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!

Back to Normal (not that we are ever really normal)

LEO is back to his usual happy morning self, because I'm back where I belong, having my coffee by his side! He loves to hang out and snuggle up by my side while I'm drinking my coffee! He's really relieved that it's nobody's birthday today! :)

What? It's not MY Birthday too?

 

LEO was a little put out with me this morning! He is most definitely a creature of habit. Every morning after I finish getting all the things done for the kids to get them off to school, I sit down on the couch with him & my coffee! Today, it's my son's 13th Birthday, so I changed it up a bit, and sat up at the bar while he had his birthday muffin. WELL! Leo did not like that one bit. He came over to me, stood at the foot of the bar stool and whined. Although his tail was wagging away, as he was staring up at me with confused eyes, I knew he was jealous! Maybe he just wanted to share in the birthday muffins, BUT, they were chocolate chip and that's no good for a dog! After a few minutes of whining at my feet, he jumped up and placed his two front paws in my lap. This was quite the funny image since he's an extra long sausage! He stayed right there like that, just wagging his tail. I guess he didn't understand why it wasn't his birthday too! :) He'll have to wait till September for that! Now that the kids are off to school, I will pour another cup of coffee and go hang on with him on the couch, just as he expects me to do! :)

 

Ya Big Baby

Somebody's afraid of the dark....(shhhhhhh) don't tell him I told you! While he does know that I blog all about his special needs, he would be really mad if he knew I blabbed about his fear of the dark.
LEO absolutely refuses to walk up the stairs to bed, if he doesn't have somebody walking with him. If we forget to bring him up, he will stand at the bottom of the stairs and bark until somebody goes down to get him. You might think, he is struggling with the short legs, or that he is too lazy, or stubborn (two very common traits in Bassets) but nope, he's just straight out afraid of the Boogey Man! I usually take him out for the last time of the night around 9pm, then he curls back up by the fire and snores on the couch. I try to remember to nudge him out of his slumber and coax him up to bed, but there are many nights when I forget. Tonight was one of those nights. I just got myself settled into bed, when I heard the unmistakable BASSET HOWL! "Come get me Mama" sooooo, out of bed I go, and back down the stairs I go. As soon as I get to the bottom step, and say, "Come on", he steps up and climbs the stairs right beside me. He is such a big baby! A big baby that I love more than anything in this world! (Obviously by the lengths I go to for him) Brat! :)

Slow it down Mama!

MY GOD, DO I LOVE THIS FACE! Lately, my poor LEO has been feeling the stress of our busy life. You  might think he would've gotten used to the chaos by now, but I think he's still secretly holding out for a calmer lifestyle for his MAMA! I always find myself thinking about the life lessons I can learn from LEO! If only I could curl up and take a nap by the fire as often as he does. He's taken on a new habit over the past few weeks as a defense to my busyness! In the RARE moments that I make time to actually sit down on the couch to hang out with him, he crawls right up into my lap or onto my chest. He's no light weight either, believe me! He parks himself right on top of me as if to say, "Now, there! See if you can get up and leave me now MOM!" I have to admit, he does make it really hard. I am so in love with that face and those eyes. He has the guilt look mastered and I absolutely hate to have to get up and go again. I feel like I am always running here and there and rarely ever get a minute to breathe! Tonight, I am grateful to LEO for giving me this not so subtle reminder to SLOW IT DOWN and just SNUGGLE once in awhile!

Doggie Bag

Most often, when the waitress asks if you want a doggie bag, she is talking about taking food home, so that you can eat it later. A doggie bag is very rarely actually for the dog! Well tonight, the doggie bag really was for LEO! We brought him home some Chicken Fingers from the Chinese Restaurant! He was so excited, he actually JOGGED to his food bowl to see what the surprise was! I love when he jogs, because the sound of his tags make the best jingling sound! His ears bounce up and down and his short little paws prance almost like I imagine a reindeer would! He grabbed a chicken finger and JOGGED into the living room to eat it! He always prefers to eat his food on the living room floor! After all, why would he want to eat it in the dish and keep things clean! After he finished his first one, it was the cutest thing to see him JOG back to the kitchen to get another! He got more exercise jogging for those chicken fingers than he's gotten in the past week of winter weather! He obviously didn't count them ahead of time, because he thought there was another one. It was almost sad to see him come jogging back to the kitchen full of excitement only to find out that he had already eaten the last one! Oh well! He was still overjoyed and it was sweet to see him smiling an hour later!