Some days, It's hard being this Basset's Mom!

Some days it's really hard to be this Basset's Mom! His anxieties were in full gear last night due to the first spring thunder & lightning storm. He started getting fidgety at about midnight. He was pacing the floors and panting. I knew a storm had to be brewing when he started to get shaky. I tried my best to settle him down and gave him a dose of his anxiety meds. He crawled into bed with me, but instead of lying across my feet like he usually does, he climbed right up beside me and got as close as he could get.  He snored that way for quite awhile. At 2am, he was up pacing again. I decided to take him outside to see if he wanted to pee. I didn't see any lightning or hear any thunder but he was such a wreck, I figured something had to be coming. Again, I settled him back down. He was up and down until 5am and that's when the storm finally hit. He was freaking out drooling, panting, shaking all over the place. (This would have been the perfect time for the "Thunder Coat" if he hadn't already tried it and actually suffered increased anxiety with it on!) Nothing quite like the hot breath of a basset hound on your head at 5am complete with a big slobbering splash of drool on the cheek. It's so frustrating when this happens because I can't put him in a crate since he has crate anxiety on top of all of his other anxieties. Not only did he drool all over the floor, but he peed and pooped as well! How Pleasant! After being up half the night, I started my day by cleaning up that mess before I even had my first cup of coffee! Poor baby, he's been sound asleep on the couch all morning. Well, except for of course the one hour that I went to the gym when he got spiteful and peed on the kitchen floor! I didn't bother to put the gates up because he was so exhausted from the stress of last night! I should know better than to trust him. He hates to be left alone and he always gets me back by peeing on the floor! Some days it's really hard being his mom, but I still hold true that I wouldn't trade him for the world!

Leo's LOVE for Snickerdoodles

I find it so adorable that LEO has a love for Snickerdoodles! Who would have thought a Basset Hound would have a cookie preference. But why not, he has his own thoughts & ideas on just about everything from why he refuses to dress up as a hot dog (with mustard on top) on Halloween to his theory on how Thunder Coats for Dogs cause anxiety instead of relieving it. He hates coffee but loves skittles, why shouldn't he have a cookie preference. My kids love chocolate chip cookies, and since I usually like to have a snack for them to come home to after school, I tend to make these a lot. Occasionally, I get tired of making the same cookies, so I mix it up a bit and make other types. My husband loves Raspberry walnut thumbprints and just about everyone loves my old fashioned Betty Crocker recipe for Snickerdoodles. One year at Christmas, I was making a variety of different cookies and as usual, Leo was lying underneath the stove hoping for some crumbs to drop on the floor. I realized when I pulled the batch of Snickerdoodles out of the oven, he wrangled up enough energy to stand up. Soon enough, as I was placing them on the cooling rack, he began to bark. He didn't stop barking until I threw one down to him. He gobbled it up in about two seconds. I thought it was pretty funny how he didn't stand up or bark once when I pulled any of the other sheets of cookies out of the oven! From that day on, any time I bake Snickerdoodles, as soon as the oven starts sending off the unmistakable aroma, he's up, off the couch and barking his basset head off! And with fierce determination, he won't stop until he's scored one and then he's off and running, tail wagging behind him!