No Dumping

Leo and I went for a nice long walk the other night at the baseball fields. My son was practicing little league so I decided to take LEO around the park to get some exercise and meet up with some doggie friends. He met quite a few nice dogs along the way and one not so nice one too. Lucky for him the not so nice one was attached to a leash which was attached to a young girl rollerblading really FAST and she yelled, "Leave it" and they sped right by...Leo was grateful. He peed on everything as I could imagine there were a million dogs on that path before him and it was important for him to mark his territory. On the way out, he decided to relieve himself classicly right under a sign that read, "No Dumping", I don't know if he's a rebel or he just doesn't read too well! Either way, great photo op, (for me, not him) He'd surely be mortified if he knew I was posting this! What a bad mother I am!

LEO the ATTACK BASSET

BEST PICTURE OF LEO EVER!!! He looks like an ATTACK BASSET all for the LOVE of a GOOD BURGER by my sister's great grilling skills up in Maine this past weekend! This was the funniest picture I've ever seen of him. We all laughed till we cried!!!!

A Basset & A Panther...

It's been a busy week in this house! My daughter begged and pleaded for a kitten for her 9th birthday which is coming up soon. We kept saying NO NO NO but as you can see by the photo, she got her wish and has her kitty! We welcomed our adorable new addition "Panther" the tiger kitten just 3 days ago. Leo is truly unphased by the kitty. I was a little nervous that he might get kitten phobia or anxiety with all of his other issues but so far so good. I might even dare to say that the kitty is good for his anxiety because he gets so worn out just from watching him play that he is napping even more than usual. I guess LEO looked so comfy earlier tonight, that Panther decided his belly was a good place to cuddle up and take a snooze. They are precious together! 

Be Still, My Blooming Begonias...

We just heard the news that Gramma & Papa's camp will be opening on Mother's Day weeekend! Wow, that's right around the corner. Leo has been racking his little Basset brain trying to come up with a plan to get back in Gramma's good graces. A few years ago, Gramma's beautiful Begonias got in the way of a nice cool patch of dirt that was calling LEO's name. It really wasn't his intention to hurt the pretty flowers, he just wanted to dig out a cool,comfy resting place. He dug and dug, paying no attention to the fact that Gramma's Begonias were being mutilated and flung all over the place. But in the end, I'm sure he thought he made a much nicer garden fixture than those silly Begonias anyway. As Leo lounged comfortably in his new resting place, his family was having dinner inside the camp. As the dessert was about to be served, we all heard the screams from outside. (It should be noted that Gramma is NOT a dog lover to begin with)...But much to Gramma's horror, she found LEO happily snoozing where her beautiful Begonias used to bloom! Boy did she LET HIM HAVE IT! Not only did she throw him out of her garden, but she threw him out of camp forever more. She even made Papa take his name off the family sign that hangs out front. He has never been welcomed back, but he thinks this might be the year to redeem himself. Since he's on his new medication to help with all of his neurotic issues and bad behaviors, he's really hoping Gramma will forgive him and give him another chance! Everyone else gets to have FUN at CAMP, why shouldn't he ? While very dog has it's day, LEO had his, and he promises to be a good boy this year! PLEASE GRAMMA? :)

St. John's Wort for Dog Anxiety

St. John's Wort is the BEST thing that has ever happened to Me & My Neurotic Basset!
Leo has always suffered from chronic anxiety and panic attacks. As he has grown older, the
problem has become more severe. He had gotten to the point where he was an insomniac (and therefore so was I) He was disrupting the entire household with his issues. He couldn't ever be left alone, as he would launch into a full blown panic attack, trembling, drooling to the point of dehydration and peeing everywhere. I had tried all sorts of different remedies over the course of his 6 years with us, to no avail. I was definitely starting to come unglued. Somewhere, I had read about this natural remedy, St. John's Wort, and I figured why not. I started him on 2 capsules in the morning and 2 at night. I threw in a Melatonin before bed in hopes that it would help him to sleep. This regimen ended up being a DREAM COME TRUE! He has been taking this combination for almost 2 months and his anxiety has decreased tremendosly and he is sleeping through the night every night. He used to freak out, if I just took out my picture to snap a photo. The flash of the camera petrified him. I was so happy when I pulled out my camera last week to take a picture of my daughter, and Leo just sat there calmly. He is able to stay home alone, confined to one room, but we no longer come home to an ocean of drool. He can handle rain and wind storms, which he never used to be able to do, and he has even been okay with balloons lately. (Yes he used to run and hide when he'd see a balloon come into the house) Birthday parties were a NIGHTMARE! Lots of cameras and balloons, you can imagine his horror. Poor LEO.  He still suffers from panic attacks during thunder storms but this is more in the normal realm of anxiety for dogs. And yes we tried the Thunder Coat (it gave him MORE anxiety when he wore it) but it did look good on him :) We are truly grateful that we have found something to help LEO to deal with his issues, and all we can do now is cross our fingers that it continues to do the job for him. We are all functioning a little bit better as a family now that LEO isn't turning our lives upside down as much.