Famous Basset Hound Friday # 49

Let me start out this Famous Basset Hound Friday by saying that Beauregard the Basset was taken this morning. He went to the vet's and they are keeping him overnight. Daddy said that they removed 10 whole pounds of tumors from him. That is like 25% of me. 25% of a puppyman! The big one on his chest is gone and the weird hanging one on his back leg is gone. I guess he had one near his nether regions because that one is gone too. I myself did not fancy the idea of checking out old man basset hound nether regions so I was not aware of that last one, but any tumors gone are good things. The vet said he woke right up from surgery and is doing well. He gets to come home tomorrow but has to go back in a few days later to get his drains and stitches taken out. I hope he feels better soon.

Anyway that is all for our Beau update. Stay tuned for more Beau-related news.

And now it is time for our latest famous hound! Today is a four-for-one deal! Yes I am wheeling and dealing, handing out famous hounds like it is going out of style!

It's not though! We will keep doing this until there are no more famous hounds, at which point the world will be a little bit less houndy! And that will be terrible! But fear not, there is no shortage of famous hounds!

We would like to introduce you to Winston, Aimee, Cleo, and Bella. They are the HoundDogs of HoundDogMom, one of the first basset blogs we ever started to read and another inspiration for Jowls of Fury. We even got to meet each of them (except Bella) at the first GABR waddle we went to. Unfortunately Ms. Cleo had to go to the bridge last year, and it was very hard for her mama. But eventually they found Bella, another rescue hound (yay HoundDogMom and the other HoundDogs!), and she has fit right in.

That sort of sounds familiar...

Anyway, if you would like to check out the doings of the HoundDogs you can click on HoundDogMom's blog link that I have conveniently inserted here. They do lots of fun stuff like play in the snow, run the Basset 500, and post 'Wordless Wednesdays'. These posts are some of my favorites because they show the complexities of basset hound life with no words at all. It is very artsy and something we have not tried to capture here at Jowls of Fury. Also Beaker has her stupid Weird Word thing that she rarely does but daddy says we can't take her airtime away from her. All she ever does is lay on the couch, we have 4 hounds in this house cats I believe the laying on the couch jobs are spoken for! Go lick yourselves or something!

Anyway those are our newest famous hounds!

Rescue Me # 5

As you all know we are big proponents of rescues here at Jowls of Fury. Recent studies have shown that 75% of all the hounds at Jowls of Fury are rescues. Technically 100% of us are because Rosco was rescued from not having a mama as good as our mama when mama went and got him. Well our newest rescue Beauregard reminded me the other day that we need to do another Rescue Me hound, since his story got so much attention from all our basset friends. He also wanted me to say thank you to all the people who have donated money to his Chip-In account. Mama and daddy are talking about taking him to the vet for surgery to remove some of his lumps so he won't breathe so hard when he walks.

I wish him luck with that. I personally hate vets.

Anyway, this week's Rescue Me hound is named Busby. Mama picked him out. And ohhhh my lady basset heart skipped a beat when I saw him. Being a red and white hound I am different colored than all the other Jowls of Fury hounds, and it sometimes makes me wish for another red and white hound to snuggle up with. The tricolors just don't get it. Well Mr. Busby is like an exotic foreign hound with his gorgeous mahogany coat! Plus he has very soulful deep looking eyes. Go see what I mean by checking out his page. He is a hound that is being fostered by Guardian Angel Basset Rescue, who we have blogged about many times when we go to their waddle.

Basset 500 hounds are the best

And I must say that while rescue hounds are great there comes a time when you can have too many bassets. We are not at that point yet here at Jowls of Fury but another hound might be too much. Still I am glad we rescued Beau, he seems like a nice hound for being so old and he definitely needs our love. I have not tried to snuggle with him yet though, I much prefer to lay on the couch with mama and daddy instead of sleeping on the floor. Hopefully his vet visit will make him jump better so he can sleep up on the couch with the rest of us (except Breezy, she does not like to snuggle - I wonder if she is really a basset hound?).

