Bassets suffer from Holiday Stress too!

 

The Holiday stress has certainly seemed to get to our favorite Basset, LEO! He has had much more frequent time outs lately. Yesterday he got into my son's bedroom and found a bucket of Christmas Candy on his desk. He climbed up & helped himself. By the time I got there, he had already eaten through a miniature chocolate santa claus (wrapper and all) Although he got several gifts from Santa Claus himself, it seems like he was left wanting. The thing is, he really did look SO excited with his new Pig Ear (which my kids could not understand) They were so grossed out by the fact that he found enjoyment in chewing on a Pig's Ear but he LOVED it! He also got a great bone which should be keeping him busy. Instead he seems more interested in rummaging through the kid's goodies. He has had to spend a little more time in time out these past few days. I think once the kids get back to school, maybe he will relax a bit! (Oh and by the way, his time out is no other than THE COUCH!!!!) Happy New Year!

Smarty Pants

I guess LEO is a little bit annoyed with me lately. Since I've been preoccupied with the release of my new book, "Minivans, Meltdowns & Merlot", he's been having more meltdowns than ever. This morning, he gave me the dirtiest look while I patted our tiger cat, BOO! And he wasn't especially happy when the kids opened their Advent box and pulled out Smarties & Dum Dums! He paced around a bit, turned his nose up at his home made dog food and made a loud groaning sound as he flopped down by the fire.  A few minutes went by, he watched the cat jump up in my lap, and he stood up and stared me down. He then walked straight to the coffee table, grabbed a package of smarties and ran off. He devoured the pack leaving sugar dust all over the floor. It's a good thing my daughter was already at school, because she would NOT be HAPPY with him. I guess maybe I better throw a few doggie treats into the Advent box and give him a few extra cuddles today when I get home from work! Poor Baby!

Dog Food is Disgusting!

So this is what Leo's been eating these days: I threw together a little boiled chicken, some cream of cheddar soup, white rice and mixed vegies! He's been having this chicken pot pie concoction now for a couple of weeks. I started doing this because he's always been so picky about his food. I've tried so many dog foods over the years and he turns his nose up at it as if to say, "I'm not a dog, why the heck would I want to eat THAT?" He's also taking a liking to eating the cat's food lately! I figured maybe It would be more appealing to his picky palette if I made him some homemade food! Naturally he loved it! The problem is, when things get busy and I have to throw down some of the old dog food that he used to reluctantly eat, now he is EVEN more insulted than ever. He gives me the DIRTIEST look and walks away with a huge chip on his shoulder! At least before, I could get away with sprinkling a little Parmesan cheese on the dog food or mixing an egg into it, BUT not now that he's had a taste of the real food, he's having none of that! Even my kids tasted the chicken mixture and couldn't stop eating it. I found them fighting with LEO over his breakfast! :)  I'd say I created a monster, but god knows he already was a monster long before this latest excursion! Luckily for him, I love him enough to be heading out to Market Basket to restock the ingredients necessary to make another weeks' worth of his preferred meals! He may not be the smartest dog in the world, but he IS smart enough to know that he's really NOT a DOG so why should he eat DOG FOOD?!?

My Dog ate my homework!

My 9 year older daughter was very angry at LEO yesterday! She happened to walk into the living room and found him chewing up her homework~ Although this is behavior I would more expect to find in a puppy NOT an 8 year old Basset Hound, I'm not surprised! After all, LEO is notorious for turning our household upside down. He was probably just bored hanging out here in the house while the rest of us went about our busy lives. Since he sleeps 23 out 24 hours a day,what else does he have to do? A little homework destruction was probably the highlight of his lazy afternoon! :)

Working Like a Dog!

As I was getting ready to head out the door to work, I couldn't help but feel a little envious of LEO!
He was passed out on the couch, ON A PILLOW of course, getting ready for a hard day of NAPPING!

HAPPY BASSY

LEO actually had a GREAT day today,(for LEO!) He didn't misbehave at all! We went for a long walk and then upon return, he dug himself a nice little bed in a beautiful shady spot under the trees in the front yard! Since his 8th birthday is about a week away, I decided to make him a batch of home made dog food! He ate every single bite of it, including the peas & carrots! He is now curled up in bed with his head on my feet and I can hear him SNORING! He is one very happy content Basset Tonight! LIFE IS GOOD when you're LEO!

Caught Cheating!

I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to hold not one but two of my friend's dogs tonight. I was just picking up my son when the dogs came running out to greet me! They are so cute, I couldn't help myself. I even got a few wet kisses from the Jack Russel, "Timmy"! I loved every minute of it too, UNTIL....I got home and remembered I had my insecure, neurotic, and overly sensitive BASSET! I momentarily forgot what offense I had committed, and happily greeted him with a big HUG...when suddenly my HUG was rejected with a dirty look! He sniffed me with a vengeance. Nothing would ever get by that SNOUT! He was NOT A HAPPY BOY! Who were these mysterious dogs that I had been hanging out with?It was bad enough that he had been left home alone much too his disappointment, but now, his Mommy was out CHEATING?!? That was the last straw! He walked away with a scorned look, and hasn't talked to me since! I feel like I should be wearing the Scarlet Letter right about now! Just call me Hester Prynne! :)