A late Merry Christmastime

We have been gone for over a week, and it's time to get everyone updated!

We spent a big part of Christmas up at Grandma's house in Michigan. We saw Max and Maggie again, and also Griff and Remy and a new dog named Tinker. Tinker didn't get to run with us because she was tied to her car (her mama is afraid she would be too aggressive but she seemed fine to us - she had a thick fur coat and a really good howl, almost as good as mine). Now as you may recall, I did not always get along with Max and Maggie. However, I decided to try and be a good puppy cousin this year and have a good time. As it turns out they were much better behaved. I only had to howl at Maggie and Max every once in awhile. If Max tried the puppymaking game I threw him to the floor.

This happened a few times. I really am that smokin' hot

Now I still did not like Griff - he is such a big lummox and he runs into everything and his tail is like a furry wrecking ball - so I had to howl in his face quite a few times. Oh well, that's just the way family is at Christmastime.

Imagine this in motion, not a pretty sight

We had a white Christmastime, sort of. We got snow the day before and we had to go out and pee in it. Layla and Rosco thought the snow was great, while Max and Maggie didn't seem to care. I guess they are used to it, but I am a Missouri Hound at heart, and we do not do well with snowpacolypse, or whatever Layla calls it.

So... you're not going to carry me out there?

You expect me to pee WHERE?

But the highlight of the Christmastime was definitely the kids. I met the kids earlier this year - you might remember me and Miss Ashlee played basset princess and her personal chauffeur - and we got to see them again. The kids remind me of the good parts of my old home, the parts where I got to play with kids and chase them and protect them from lummox dogs like Griff. I did my best to protect everyone from everything but I am only one dog, and I can only do so much.

I couldn't protect everyone; Drake was OK but Ashlee got slobbered on

Another upside to the kids is that they are short and they drop food all the time. In fact we got lots of treats at Grandma's, way more than we do at home.

All you had to do was be patient

They didn't always eat everything and a patient dog got the goodies

I was starting to think about staying there forever but then we had to get in the car and go back home. Now the long car rides are not my favorite thing. I don't like to be jostled when I am sleeping and between the bumpy road, the packed car, and the lummox brother and sister I have, I got barely any sleep. Plus the cats - yes all five of them - were in on this car ride and I had a hard time sleeping when they needed to be constantly monitored so they didn't get out of the crate.

These conditions are horrible

That reminds me, Grandma's has other cats too. They are different from our cats and they also need to be closely monitored and possibly chased. This one cat named Maisy looks like a furry Ottoman that ran into a brick wall. She makes lots of noise and I tried to chase her a few times, but dad always stopped me.

If you don't keep them in line they get all Terminator on you...

Anyway... back to the car ride home. As I said, I did not enjoy myself, but mama's car ride home was even worse. She was really sick. Now normally when I get sick the best thing to do is try and have a treat and go lay in my crate for awhile. Well, mama didn't want any treats and the only crate had 5 cats and a litter box in it. So she toughed it out and rode most of the way home sitting up, but finally daddy told her to lay down in the back so she could get comfortable. That opened up the front seat for me, and I got to be the co-pilot!

You're doing great, but keep your eyes on the road

A co-pilot's job is making sure that daddy doesn't speed or hit anything, and not to let any slow dogs pass us by. I did my best but you can only do so much with such poor raw material.

I think that Shar-Pei just flipped us off

Floor it daddy we need to leave him in the dust!

Anyway, once we got home, mama slept for a long time and daddy went to the great-grandma's house for another Christmastime. I stayed home to make sure that darn Christmas Pig Monster stayed in the yard where he belonged. I thought I heard daddy come home later but it was just the neighbor, or possibly another Christmas Pig Monster joining forces. But no. Just the neighbor. Then the next day, daddy came home, and he brought my other grandma and grandpa with him! I was so excited to have someone else to lay upon!

Grandpa's lap is a pretty good place to take a nap

See what a beautiful bunch of ladies we are? And then there's Rosco...

Well we were all having a great Christmastime when who should appear at my doorstep but Evil Uncle Casey. I sprang from my bed to bite him and howl in his face, but his heart grew three sizes that day and he decided to make up for his earlier transgressions by giving us all a treat. I was suspicious at first, like maybe he had poisoned it or something, but Layla and Rosco wolfed theirs down and they didn't die or anything. So I ate mine and decided that Evil Uncle Casey was going to be known from then on as Not Too Bad Uncle Casey (until he screws up again).

So that was my Christmastime! Hope everyone else had a good one.