Rescue Me # 3

Rosco isn't feeling so well today. He got sick in his crate and daddy had to clean the mess up at his lunchtime, and boy did Rosco feel bad. Normally he looks forward to Famous Basset Hound Friday but today he just is not in any kind of shape to be blogging. So I put my paw on his forehead and said "No worries little brother, I have your back at Jowls of Fury". This gives me the opportunity to write another Rescue Me blog post.

This week's hound is Houston of ABC Basset Rescue. The ABC stands for 'All Bassets Cherished', or as I like to call it, 'What everyone should be doing anyway'. Houston came from Texas where he was a breeder hound, which means he had to make lots of puppies but never got to play with them or anything. He's got a funny accent because he is from the south and he spells his words wrong but don't hold that against him, he still needs a forever home. He uses words like 'rootin-tootin' and 'hunkey-dorey'. You know, the kind of words that drives Beaker crazy. But he likes the things that make him a hound: snoozing, sniffing, cuddling, belly rubs, etc. etc.

Oh yeah and the ABC people came to the waddle! Plus they have a humongous hound wagon called an 'RV'. I'm not sure what it stands for, but their hound wagon is way bigger than ours. I hope daddy upgrades ours soon because I would really like to travel in style. Perhaps Houston gets to drive around New York in it?

Anyway, there is a picture of Mr. Houston below. If you would like more information you can find his adoption page here. Hopefully someone rescues him!

Y'all's from the south?

Famous Basset Hound Friday # 40

Wow it is hard to believe that we are getting close to an entire year of famous hounds. It seems like only yesterday we started it off with the original blog about them. How time flies! Time flies when you are having fun! Jowls fly on car rides!

This week's famous hound is a bit of a celebrity. We have actually been in the same place as him too! He visited the GABR waddle the first year we went! His name is Shooter, and he is the personal hound trainer of the Chicago Blackhawk's hockey player Patrick Sharp. Because the waddle is so close to Chicago he came to visit with his mama. I think his mama is a pretty lady, but my heart still belongs to Kirsten Dunst. I hope she doesn't read this and get jealous!

Scooter at the 2010 Waddle

Anyway. Shooter is very important in hockey. He has trained Patrick Sharp on how to stay on his feet and always be a good hockey player. Watch the video below for some training in action.

I think Shooter has done a pretty good job. You have to start training humans early on or they will start to think they run the place. In fact, he did such a good job training Patrick Sharp that they won the Stanley Cup, which evidently is the world's biggest treat container!

Who designed this thing anyway?

So there you have it, a hound who trained a person to run around on the ice with a stick and not get hurt! This is clearly a famous hound!

Handsome fellow. The human isn't too bad either, I guess

Rescue Me #1

So as I have blogged before, I am a rescue hound. Some foolish person decided once that they didn't want me anymore and gave me up for adoption. I went to live with some nicer people, but let's be honest - rescue facilities are way too crowded for hound lifestyle. I was so happy when mama and daddy rescued me, and have been living the good life ever since.

But this time of year I start to think about all those other hounds who are in rescue facilities or who are even luckier and get to live in foster homes. A foster home is better but it isn't the same as a forever home. These poor hounds have no family to love on them or feed them, and no one to play chase with. It was really bothering me all day, despite hours of napping to clear my hound mind.

So I am left with only one option. Dictation! I dictated to daddy that we should start a new tradition. Rosco has his Famous Basset Hound Friday, and the stupid cats get TWO traditions. It doesn't seem fair that us hounds only get one - it isn't called WHISKERS of Fury, no matter what McBoobs says.

