Well, back in December I was going to be a proud Basset Hound owner...and Ethel was going to be my best bud ever! I bought all the puppy toys, puppy collar, puppy food, puppy treats, puppy bedding, puppy pin...you name it; I bought it for Ethel Buttonwillow. It was time to bring her home and I picked her up on Christmas Eve morning. I was so excited and she was just cuter than a button! My first hour with her was everything I imagined with a brand new puppy. She wanted to play and sleep and poop. I even got a cute little video of her learning how to go in and out of her crate. She loved her crate with the soft and cushiony bed. Here is where the story begins to turn. We had plans to spend an early Christmas Eve dinner with our friends, Marie and Gene. I had to leave Ethel Buttonwillow in her puppy pin. She cried and whined and cried some more and I really didn't want to leave, but we did. On our return a couple of hours later, she was still crying and whining AND she POOPED everywhere and stomped in her POOP and tracked it All OVER the floor. This was just not what I wanted to come home to. First I washed poor little Ethel who was covered with POOP! Then I had to clean the floor (without urping my dinner up). THEN I had to wash her pin AND her crate and her bedding. THEN I finally tried to put Ethel Buttonwillow to bed...after cuddling her first, of course. She finally went to bed and I plopped myself on the couch and tried to nod off. It lasted only a few minutes before the whining and crying began again. My dream of Ethel becoming my best bud was beginning to fade into a nightmare. Ethel wanted to play, sleep (for 1/2 to and hour intervals) and poop all night long. I was exhausted and right then and there I knew I had made a mistake. Being a puppy owner takes stamina and I didn't have it. I'm sad to say that Ethel Buttonwillow was returned. BUT, the good news is, Ethel was re-adpoted the very next day and is living with a family with children and other Basset Hounds. A perfect match. BUT now I was feeling like a complete loser!!! A photo of Ethel at 5 weeks below:
All three of my kids encouraged me and convinced me to adopt an adult dog and check the animal shelters. You can do all of that online now as they post pictures of the dogs (and other animals) for you to view. I chose a local shelter (only about 2 miles from our house) and was checking each day on line, as new dogs were checked in. One day they posted a stray Beagle. We had a Beagle, Aspen. She was such a wonderful family pet. But this Beagle was not up for adoption...yet. They give the owners about a week to claim their animals. After that they go up for adoption. I waited until she was eligible for adoption and Ashlee, Lacee and I went to the shelter to see if she would be a good fit. Well, long story short, meet Denver (named in honor of Aspen)!!! Denver didn't have a name since she was a stray, so it just felt right to name her Denver.
Denver is housebroke, lovable, playful AND obedient (well, most of the time). Life is good and although it's risky adopting a stray adult dog, it worked out great for me!!!
