Fred aka Dennis
It is with great sympathy that I am writing this letter to you. Fred took his journey to the Rainbow Bridge last night enroute to the Banfield Urgent Care facility in Fort Worth . He had a heart murmur that we were treating in anticipation of a dental cleaning and removing a skin tag on his chest. He had not been feeling well the last couple of days and last night he would just stand and look at me and was breathing very heavily. He was our silly puppy and would howl every time we called him by that name and enjoyed our walks and car rides. He left us doing one of his favorite things of riding in the car. Here is one of our favorite pictures we have of him wearing his Oakley sunglasses from our youngest son. He will be missed but is happy and healthy on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge .

LAYLA
Another special Basset hound went to the Rainbow Bridge today. When we saw Macey's picture and bio on the Basset Rescue web site we were in love. When her foster parents brought her over on a Saturday morning we knew she was the Basset for us. She was such a sweet shy little girl. After we adopted her, we changed her name to Layla (yes after the Eric Clapton song) and she quickly fit into our home becoming the center of attention. One of our neighbors gave her a toy that looked like a tree trunk with three toy squirrels inside. This quickly became her favorite "baby". She would get it out of her toy bucket and run through the house with it shaking the squirrels out of the tree trying to get somebody to chase her and throw her baby squirrels She loved her walks after her breakfast and dinner and would bark at us to hurry up and get her leash. Afterwards she would curl up in your lap and stay there as long as you would let her. She loved having those beautiful ears and her freckled tummy rubbed!!! We frequently took her for rides around our community on our golf cart, but as she got a little older this became her favorite thing to do. She even got to the point where she would sit on the golf cart seat in the garage just waiting for you to take her for her ride. Sadly, several months after we adopted her she began to experience some minor back issues. She would occasionally start limping and showing some weakness in her hind legs. You could tell that she had been a jumper in her previous life as we had to really work with her to break her of the habit. As she got older her back slowly became worse and we had many trips to the vet for steroid injections and prescriptions. One morning almost four years to the day after Layla came into our lives she lost the use of her back legs. It came suddenly as she had been on two walks and her cart ride the previous day. A trip to the vet revealed what we already knew. We could either subject her to a back surgery with only a 50% success rate or put her down. After many tears watching her struggle to drag herself around and watching her age rapidly over the past year from all of the steroids we decided to not let her suffer any more. The loss of our sweet little girl has left a huge hole in our hearts and lives. We know she's in a better place now with no pain, lots of other basset friends, with walks and rides every day. We love you sweetie and we'll see you on the other side of the bridge when our time comes. Mark and Michelle Jones

Millie
Millie came to us on July 26, 2004. My niece and I were waiting in the swing on the side of the driveway for what seemed like hours. When she finally ran up the driveway with her ears flopping my niece screamed “there she is.” Millie came with directions – Millie should NEVER be allowed in an unfenced area without a leash. She had been in 3 shelters and had a history of bolting. I did have to run after her more than once. I am so grateful that she luckily made it to the Rescue and that she landed in our care. It was a fabulous ride with our dear sweet Millie. She was a standout in obedience class, they recommended her for advanced (not common for a Basset they said). At Basset Hound Shuffle she ran through the entire agility course without skipping a beat. She won the musical mat contest 2 years in a row because she loved to sit on command-even without a treat. We think that her previous owners gave her some good training. We never won the weenie toss but we had so much fun practicing. I was so proud of her when we walked because she was so good on a leash. One day she broke her pace when she saw a rabbit and went crazy. A neighbor said not to be surprised because that is what she was bred for. I had to accept that fact for many rabbit sightings. Typical for her breed,(she was our 3rd Basset) she was a sweet girl and just loved to have her ears cleaned and rubbed. She loved to be brushed. Even after she lost her sight to glaucoma she was still happy in the back yard with her 2 Beagle brothers. As the years went by we walked less and less each day. At the end she was walking very slowly and we stayed on our street. She slept most of the time. She would only get up a few times a day to go outside. Because she was blind I would put her leash on and lead her outside. I would have taken special care of her forever but she stopped eating and responding. Broken hearted I took her to the vet and she found tumors on x-ray. The next day the blood work came back and it was determined that she was ready to go. The next day we took her in to end her suffering. I knew it was time and that we were doing the right thing but my heart did not get it. I miss her so much. I am so grateful to Basset Hound Rescue for enabling us to have this dear sweet, dog. Our best guess is that she was 12-14 years old. She was 4-6 when we got her. We feel she had a nice long run and we are so glad she came into our lives. RIP my dear sweet Millie. Bobby and Kathy Bryan