He agreed with me, saying it was very selfless of me to want to help other hounds. He also said something about toning down the negativity on the cats, but I tune out any comments that have to do with those stupid hairballs. Anyway, this is our first entry in a new segment here at Jowls of Fury that we are calling 'Rescue Me'. In it, I will highlight a different basset hound rescue organization each week, giving some details about them and maybe mentioning a few hounds at their foster homes. I will also let you know if they do any rescue events like a waddle.

So our first rescue organization is the Michigan Basset Rescue. Their claim to fame is that they host the 'Original Basset Waddle'. Hey what a coincidence! We go to a waddle of our own. Looking at their site I see the Michigan waddle is in the spring while our waddle is in the fall.

We could do two waddles in one year! Dictation!

But as you can see from their website, they do lots of other things. They sell basset hound gifts, including a really cool cookbook written by basset chef de Hungry Hound. A few of their current hounds are awfully handsome, including Mr. Duke (an older basset gentleman who will eat anything - a hound after my own heart). So if you happen to live in Michigan or want to drive a long way to give a hound a forever home, check out Michigan Basset Rescue.

Oh yeah and here is their mascot!

Famous Basset Hound Friday # 32

Well what a week it has been! We did all kinds of fun stuff! Layla and Breezy already blogged about the waddle so I won't go too much more into it, except to talk about the Great American Basset Races. I tried to race in them but I didn't get to place. It wasn't my fault - there was this really loud, obnoxious dog next to me that totally broke my concentration. I tried to lodge a complaint with the judges but they were too disorganized.

Then, to make matters worse, daddy was snuggling with the wrong hound. My buddy Barnaby moved in on my turf and got lots of belly rubs from daddy.

Who does he think he is?

So I pouted.

Pouting.

Anyway, I got over that eventually and got on with my life. A hound only lives so long and there are lots of belly rubs to be had and naps to be taken. Which brings us to this week's famous hound! I had a hard time picking one after seeing so many cool hounds at the waddle last week. But eventually it came to me: the only obvious hound we could honor given the 14th Annual Basset Waddle.

This week's hound is the Guardian Angel Basset!

We don't know this hound's name but it is obviously an angel with the halo and all. Most of us bassets are angels anyway despite what dumb cats might say. But the GABR Angel is a representative of all the good work the foster parents and basset owners and rescuers and other people who like to waddle have been doing for the past 14 years. Almost 4,000 hounds have found their permanent homes thanks to these guys.

So that's our famous hound for this week!

And here's a picture of daddy and me at the waddle! With our hats!

Another successful waddle

Well it was a long, hard weekend, but we had another successful waddle. You may remember that I was famous last year for my costume. This year was no different. We even got to go up on stage this year! Our costumes were for the 70's, and there were even some people who got dressed up - against their better judgement I think.

Here is my awesome costume - I was a hound dog globetrotter

Here is one questionable human costume

Things were a little different this year though. Breezy came along with us and she was kind of mean the whole time. I made sure to make the rounds and introduce myself to the new hounds. I also saw some hounds from last year, like Noodle the Bleu Basset, Benjamin the Wheelie Hound, Walter the Wide Hound, Goomba the Giant Hound, and of course our buddies Barnaby and Scarlett with their people. It was a much nicer day for the bash this year but the waddle still had some rain. And I can't forget that grandma came again this year. They were still giving away a corvette but we didn't win it, and there was still a giant inflatable basset hound.

My buddy Benjamin and his cool 70's costume

Mr. Noodle the Bleu Basset

My buddy Ms. Scarlett, a former basset bikini model like myself

Another different thing this year was the camper. Mama and daddy brought it with us instead of staying in a hotel. There were ups and downs to it - on the one hand it was smaller and harder to get up on the bed (I even had to wait for someone to help me into the camper one time).

This step is too high, someone had better help me up

But on the other hand it didn't have an elevator in it so it was easier to go out in the morning, and we had our own yard with fence things so we didn't have to be on our leashes the entire time. There were lots of neighbors we had to bark at and mama even petted the wrong set of hounds - how this could happen I don't know but we made sure to howl our loudest.

