way to adjust. It’s very sad and I never diminish the feelings that other hound parents have in this very tough time. My family really needed time to morn. It’s an adjustment and if it happens you will learn a lot about yourself, more about dignity, living with grace, and the wonderful feeling of inspiration you will receive from Bailey will be overwhelming.

Thanks for sniffing by bassethoundtown and we look forward to keeping up with Bailey. Give her an extra squeeze from us.

We have many readers with blind or semi blind hounds in bassethoundtown! You will get a lot of support here.

More about Bailey later……Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and My Chloe Lovers! I was thinking about my Chloe tonight and how much she touched me. She was such a good girl. Chloe came into my life after my Natalie, who I got at the pound and passed away from bloat within 6 months. I was distraught as you can imagine and wanted another basset to share my life with. I was given a basset rescue phone number from a nice lady at the vet office who helped me with Natalie. I called the basset hound rescue which was near to me and was told that I was not a good candidate for one of their hounds because I did not have a fenced in yard. I was not even considered.

This was about 1997 and I knew nothing about puppy mills.

I was always miffed about the way I was treated by that unnamed rescue. Did they just think I was going to turn out my dog to wander on it’s own? At the time I lived in the guest house on my sister’s property. The rescue never even offered to come and do a home visit, they just turned me down flat. I was also told that I was not grieving properly. That made me more than mad. Not only was I sad, but someone had the gall to tell me how I should be feeling.

I found Chloe in a small cage at a pet store. I never even knew what a puppy mill was. All I saw was that she could barely walk because she was getting too big for her tiny cage.

This is her much older. Her face is almost white. She taught me all about puppy mills. I am glad that the rescue turned me away because of Chloe and her teachings. Again, hounds teach us so much more than humans.

This was my Chloe. I worry about her Mom and what happened to her, but my Chloe taught me to help Moms like her Mom. I guess what I am sayings is, that by being rejected by a rescue I learned a lot. I may not have had a fenced in yard but I got Chloe.

Here she is with Lily a few months later. We never had that fenced in yard I was rejected about, but I walked both of them 6 or 8 times a day on this wonderful property. We had so much fun, and a lot of exercise.

I have a hard time admitting I bought a basset from a pet store, but the lessons I learned were definitely worth it. I miss Chloe every day. She was my savior after Natalie passed.

She was also the best teacher I ever had in my life. No one can teach you what you learn from a hound!

More PhD classes later…….Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

P.S. – I am sorry if I offended any rescue folks. This is just my story and I was so offended it has really upset me. I know it was just one rescue. I welcome many comments. PLEASE!

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