Dreyfuss
Dreyfuss- 5/08/95 to 8/13/10 Dreyfuss was our little Basset Hound with a big personality. Dumping your puppy bowl and running with it was just the beginning of many laugh's you brought us. The crazy things you did, scratching the fridge for your food and then staring inside with those Basset eyes. The time when I opened the door and you took off on me. It took me a block to catch you but when I did I picked you up and laughed! How could a little puppy with those big ears and short legs be so fast! That loving, loyal side of you, following me EVERYWHERE to be by my side, you were my shadow. Laying next to me and nudging your head under my hand to get love, and if I stopped you just gave me that Basset look and nudged again. So many other funny things you did. I never did mind that big beautiful howl of yours. Mommy loved you too so much and took good care of you all those years. She misses you very much. In your later years you grew a little whiter but you were still just as handsome. In the past 8 months you found your first full length mirror, you would stare into it, yes that's what you looked like. That's just one reason why we loved you so much. In these later years your walks got shorter and took a little longer, I let you take all the time you wanted. We all loved you so much Dreyfuss, you will never be forgotten. I wrote this for you "My Best Friend" Our eyes first met in that store, no plans to buy just look no more. You played like you knew me all over the floor, before I knew we were out the door. So many times we had together, walking next to you was always a pleasure. You picked me up when I was down, like saying to me "I will always be around." And throughout our time I learned from you, your unconditional love is what I knew. And even through your very last day you lived so brave, that was always your way. Our journey together on this earth has come to an end without doing wrong, I know your looking down on me hoping I will be strong. While I'll try to feel your presence near, times and memories of us will stay with me for the rest of my years. And in knowing you playful, loving and clever, I write this poem to you, no way on earth could you have been any better. Thank you for being my best friend, I am lucky to have had you in my life. Love Tim.

Judy
Sometime in 1997 ~ February 28, 2010 The day my little girl left us, the world got a little darker… Because Judy was sunshine, she was light and she was happiness, all in a 40 pound bundle of energy. A happier little Basset could not be found. No matter what she went through, she was happy and cheerful. So loved and now so missed…For 13 years, her Basset sister Charlie loved Judy more than anything else and Judy loved her back. They were always together. Judy never listened to those who said Bassets are slow…. The day her brother, Tony the Greyhound entered our life, she was thrilled. She always thought she could catch him…and she kept trying… those little legs, moving so fast... ---- She came to us on a muggy day in August of 1997, a year old or so. We lived in North Carolina at the time. She got out of the car with her foster siblings from the Carolina Basset Rescue - 2 other big Bassets - promptly vomited (she was car sick in those days) and took off running straight into our house, as the front door was open. She ran up the stairs, and invited my shy little Charlie, also about a year old, to play, by loudly barking from the top of the stairs. Charlie looked at me with surprise and question, like: “What am I supposed to do with that?” Well, they played, and they fell in love. And that is how it was to be. Best friends. Judy was a small, very skinny little Basset… She had been picked up by the Durham pound 3 times, and the third time, her owner’s didn’t bother to pick her up. My luck and their loss! You got to wonder, because she never wandered once during her 13 years with me. She stayed by our side, would lie in the front yard without a leash, she would just lie there, surveying the lay of the land. My little girl… She beat severe skin allergies, terrible hot spots, to the point of bleeding, weekly allergy shots and sometimes twice a week baths, never a complaint… She beat an ugly stage 3 Fibrosarcoma, a tumor that grew over night from nothing to a golf ball… We removed it and she was treated with chemo and radiation. She was given a maximum of 2 years and she got 5… After the cancer treatments she got deaf. But she never missed a beat. She just slept better. She would hang one of her ears over her eyes, and she would sleep through a tornado if she had to…We used to laugh at that… She never had to hear me yell at the kids, because when they arrived, she couldn’t hear any longer… She beat the odds my little sunshine!! More times than one. She was a loud dog, and would love to stand in the middle of the back yard, and just tell people how she felt, barking away. I would have to go out and get her, since she didn’t hear when I called her name. Very convenient for her Every time she or Charlie had been separated, they would greet each other before they said hello to me. Such love… Charlie is the slowest Basset Hound on this earth… and Judy is the opposite. So, when Tony arrived on 3/15, 2002 – she was elated. I would walk those two dogs so far, and she was thrilled. We just left Charlie behind; she had no interest in walking like that. Judy lost 10 pounds from those walks with Tony. She laid by his side when he went to the Bridge two years ago, she loved him too, and I have hundreds of photos of Judy and Tony, lying on top of each other in some form or fashion. Sweet babies… When the kids came, never a complaint, no matter how much she was hugged and squeezed….She happily turned herself into a lounge chair for Finn, our son, to lie on… --- What do you say when 13 years of togetherness, through thick and thin, suddenly and surprisingly ends? It leaves a big hole in your heart. A hole that hurts really bad… Yet, I know we were lucky to have had her so long. She beat the odds, time and time again. Charlie misses her sister…. I miss my sunshine. I look at all the photos we took through the years, and all I want is one more hug, one more touch…. Oh how I miss you Judy! You are with Tony now…. I see you walking with him again; you are walking fast, your head held high, and the white tip of your tail, always up, always happy. My little Ju-Ju, my Juba – how can one little dog can make such an impression? Keep an eye out for Charlie, will you! Out of my three furry babies, I have only one left. It is almost unbearable. Yet, we have to go on. Sweet dreams my Angel. Life is so quiet and empty… I love you! Mommy…