Hey you were petting the wrong dogs!

We also had this umbrella that we got to sit under and it made for the perfect shade for hot, tired hounds.

I approve of this purchase.

So all in all it was another great waddle weekend. Hopefully next year's waddle is as much fun!

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.

Famous Basset Hound Friday # 29

Well it is that time of the week again! Time to put your paws up and let them rest after a hard week of napping, chasing cats, and napping some more. Time to enjoy the weekend by napping in the yard and barking at the birds!

Time to enjoy Famous Basset Hound Friday! This week's famous hound is a very important basset spokeslady. Her name is Antigone Puppleupagus, and she is another well-known basset blogger.

This is Antigone

Layla and Breezy both came to us as adopted hounds, but I was bought as a puppy so I don't know how it feels to not ever be loved by someone. Antigone had a pretty hard life at first, she was in a puppy mill. Now at first a puppy mill sounded like a lot of fun - hundreds of bassets making puppies and playing with them - but mom and dad explained to me that no, puppy mills are where hounds get no love and barely any good food. All they do is make puppies that are then sold at pet stores and other places. Antigone has really bad teeth from her puppy mill days.

But then she was adopted! By a nice guy who got her from Guardian Angel Basset Rescue! In case you are new to our blog, GABR are the ones who put on the waddle every year! Oh and we are going again this year! We are making our costumes this weekend! It'll be great!

Anyway Antigone and her person got bored living in Chicago, where it snows all the time. So they got a little crazy and went on a bike ride. Now bike rides do not sound like as much fun as car rides, although any ride sounds good to me. But on a bike ride you have to sit in a weird little buggy thing and your human is outside it on a bike. Humans on bikes make me nervous, especially the noisy ones they call motorcycles - I always growl at them to let them know not to mess with me. So Antigone is not only a pretty basset out for a good cause but she is very brave. I wouldn't trust dad on a bike.

So Antigone and her person rode their bike/buggy thing across the country to spread the word about basset rescues. And it worked! They got on like ten TV and radio shows. I wish we could get on a TV show and spread the word about Jowls of Fury, and how awesome we are (except the cats). But Antigone spread the good word and she eventually ended up in a place called Oregon. Dad says there are different squirrels there (we must go!) and also things called bears. Plus it rains a lot. Better then snow though I guess.

Antigone's blog is really interesting to read, so if you haven't checked it out you should click here. She and her person are writing a book (hmmm there's an idea...) that we will buy the instant it comes out. She is our newest famous hound!

Famous Basset Hound Friday #26

Well it's been another hot week! I swear, sometimes I wish I didn't have so much black fur. Layla is more white than either me or Breezy, and she doesn't get nearly as hot as we do. Which leads me to our newest famous basset hound.

May I present to you Mr. Paul Newman, the One in a Million basset hound. He is all white (with a few brown spots) and he has a lot of tricks he knows how to do. He has even been on TV shows before and he gives all his money to basset rescue charities.

One in a million indeed! His tricks make me feel a little inferior, and his charity is probably better than ours (we only give our money to basset rescue once a year at the waddle, he is doing it all the time). But I feel a bit better knowing it is a fellow basset hound who is so awesome and not some other breed of dog. He has all kinds of videos and pictures at his website. I wonder if our web address could be www.awesomehound.com?

Anyway, check out Paul Newman's videos! He is a really cool basset, and he's been on TV, so that makes him our newest Famous Basset hound!

It's that time of year again...

We are preparing to go to Dwight, Illinois, this coming September.  We will be taking part in the 14th Annual Guardian Angel Basset Rescue waddle, which helps raise funds for the annual operation of the rescue organization.  GABR has rescued nearly 4,000 dogs since their founding and they are a leader in the dog rescue organization field.

