Monday 10 October 2016

Barry's Island. By Bessie

On Saturday Mummy and Daddy took us to Barry's Island to play with our friends.   Our Grandad is called Barrie.  It's not his island though, it belongs to a different Barry.

We met our friends on the prom, there were 15 Basset Hounds and a schnauzer.   Loads of people walking past stopped to cuddle us and take our photos.   Our last foster sister Betty was there with her Daddy.  Now she's called Dottie though, it suits her cos she has dotty ears (and is a bit dotty).  She remembered us and she ran over to Mummy, did a celebratory wee on her shoes, then rolled in it and shook wee all over everyone.    That's how you know Dottie loves you.

We ran on the beach for a bit then we went to this cafe called K9 plus one which is super dog friendly.  The lovely owner, April, gave us all biscuits she'd baked and the humans had hot chocolate and cake.   Carly and Bella sat on the settee, the rest of us were good and sat on the floor.

We decided it would be fun to do this again so we asked April if we could hire the cafe for a Christmas Party and she said we could cos she loves dogs and parties.  

On Sunday Mummy and Tom went out to buy supplies for our stand at the National Pet Show, she wanted some hooks to hang the banner up and some pretty ribbon for the bunting cos it's on pink wool at the moment and it looks a bit tatty.  She got some lovely BRNGB pink ribbon with pompoms.  Everyone loves pink pompoms.  Now she needs to make more bunting cos we've had about 30 dogs since she made the last lot and she likes every BRNGB dog to have their face on it.

Friday 7 October 2016

When I went to the dentist. By Bessie

I had to go to the dentist last week.   I didn't need any teefs out though, the doggy dentist said I have lovely teefs for a girl my age.  

Last Friday Mummy said to Daddy "Let's go camping tonight" so he said OK and when they got home from work they packed up the caravan and put me in the car and off we went to Ross on Wye for the weekend. 


When we got to the campsite we walked to Morrison's to get some food but neither of them could decide what they wanted so they both had to go in. That left the problem of what to do with me. 
"Let's put her in her pram and pretend she's a baby," says Daddy. 

"OK," says Mummy, "we might get barred for life but ho hum I'm a Tesco girl at heart."
"People will think it's our grandchild." says he marching in to the store. He who had downed a bottle of beer in 30 seconds flat and clearly hadn't thought THAT comment through. So they put me in my pram and ran in trying to avoid staff but they were EVERYWHERE. How many shelf stackers does one tiny supermarket need???? We got a few double takes but I think most people thought we just had a very hairy big nosed baby. Until baby decided she wanted to get out of the pram and started HOWLING.
"Run" hissed Mummy, "Run fast. Don't stop to speak to anyone. I'll finish here."

 Mummy was queueing at the checkout.  Daddy was running for the door, he got through the checkouts and was almost at the exit when the woman who mans the little stand they have where people ask silly questions heard the noise and started following him. She has almost caught up when another employee stepped in front and stopped him. Well, Mummy just saw her look in the pram and then they spoke for a second and he left so she thought she had thrown him out. The other woman stopped and went back to her silly question stand, happy that someone else had chucked him out. Mummy went outside and said haha you got busted and he said what the woman had actually done was whispered "Is that a Basset? I thought I recognised the noise. How sweet.". 

The next day we went into town and we had lunch outside a nice cafe.  I had a few chips and then slept in my pram.   We watched telly in the evening and the next morning we came home.


Last Sunday Mummy and Bryn took all us houndies for a day at the beach seeing as it might be the last nice day til Spring.  We went to Exmouth, we went for a nice walk up a hill then down to the beach but to be honest it was a bit far and it's a good job we took the pram.


How Mummy tried to better herself. By Bessie

Katie got an A in her Art AS level.   That afternoon she went to stay with our cousin Sasha who is home from Milan for the summer.  She's a model.   Mummy took Katie to Cardiff and waved her off on the Megabus.  

Mummy and Tom did a transport from Bristol to Worcester for a nice doggy called Snoopy.

Mummy wanted to go to college to get her Maths GCSE but the day she had to go and do her assessment one of the boys in work phoned in sick and there was nobody in so she missed it.  She was really cross and upset.

