When We Last Saw Our Heroine...

I can be the "heroine", right?  I mean it is my blog.

Anyway, when we last saw our heroine she was becoming a Ukulele Player, able to calm or excite small hordes of small preschoolers with classics such as "Wheels on the Bus" and "Skip to My Lou."  Her faithful sidekick, The Hound Dawg observed this new occupation with mixed feelings.

Somewhere along the way to Extraordinarily Tolerable Uke Playing, blogging was sacrificed on the alter of busy-ness.

Now, we must catch up with a summer's worth of blogs.  We'll start simply.

Hound Dawg celebrated his 3rd Birthday with his customary Pineapple Upside Down Cake.  The Finman assures me that this is The Hound Dawg's favorite cake and I am sure that the Finman's preferences have no influence.  It is surely an unbiased evaluation.  

The Hound Dawg was very glad to realize I was all out of party hats.

Lest You Think This Corner of the World is Always Peaceful...

Here, Copper harasses the wildlife.  (Notice, how he goes back to his roots with forest shaking hound dog bay.)  We are now both looking out the front windows.  

One of us is watching longingly and the other impatiently as we follow the VERY SLOW progress of this visiting mud turtle.  I for one, would like said turtle to get over his trauma and move on.  Copper on the other hand would like to go see what he can do with that thing.  The Finman suggests I shuttle our visitor to the woods.  Perhaps, I'll just go do that.

Gazing Pool

Would you believe, this is the Hound Dawg's water bowl?

If he can't have a drink directly from the bathtub (I know, silly dog) he likes a deep dish he can sink his head into, literally. He sticks his nose under the water and blows bubbles.

I laugh every time.

Friends??

The Hound Dawg, Copper has necessitated a few adjustments around this little cottage. Not the least of which is an adjustment of lifestyle for The Incredibly Furry Feline, Milton. Hound Dawg is not exactly what you would consider low profile.

Early on, when Copper happened on Milton sitting on top of a trash can by the shed and evidenced an earth-rumbling, ancestral bay whilst hunkering down in a classic "I just treed a 'coon for you" stance I suspected we might have a slight misinterpretation of the assigned roles within our little family. I gather that Hound Dawg may have been of the opinion that The Incredibly Furry Feline was a gift for his amusement. I think Milton has since disabused him of that delusion.

Now, it seems we've turned yet another corner in the Feline/Hound relationship. We may even be witnessing the genesis of friendship. (I think the odds on that would be much higher if Copper could get over his desire to "tree" creatures that tend to be slightly less canine than himself.) Milton makes a good "dog" and I sure hope that Copper figures that out sooner rather than later.

All in the Family

I've yet to write about the new addition to the family. The FinMan and I decided it would be appropriate to choose the next canine companion together. We took the opportunity of a this summer long visit to find our new Hound Dawg, Copper.

I will have you know that the American Kennel Club believes above Hound Dawg to be a Basset Hound. Don't laugh, we even have their registered seal of approval telling us it is so, along with three generations of bloodlines. Don't let the goofy grin fool you. He is very noble indeed as his full name is Copper Knight.

One well versed in the world of canines may in fact doubt the veracity of the AKC's paperwork when noticing the impressive size, height, and overall largeness of this Bassett. In the words of Copper's former owner's vet, "What we have here is a throwback gene or somebody else snuck into the kennel."

I'm sure that Hound Dawg's frame, which is still growing, came as quite a shock to the family that bought him. Said family, had retirement in sight, a RV the size of my home (Caravan for some of my overseas readers), and a yen to hit the road. It's hard to see our Hyper Hound Dawg as the ideal RV'ing companion.

This is how our registered hound came to be "free to a good home" on Craigslist and found his way to our neck of the woods. Hound Dawg turned one year old the week after he moved in. (You'll all be glad to know that he had a party complete with cake, pineapple upside down cake.) I'll be the first to admit having a young dog around is quite the adjustment. For a while there, it felt like a canine invasion. Everywhere I looked I saw something associated with Hound Dawg; leashes, treats, towels, toys, brushes, food, etc, etc. Thankfully,the dog paraphernalia is now mostly corralled. Fin says, Copper is in his teenage years. Let me tell you, teenage canines come with a lot of stuff.

That said, he sure is a lot of fun. He and I took our first trip to the beach this evening. He didn't really know what to think of those gentle waves at the beach. I think he found them disconcerting. He definitely did like all the new smells.

At the end of the day, Basset or not, he's all hound and smelling about with that big ol' nose is his thing.