Famous Basset Hound Friday # 39

Oh boy! It's getting to be Christmas time! That means they will get out a tree with lots of little toys on it for me to play with! And we get to see our family again, including puppy cousins like Aksel and Chopper and Max and Maggie and Griff and Remy! And the kids! And a ten-hour car ride to see them all! And the Christmas Pig!

In case you can't tell I like Christmas time. But I'm not so excited about the Christmas Pig...

Anyway - it is in the spirit of Christmas time that I present to you our latest famous hound. Only because it is Christmas time, I actually present to you TWO yes TWO famous hounds! It's a two-for-one hound sale at Christmas time! And it's brought to you by the store Target. Now unfortunately there is a lot of other foolishness in the commercial they appear in, but the most important part is between 13-14 seconds in. That's where our famous hounds (we don't know their names but we must assume this is Santa and Mrs. Paws) come in!

Oh little hound of Bethlehem

But wait! Santa Paws has lost his beard! I wonder what happened? I grew a beard once...

Done!

Competition

Being the newest dog is nice - you get all the newest beds and toys and food bowls - and so I am always worried that mom and dad will get another hound and I won't be the newest anymore. As it is I have to always push my way between them and Rosco or Layla (even the cats sometimes!) to make sure I get all the attention.

So you can imagine my concern when they opened up a mail package the other day and said 'Oh a basset hound!' What? They are sending new bassets in the mail now? To MY house? Worst of all it was from Grandma! Let her house have a new basset! Three hounds is too much here already we don't need four! Mama has always said she wants to adopt more hounds that need homes anyway but I say three is a crowd!

Even WORSE, this hound howls like me! And it sings too! I can't sing! I howl better than Rosco and I make more noise PLUS I am the tallest. But singing is a trick I haven't learned yet. This new hound is going to take my place as the newest, most-talented hound! He even sounds all sad and whiney!  That will surely make mama want to spend more time with him.  He's got to go!

Rosco and Layla act like they don't even care!

Wow what a weekend

My brother and sister are sleeping on the couch right now. It was an incredible weekend. I thought I had better put something on the blog or else all our readers will get bored with us and leave.

The first thing that happened was that grandma came. I was glad to see she did not bring Max or Maggie because they can be brats. Grandma came home before daddy so she let us out and we got to help her take a nap. Then daddy and mama came home and we all had fun barking and howling. The next day they got my chariot out and we went on a really long car ride. I was not so happy to be stuck in the small car with Rosco and Layla constantly bumping me but we eventually got to a place.

It was a new place and it smelled like lots of dogs. I didn't know what to do - I haven't been around lots of dogs before so it made me nervous. But they set up my chariot finally and we got to sleep in it. Mama and daddy were talking about Guardian Angels and waddling and all sorts of nonsense talk.

I like my chariot.

The next day we went to a park next to the chariot parking place. There were dogs running around off-leash everywhere. This was the part I didn't like because strange dogs would come right up to you and sniff you. I growled a few times but mostly I just stuck close to mom and dad - they were ready to wander off without me! They tried a silly hat on me. Rosco and Layla have regular hats but they wanted me to wear this really goofy one like I was an old lady hound or something.

Not my style.

Then dad set up this really cool umbrella thing and we got to sit under it. A lady with some hounds that they met before they got me came over. The new hounds were named Scarlett and Barnaby - neither of them bothered me so they are OK in my book. Rosco was supposed to run in a race or something but he was too scared by this barking dog. I don't blame him, it was an all-around scary day.

Too many dogs for me!

We slept in the chariot again that night and the next day we had to wear costumes. I felt silly in mine and they wanted me to go up on stage to show it off to all the other hounds but I wasn't having any of it. I put on the basset brakes and made them drag me up there.

I suppose you think we look cute?

Then we went on one of the longest walks I've ever been in. Normally I enjoy my walks but this one was a little weird - there were tons and tons of other bassets in it and all these people lining up the street to watch us walk. I guess they were trying to learn how to walk like a basset, who knows? But there were a few little kids so they got to pet me and love on me. That was a nice part, but I was a bit out of my element.

I like little kids.

Mom and dad kept trying to make me walk but I wouldn't budge. It rained a lot that day too and we were all wet. Then they invited Barnaby and Scarlett into my chariot - I wasn't too crazy about that but what can you do? I was so tired from the walking that I didn't put up much of a fight. Later that day we closed up my chariot and came back home.

Then the next day they took us to a new house! Daddy said it was all ours and we don't have to rent one anymore! And the best part is that there are no stairs and the yard smells a little like squirrels. Rosco and Layla keep telling me about squirrels - little mousy things that live in trees but sometimes come down into yards to be chased. I am looking forward to that!