Plus the waddle is a really great time. There are hundreds of hounds that get to run around in GABR park off-leash.  Rosco and Layla had a great time last year, and they are getting excited about it already.  Breezy has never been to one but the way she plays and howls with her brother and sister, we know she is going to have a good time.

If you have money to spare and are considering donating to a non-profit organization, please consider sponsoring our team this year (named Jowls of Fury of course, click here).  The more money we raise, the more hounds can be saved.  We also get some prizes if we raise enough money (including extra raffle tickets for a pretty sweet Corvette that the hounds and their mom would look good in, while I drive the SUV and the pop-up camper back home).

Life is not fair sometimes

If you would like to learn more about GABR or this year's waddle click here.

Thanks!

Famous Basset Hound Friday #12

Continuing on our tradition of old-tymie famous hounds, we are reaching way back in the pre-history of hound comfort. To the days before air conditioning, Beggin' Strips, and Chicken McNuggets. Back to the days before there was a GABR basset waddle. If you can believe it, back to the days when basset hounds were not given the proper credit as the best dogs on earth.

Shocking!

This bleak world existed until February 27, 1928, when Time Magazine ran their cover with a baby basset hound. We don't know this hound's name, or even if it was a boy or a girl, but they finally delivered the light of jowls, droopy ears, and slinging saliva to a dark world that was desperate for a good hound.

We don't know how you people survived this long without us

This magazine cover was viewed as the event that started the basset hound's meteoric rise to popularity in American culture. The English and the French had already discovered us nearly a century before and were obviously better off for it, while Americans lived in misery and squalor.  Agony ruled the day until we finally came along and gave them the opportunity to feel better by taking care of us (belly rubs are a win-win situation as far as I'm concerned).

If you would like to read the article that accompanied it you can click here. It is supposedly told from the perspective of the basset hound puppy on the cover; I read it and didn't quite get that from the story but it is good nonetheless. The article is about the Westminster Kennel Dog Club Show that was going on at the time. Of course it was written in 1928 and the standards have changed a little bit, but the author got a few things right about basset hounds at least.

So there's your famous hound for the week. I think I'm going to take a nap; there is more snow on the ground today. Also my belly needs to be rubbed and Dad looks like he is feeling lonely so...

Famous Basset Hound Friday #9

This week's famous hound is a clever old gal named Doris. Doris comes from the TV show The Middle, where she is owned by 2 old ladies who smoked a lot. This led to Doris' needing to use an oxygen mask and be pulled around in a wagon all the time.

The oxygen mask part sounds kind of annoying but the wagon part might not be so bad. Just put a bed in it and it might actually be kind of nice, not having to wear yourself out walking all over the place. There were some hounds at the GABR waddle we went to last year that did this, but mom and dad made us walk the whole way. It wasn't so bad though, there were lots of kids with water and treats and they would pet us as we waddled, so I can't complain.

Besides, Doris actually makes the best of her wagon by teaching her boy how to fetch.

Her boy doesn't do a good job watching her though; she ends up being left outside and somehow she becomes pregnant and has puppies at the end. How that works with her being in the wagon I'm not sure; like I said in an earlier post, dad won't let me try some of the mounting stuff with Breezy.

Anyway, Doris is our famous basset hound for the week!

Everybody shut up and listen! I'm FAMOUS!!!

Drop whatever stupid thing you're doing and pay attention! I'm FAMOUS! My costume at last weekend's 13th Annual Illinois Waddle (hosted by the fine people of Guardian Angel Basset Rescue) got me front-page billing in The Journal-Standard. This reputable newspaper is printed in Freeport, IL, and the image can be found here. I have copied and pasted the important parts below because honestly who cares about any other hound but me?



See? I knew my moment of fame would come around, especially after living in a shelter home. All that's left now is for my agent to get me on the Tonight Show. Everyone will know my name after this... wait... where's my name on the picture? They got my costume right but my name's not on there!!! What the heck was Joe Tomborello thinking? I gotta go, I need to talk to my agent about this!