The Red Dog Inn

Lula Loves Her Ducks

Congratulations, Teemu Selanne on your 1,300th career point! I was watching! You deserve an ear rub!

And, Curtis McElhinney, I’m sending you lots of squishes so you heel… no, that’s a command I don’t do… HEAL, yeah, that’s it, quickly! (I’m a basset hound. English is my second language.) I was really concerned watching you get hurt, but I was so happy you played so well!

In an effort to achieve my ideal weight, I started working with a Pilates tape.  Typically, at some point in my workout, one of the dogs will realize I’ve joined them on the floor and “assist”.  For instance,  Butters believes the appropriate way to execute “the Hundred” is to pat him in the process. After all,  he gets 100 pats if he positions himself just right!

Recently, I realized Lula had joined me on the floor for The Hundred. I knew she was there, I just couldn’t see what she was doing. When I looked over, I started laughing — hard.  There she was, on her back, pumping her little legs in the air as if to mimic me performing “The Hundred!”

Laughter delivers an excellent Ab workout!

Today, we ventured out in the hopes of attending our very first basset hound meet up! We arrived at the park, hopeful that the rain would hold off for an hour or so, but we had no such luck. We did meet some lovely folks from the Southern California Basset Rescue who were apologizing for the rain. 

While Lula greeted her brethren, Butters really tried to not step on them. The coordinator, Nancy, was the picture of calm as eight basset hounds and one “John Wayne All*American Dog” (Butters) swirled around our feet entangling us in a web of leashes.  (Incidentally, if you need something lashed down really well, basset hounds may be the best ropers on the planet!)

Over the past couple months, I’ve met some really neat folks who work with bassets. Among them are Nancy who organizes the basset hound meet ups, and Dawn who runs Daphneyland, home to 100 bassets eagerly awaiting their forever homes.

The upshot is this. If you have dog, find other folks who have the same breed of dog. If you have an independent breed, like a basset, or a particular breed type, like a giant breed or a sight hound, it helps to know you’re not alone.  Whatever the breed or breed type you have, you can learn from each other, get training tips and more.

I LOVE:: the basset hound folks who help make Life with Lula even more fun!

Learn more about the Orange County, CA Basset Hound Meet-Up here: http://www.bhrsc.info/

Today, while I was at the opthlamologist, Butters was having his teeth cleaned at the vet.  Lula was whimpering when I got home. Her buddy, her companion during the day, was missing! She looked at me as if to plead, “We have to go GET HIM!!!”

So when it was time to collect Butters, I took Lula with me. She was quite animated while we waited for Butters to appear.  When he rounded the corner, still a bit dazed from the anethesia, she scampered over to him and greeted him with the enthusiasm once reserved for meeting loved ones at airline gates in the days before 9-11.

We returned home. Butters was out of it. If you ever have had a dog receive anethesia, you may have heart them whimpering as the effects wear. Lula was very concerned. She walked between Butters and me. She would look at him while he whimpered. And when it was dinner time, she did the talking since he wasn’t in the mood to remind me.  Usually they sleep apart. Tonight they’re sleeping rather close.  It’s sweet.

I love that my dogs have bonded and look out for each other.

There are days I would swear I’m merely a pawn in Lula’s world domination plot.  Take this morning for instance.  I was awakened by Butters and stupidly rolled over and went back to sleep. By now, I should recognize an attempt to tattle when it’s presented. 

When I finally did wake up, I noticed crumbs on Lula’s ears as I pet her this morning. Then, I walked into the kitchen for my morning coffee and noticed a shredded bag  on the floor. Upon investigation it was a bag of cashew/almond/pumpkin seed clusters that was behind closed cabinet doors the night before when we went to bed.

So without the benefit of caffeine, I found myself needing Jessica Fletcher to help piece together this mystery:

How does a little basset hound open a kitchen cabinet door, extract a bag of cashew clusters and CLOSE the cabinet door?

Lil Lou may be laughing at my futile attempts to thwart her world domination plot.

She’s resting now… or is she really lying in wait — waiting for the opportune moment to unleash her next plot?