So that was our long weekend. Sorry we didn't blog more but dad said there was no internet in my chariot. I will have to make him get some.

I have many grandmas

Wow who had any idea there could be so many grandmas? I got to meet my one grandma a few months ago in Michigan, and then I got to meet my other grandma last month at the lake. But here is where it gets slightly confusing - there is a THIRD grandma, and they say she is a great one, who lives at the lake. So that is two regular grandmas and one great-grandma. It sounds confusing but I have a little trick to help me remember:

The regular grandmas both have many cats, and each of them brings dogs with them too (Maggie and Max for the one grandma; Chopper and Aksel for the other). But the great-grandma doesn't have any dogs - I think she has a cat but I can't tell. Most of her house is off-limits so a cat could be hiding (and you know how dishonest cats are).

The best way to tell the difference is whether there is a big lake or not. The great-grandma's house has a huge lake. I am not a fan of lakes, they remind me too much of baths. Some of the dogs in our family like lakes though - I think probably because they have been dropped on their heads or something.

As you can see I am pretty nervous here.

Anyway, we went to the great-grandma's house not too long ago, and we all wore our swimming gear. I don't know why they make us wear that stuff, none of us like to swim and all we do is run around and look stupid in it.

These are not very flattering

Plus the lake is way too rough for swimming anyway:

No thank you! Even the gentle stream at the other grandma's is too wet for me (but not for Griff, that big dummy):

Plus our puppy cousins make me nervous - they are much bigger than me and one of them (Aksel) gets really overprotective and bitey. He bit my ear pretty hard last time! I barked in his face and Chopper's too and I showed them who was boss!

They're afraid of the gates, the big babies!

Anyway, despite all that I like my great-grandparent's place. Great-grandpa knows how to talk to a lady hound and he gives me lots of love and attention. And there are good puppy treats so you know it is a good house!

Breezy's vacation

Well I see Rosco and Layla have blogged about how great their vacation was. I'm glad someone had a good time the entire weekend. Let me paint you a picture that is not quite so rosy. I was really looking forward to going to Grandma's but a few key events kind of ruined it for me. Don't get me wrong I had a good time, and I got to wander around off-leash and explore (that was new). I also went on a really long car ride, which turned out to be OK.

Hmmm this is pretty interesting...

But I just wasn't feeling myself. My insides have been upset lately and I feel like I want to take really good care of my crate and my bed. I also had to try and put up with Maggie, and she can be a real pain. She wanted me to be submissive to her - me! I wasn't going for it and I barked and howled in her face when she tried it. Maggie and I didn't get along at all. She's lucky mom and dad kept stopping me from biting her.

And then there was Max. Rosco thinks Max is the greatest dog there is but let me tell you, Max is a little weasel sometimes. He tried to get fresh with me! With me! He wanted to play the puppy-making game (I don't know why - he has been fixed, even if he tries to play it off like he isn't. A girl can tell these things). I wanted no part of it, and you can believe I barked at him to make sure he knew it.

But these things get you in trouble when you live with parents like mine. I was feeling pretty down until the kids came to visit. I really like kids! Especially little girls! And the one little girl kept dropping food so that was great!

Then the other little girl and I went into the camper and we played basset princess and her personal chauffeur! I was in pretty high spirits that day! I decided I would take a walk with the other dogs and have myself a good mud bath!

My chariot

Aren't we so regal?

That was the decision that turned my good spirits around! Because I was muddy I had to take a bath that night. Baths are the worst. Just look at my poor bedraggled expression.

Well that one event was enough to put me back in a bad mood. I was defensive and angry again and they made me ride home in my crate! I tell you it didn't help me feel any better. Hopefully the next time we go to Grandma's I can enjoy myself without all the hassle of amorous little puppies and stupid baths!

Rosco's vacation

Hey everyone! We got back from our vacation! We had a great time! We got to go to the cabin and see our buddies Max, Maggie, Griff, and Remy! There was a new baby and we got to chase a porcupine and everything!

But I am getting ahead of myself. I am just so excited!

I just realized that we never introduced Max and Maggie and Griff and Remy properly! So here we go!

This is Maggie. She is a taller dog that belongs to Grandma, and she is very fast. I like to chase her but she can be kind of mean sometimes. Max also likes to chase her (they are siblings), and she is really good at catching squirrels. She's so good they don't have any squirrels at Grandma's anymore.

This is my buddy Max! Max and I were best buds since we were tiny puppies together, chasing cats! Max is half basset hound so he is pretty awesome! Watch us chasing cats as puppies together below!