We got a new foster sister called Betty.  She came in with her husband George but George was going to stay with Betty, one of our previous foster sisters, and Daisy so their Mummy and Daddy went to meet the owner and brought them to their house.  Mummy and Bryn went to their house to pick Betty up.   Betty and George were very cute but they needed baffs.  Mummy brought flea and wormer for them and then they brought Betty back to our house where she had a baff.  The person who gave us George and Betty said they had been making babies together and Betty had just had her season and might be pregnant.

We were supposed to be having a BBQ at our house but it was raining really bad so we cancelled it and instead Louise, Dave and Bertie came for tea and for a sleepover.  

The next day me, Mummy, Bryn, Betty and Louise, Dave and Bertie went to Pembrey for Dogs Day Out.   We were a bit worried that it would be rubbish like the last show we did in Wales but it was great fun.  Everyone was really friendly and we took Betty to meet one of the vets on another stall and she examined her and said she didn't think she was pregnant.  We really hoped she wasn't cos we don't want puppies.    Our friend John came to help us on our stall and him and Betty fell in love at first sight...more on that later.

At the end of the stall John Burns the big boss man from Burns dog food came over to thank us for coming and he was really nice and sweet and Mummy and Louise got a bit giggly in the presence of greatness.

On Monday Mummy took Betty to the vet and Betty had an ultrasound and she wasn't pregnant.  Yay!  So she was booked in and spayed on Friday.

On Saturday our friend John brought his girlfriend and daughter to meet Betty and they fell in love with her too so they decided they would adopt her, like we didn't know that the second they met anyway.

So after the homecheck Betty went to her new home on Friday and we can't wait to see her again.


What I did on my Summer Holidays. By Lotty.

We went on our holidays to Ilfracombe.   Bessie didn't come cos she won't walk anywhere and Carly didn't come cos she doesn't like other dogs.  Anyway everyone said I deserved a treat after I nearly like properly died and everything.  So Bessie and Carly stayed home with Tom.  He didn't want to come cos he doesn't like camping.

So on a Thursday in August we went to Devon with our caravan.  We had lunch at Taunton Deane services on the way.  I had chips.  Katie had a panini.  Everyone else had a McDonalds.

Our campsite was lovely.  There was bunny rabbits and a lake and a meadow and free herbs to take and a pizza van came on Fridays and a million bathrooms.

On our first night we had been invited to Sarah and Gordon's for tea.  They live right up on the clifftop in a beautiful cottage.  They had 3 Bassets and a PBGV and they were all lovely.  Apparently I was not lovely and it is not OK to empty the bin and steal food out of people's hands.

On Friday we went to Ilfracombe.  Mummy said she wondered if we would see a Basset that she knew and we had only just parked the car when we saw a Basset and it turned out to be the Basset that she knew.   We went on the beach and we had a paddle and then Mummy fell in the sea cos she is an idiot.   We had lunch in a dog friendly fish and chip restaurant cos that is what you should always do at the seaside.   We went to an icecream shop and Mummy bought me a gravy icelolly but I didn't like it.  Daddy had a lick and he didn't like it either so she threw it in the bin.

In the evening there was parade in town so we walked into town to watch and we had to wait for hours for the parade.   Katie and Bryn got bored waiting and went to the chip shop.  While we was eating our chips the parade came past and there was a mariachi band letting off fireworks off the roof of their float.   Right next to me they let one off and the noise scared me to death.  Since I had my earsies removed I never heard a noise but this went right through my head.    It scared every dog in town and all the dogs started howling and barking and Mummy said we need to go now cos it was 8.50 and there was a firework display starting at 9 which they thought wouldn't bother me cos I am deaf.  As we were running up the hill to get back to the campsite before the fireworks started there were dozens of people with dogs running with us, a mass dog exodus escaping town.

On Saturday we went to Lynton and we had lunch in a dog friendly restaurant and Mummy spilled her water all over the table which was very embarrasing.  Then we met two men with a Basset and they asked if we were in Ilfracombe yesterday cos they thought they had seen us when they were driving through town and they hoped they would get chance to meet beautiful me.  Afterwards we went to Rock of Ages which was really nice and peaceful.  Then we went to this place called Woody Bay.  We had to walk a hundred miles to get to it and Katie moaned all the way and when we got there it was a bit pants so we turned round and walked all the way back to the car.

