Oh Martha? Where are you? (for everyone, but especially Bassets)

I might have mentioned before how we used to have Basset Hounds when I was younger. We had two of them. Lucy and Buster. They mostly stayed on the back porch. Lucy was older and didn't like me very much because I was an active, playful puppy and she was an old dog who didn't appreciate my puppy antics. Here's Lucy in her younger days...long before my mom and dad got me.


Buster liked me, but couldn't keep up with me. He had a crippled leg and just couldn't maneuver very well. Here's Buster in his younger days.


Well, the other day when my mom was taking a break from her video editing, I grabbed the computer and started looking around. And look what I found! A really cool video of me when I was a puppy....and it's got Lucy and Buster in it.

Click To Play

We don't have Lucy or Buster any longer. One day about a year ago, I heard my mom and dad talking about Lucy, and they kept mentioning the words "bone cancer" a lot. That evening, my mom spent a lot of time with Lucy...giving her all kinds of treats and food that she never got before. I wondered what was going on.

Then the next day, my dad took Lucy for a ride in his truck, but when he came home, Lucy wasn't with him. And I never saw her again. I know she didn't like me, but I still miss her.

My mom and dad (especially my mom) were very sad for a long time. I even saw her crying sometimes. But it was poor Buster that was upset the most. For days and days, he kept howling out on the back deck. He would go lie down under the deck where Lucy liked to sleep and just stay there.

They even started taking him over to our day care. And soon, Buster started being happy again. He was his usual playful, happy self. I even started playing outside with him more.

But misfortune was about to come to us again. One morning, my dad went out to feed Buster, but couldn't find him. He called and called for Buster to come to the back deck to eat. When he found poor Buster, he (Buster) couldn't walk. Something had happened to his back.

My mom rushed him over to the vet, but there wasn't anything they could do. He was paralyzed from the waist down and was also very sick. I don't remember what my mom said was actually wrong.

Buster never came home again either.

I think about Buster and Lucy every time I go out on the back deck. I can even still smell their scents occasionally. I wish I could run around with Buster and jump all over him again. I even wish I could hear Lucy snap at me again!

But now you know why my mom and dad love Basset Hounds so much. I love Basset Hounds, too.

See you on the dock,
Sally, the Captain of Team 3 Dawg Flite
Proud member of Dixie Dock Dogs