You may see this picture and ask yourself 'Why did Rosco put a picture of a horse up here?' That is not a horse, that's Griff! He is huge compared to the rest of us! He loves the water and got really wet and muddy all weekend long! But he's fun to play with, because he is even more of a puppy than me (and they call me Puppyman). Griff lives with his brother Remy and his family.

Speaking of Remy here he is. Remy is the newest dog in the family (after Breezy), but he and Griff are best buddies and he is fun to chase and play with (although he is really fast like Maggie and kind of hard to keep up with).

So now that you are up to speed on who is who in the dog world, let's get back to the vacation.

We went up to Grandma's, which is in Michigan, and it's great because there are lots of trees and no fences. There is a shortage of squirrels, sure, but we make up for it by chasing each other around. There are also chickens but we don't get to mess with them. Then we go to the cabin and it's even better, because there are tons of woods and even less fences and the cabin smells like mice, and there are porcupines. We had a porcupine cornered under the cabin and were going to get it but the moms and dads in the house called us in so they could deal with it themselves. Max says porcupines aren't really that much fun - lots of stickers in his face once. Maggie sure wanted to get under the cabin though!

But I would have to say the best part of the cabin is the creek. We get to go walking near it and it gets really muddy there. Of course we get all swamped up and then go tearing around. We even get to come inside the cabin that way once we dry off, because nobody really cares if the cabin gets dirty.

There's nothing like a little dirt between your toes!

All in all it was a great time! I know Layla had fun, but Breezy was kind of a pain. She acted like she owned everything and she got into fights with Maggie and I think she really made a bad first impression. She completely hogged the new camper we got from Grandma's and was just a pain. But I didn't let her spoil my fun!

See you next year!

Famous Basset Hound Friday - cancelled

Hello faithful readers! We have decided to cancel our weekly Famous Basset Hound Friday session this week due to breaking news!

It's my birthday!

Well, it WAS my birthday yesterday, and I am still too excited to do our famous hounds any justice! I just had to share the news and pictures of the day! Mom and Dad threw me a party, and Layla and Breezy were there, and some of the cats were nearby, I think... I was hoping Max and Maggie and Griff and Remy and maybe Slade would be there, but Mom and Dad said they live very far away and couldn't have made the trip. It was OK though, because we still had a great time!

We got lots of good stuff! We got to wear some cool birthday hats, and we even got to go for a car ride to go pick up my birthday cake. But I think the best part was that we got my favorite meal, Chicken McNuggets!

Here I am enjoying my birthday treat!

Dad even got into the party spirit and wore a hat himself as he got my birthday cake ready for us.

The cakes were delicious!

When my birthday party was over we snoozed on the couch. It was a pretty awesome birthday, I am looking forward to turning 3 next year!

SQUIRRELS

Howdy!

Man there are squirrels EVERYWHERE lately! I first learned of squirrels at grandma's house in Michigan! My puppy-cousin Maggie taught me about them. According to Maggie, squirrels are like rats (?) that live in trees. I thought this was patently unfair, because we dogs do not climb trees like rats (?) or birds. Man, birds really tick me off. I think they wait until you get close enough to where you think you might catch them before flying away and laugh at you. Anyway, squirrels. They sometimes come down from the trees, which is fair, because we dogs do not climb trees. If you are fast enough like Maggie (she is like lightning), you can catch them and possibly eat part of them before your human catches you in the act. Well, she didn't say the eating part, but that's what I would do. My other puppy cousin Max is not as fast as Maggie but is faster than me, but he hasn't caught any yet either. So there is hope for a non-bullet demon hound like me.

I am not fast enough, not by a long shot, to catch a squirrel. Which is too bad, because I really want to try and eat one of them, or at least smell them up close. I can smell them where they were in the yard, and I can smell where they have been digging and doing their squirrel stuff, but it's just not the same. I even found a dead one at the park the other day, but dad wouldn't let me roll on it. He never lets me do anything fun.

But back to the squirrels. They're EVERYWHERE lately! There are squirrels in my yard all the time! Even in the front, where I hardly ever get to go. Probably why there are so many of them. There didn't used to be this many. I think it's because I don't get to smell them up close. Dad seems to think it's because it is getting to be late in the year, which is when they are burying nuts and seeds and stuff to eat over the winter, and it only seems like there are more of them. But what does he know, with his soon-to-be-gotted doctorate of philosophy in zoology? I'm the one with the nose here, and it's telling me that the squirrel population in my town is exploding thanks to helicopter dog parents that don't let their hounds catch them, or at least roll on the dead ones. Bunnies, for instance, have dropped dramatically since Layla and I almost caught that one last time.

Well, that's all for now. I'd decree that they let me get those squirrels, but it won't change anything. Think I'll take a nap; there is not doubt I can catch one of those.