On Sunday we went to Woolacombe and we spent the day on the beach.  There are 2 beaches, one is dog friendly and one is not dog friendly but the dog beach was where all the cool people were.  I went for a paddle with Katie and Bryn and then I had a nap and we had lunch from a shop selling nice baguettes and pasties.  In the evening Daddy said we could go to a pub for tea as it was our last night so we went to this little country pub and had a really nice tea.

Next morning we had to pack up and go home.  We went to McDonalds for lunch on the way home.  I had a lovely holiday but I did miss my sisters.

Bryn's birthday. By Bessie

We went camping to Malmesbury for the weekend.   Me, Mummy and Daddy.  We took my pram cos I don't like to walk too far these days and I did use it a lot of the time.

On the Saturday we went into town for lunch and we only found one cafe that said it was dog friendly.  Mummy wheeled my pram in and the man behind the counter squealed (like a girl) that no prams were allowed and she could leave it outside in the street.  Mummy said no thanks so we went to the pub instead which was probably much nicer anyway.

Bryn had his 15th Birthday.  The humans went to Red Hot World Buffet.  Aunty Mic, Uncle Rob, Ben and Louisa came too, they had a lovely time.

Mummy had to transport an elderly dog to Birmingham so she said to Katie did she want to go to the bullring (shops in Birmingham, not to watch a bullfight) for her birthday treat.  So they picked Ianto up and drove him to Birmingham to meet Greg who was taking Ianto to his new home.

Then they went into town.  They couldn't find anywhere to park close to town and there didn't seem to be a park and ride so they parked slightly out of town and walked in.  That turned out to be a good idea cos they found some really cool vintage shops that they wouldn't have seen otherwise.   Then they had lunch at Pizza Express and got free milkshake off some ladies in town.

Mummy and Daddy's old boss has his own pet shop now so they took me down to visit and to get some foods for us houndies.  It's a very nice pet shop, I got to be a VIP customer and go and sit in the upstairs office and take tea with the boss.   Afterwards we went to Sandy Bay for a walk on the beach and we had lunch in a very nice dog friendly cafe.

We went to Lenny and Edie's birthday party at Actionpetz.  It was loads of fun and we played and ate birthday cake and there was a raffle of a pigs nose which Katie is very glad we didn't win.

We went to the Basset Olympics at Debbie's house.  She has a lovely garden.  We played games and raced and had loads of fun.

The next day though Lotty was really poorly, her temperature was really high and Mummy was scared she had heatstroke so she wrapped her in a wet towel and rushed her to the vets but the vet on duty said it wasn't heatstroke that it was an infection.  Her temperature was really high, they took her out the back to cool her down then sent her home with antibiotics.

A few days later she was no better and one morning her head swelled up to the size of an extra head on the side of her head.  Mummy rushed her to the vets again.  We were so scared, we thought we were going to lose her.  The vet kept her in and Mummy had to go to work.  The vet phoned a few hours later to say it was an abscess.  They had removed it but she had to stay overnight cos her temperature was still very high.

The next morning Mummy, Daddy and Bryn went to pick her up then they went to pick up the car they bought Katie for her 17th birthday.  Lotty went with them cos they didn't like to leave her.   They brought the car home and Mummy went to buy Lotty a cooling mat and a cooling collar.  Lotty slept in the back of the car cos she was very sleepy.

When Grandma and Grandad came to stay. By Bessie


Grandma and Grandad came for the weekend.   We were having a party at the Village Hall for the Queen's 90th birthday so in the morning all the humans went over and decorated the hall with Union Jack flags and stuff and in the afternoon we had the party.   Wales was playing in the World Cup that day so Matt brought his telly in and put it up on the wall.    We had a good turn out and loads of people from the village came.   Grandma had too much to drink so Grandad had to put her to bed with a sick bucket.  Mummy had too much to drink too and thought gymnastics was like riding a bike.  She was wrong, having BAGA 4 from 1982 does not mean you can still do backflips in 2016.

The next weekend we went to a BBQ at a pub in the Wirral called the Basset Hound.  All 4 of us Houndies went with Mummy and Daddy.    We went for a walk first and then we had BBQ and raffle and a fun dog show back at the pub.

We went to a garden party in Henley (where it's posh).  This was a big day because Manny's new family were coming to adopt him.  We love Manny and we didn't really want him to go but he needed a family of his own really.  Lotty and Manny went for the walk through the woods.  Me and Carly stayed at Paula's house with Tom and Bryn.    After lunch Manny's new Mummy and brother and sister came to get him.  Lucky for him they were very nice people and the children were very sweet and went they left they both gave Mummy a hug and we all said goodbye to our foster brother.

