How they got here: Part I, Nougat.

 Nougat was first. I wanted a lemon Basset like the first Basset I ever met – Doctor Kurney. I’ve read extensively before I made the decision and somehow I missed all the parts where it was written that they’re active and busy and shed a lot. They were supposedly lazy dogs with easily maintainable coats, a bit hard to housebreak. Lots of info about the drool and how much of it. Only one guy wrote about the shedding but I thought he must’ve not looked after his Basset because everyone else had another opinion.

I new that it had to be a female so that the pack order would be started off in the correct manner. The females are more dominant, bringing one home after a male that has already settled could cause possible pecking order fights. Female first, training and then another, a male.

I still consider Nougat a rescue case. The breeder was and probably still is someone who should rather be breeding high-end cabbages. I will not go into the details, only say that there was a little lemon female who did not look as if she was going to make it. She could barely sit upright, watery eyes; the other puppies were running all over her. She had a pink nose. I had thoughts of her being left till last and sold off to someone wiling to pay as little as possible and not take care of all that pink skin. She was sold at ‘8 weeks’, but in reality she could not have been more than 5 weeks old. Her eyes were still blue. 

The Baby

My sister, Mrs. Fudge, went with me for the pickup. One of us tried to pacify the crying puppy and the other tried to drive with the distraction.

She was not the prettiest puppy and I had strong doubts that she was a Basset at all. Even the vet (first stop before we went home) told me she was the furthest thing from a Basset puppy he has seen – maybe some kind of waterdog he said. I defended her and secretly hoped that she’d grow up to be a real Basset.

 I thought that she was going to be partially blind because of the milky blue of her eyes, but that was before I figured out that she wasn’t really 8 weeks old yet.

Like all puppies she cried a lot the first night in spite of the hot water bottle, teddies and ticking clock. I eventually buckled and pick her onto the bed where she crept up to my neck and fell asleep. I never needed to do that again. From then on she knew I was close by.

Nougat’s nanny was arranged even before I chose her. The day-mother was a dog trainer who looked after and trained puppies during the day. We travelled quite a distance in the mornings for the drop-off. She was taught to sit before the end of the week. My clever puppy.

The Toddler

Nougat eventually grew ears and later on grew into her ears. Some parts of her nose are still pink. Her eyes are fine. Her skin, well I was right about that part. It needs a lot of tender care. But I don’t care about having to take care of that. 

The Teenager

The Adult with cousin Salsa

  Isn't she just gorgeous?