The next day Mummy and Daddy took us to a Basset fun day to cheer us up.  There was a fun dog show but we didn't enter the fancy dress competition this time cos Mummy had been too busy to make costumes this year.

Manny. By Bessie

We got a new foster brother called Manny.   Mummy and Katie went to meet Rob and Sophie at the services in Bristol cos they were very kind and picked him up from his house and brought him from Devon.     The services was very busy cos it was summer but Manny was a very nice boy and worth waiting for.

Manny had used to sleep in his old mummys bed so our Mummy said it would be OK for him to come and sleep upstairs with us.  It was a bit of a squeeze with us 4, Mummy AND Daddy in the bed and Manny always had to spoon with Mummy but he was a good sleeper and he never had one single accident in the house the whole time he lived with us.

The first weekend he was with us Mummy, Katie, Aunty Louise, Uncle Dave, Aunty Sam and Aunty Gill did a show called the South Wales Dog and Family Fun Day.   They did this show last year and had a really good time so when they were invited to come again they said yes.

Only this year it was pants.   They would only let one car into the exhibitors car park so Aunty Sam took the van in and we had to park in the main carpark then walk miles through long wet grass to get to the showground.   Manny pulled Mummy over in the wet grass and she was soaking wet all day long.   When they got to the entrance the gate was locked and the people manning it refused to open it until the show opened so they had to walk another hundred miles to find the exhibitors entrance.

When they got inside they found that the charity stalls had been put really far away from the rest of the show so hardly anyone came over all day.  It was rubbish.  Massive disappointment, will not be going again.

The next weekend there was a celebrating rescues day at Action petz.  I went to this one and Manny stayed home.    It was OK, we met some nice people but I think we made about £5.  I don't think these type of shows are good money makers.

Lotty had her 6th birthday.  Mummy baked carrot cake.  It was delicious.



Our day out at The National Pet Show. Special guest appearance by Betty.

Hi!  My name's Betty.  Bessie said I could tell you my story.  So this is what happened.  I lived with Mummy and Daddy and my baby human but then Daddy went away to live somewhere else so Mummy asked Aunty Sam if she could come and get me cos Mummy wasn't coping very well with me and my baby human.    So Aunty Sam and Bryn came to get me and I went for a ride to their house.   Aunty Sam noticed my heart mumur straight away so she took me to Bessie's vets and the vet said yes I did have a heart murmur so I had to go and have a scan.

Then Aunty Sam was going to stay at Aunty Louise's for the weekend with Other Aunty Sam cos they were going to the National Pet Show.    Bessie was supposed to go but she said I could go instead cos it would be a fun adventure so we went to Aunty Louise's on Friday evening and I met lots of Basset friends and Other Aunty Sam and Shirley stayed too.  We went for a walk and it was lots of fun.  Frank wanted to be my boyfriend but Aunty Sam said I'm too young for a boyfriend.

On Saturday morning we got up super super early and Aunty Genny and Cassie came over so all the Aunties and me, Cassie, Penny and Shirley went into that there London and to the show.  We had to walk a nundred miles from the car park to the show.

We found our stand at the show.  It was one of the biggest stands which we was very pleased with.  What we was doing was this thing called Discover Dogs where loads of breeds have their own stand and people basically just come over and cuddle us all day long,  We girls was all up for that.  I was having a big adventure with my Aunties and my new friends.  

It was a super busy day but we was all good girls and we made lots of new friends.  I made bestest friends with a bloodhound, me and him was in love.

At the end of the day we was all very tired, we packed up all our things and walked another nundred miles to the car and drove home to Aunty Louise's.    Aunty Genny and Other Aunty Sam went home but me and Aunty Sam stayed cos Aunty Louise, Uncle Dave and Aunty Sam were going to a party and Penny was babysitting little me.

After the Auntys and Uncle came back from the party I snuggled on the settee with Aunty Sam to sleep.  Next morning we were going on another big adventure so we needed a good nights sleep.

On Sunday Aunty Sam drove me to the seaside to meet my new mummy and daddy and my new sister Daisy.    I love my new mummy and daddy and Daisy and I did live happily ever after and I did have a scan and my heart is OK at the moment.



THE END by Betty