Ralph

This is Ralph.

Ralph is your typical Basset Hound in many ways...

Adorable, content to just laze around,

and, um, short, with really long ears.

But Ralph also happens to be very shy.

Every so often he comes around though, and when he does, his eyes just make my heart melt. Or maybe it's the ears. Or his wet, black nose.

At any rate, when he looks at me like this, I want to dognap him and take him home with me. But then I realize that his parents probably wouldn't like that too much and he would miss them anyway. So I don't dognap him, but I think you could understand why I would want to...right? Right? I mean, really, who can resist a look like this?

Good Dog

“A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker.” –Buddha

Puppy Portraits

This is Ben. He is quite possibly the happiest dog I have ever met. His tail is constantly wagging, even when he is laying down. He is all grown up now, but I couldn't keep such an adorable puppy portrait to myself, now could I?

(And Ben is technically the only puppy you'll see in this post, but I like the alliteration of the title, so I'm keeping it.)

This is Scout. Both Ben and Scout are not only Labrador retrievers, they are also assistance dogs, who help their disabled handlers do just about everything. They were trained in their early years by the nonprofit organization, Tender Loving Canines.

Scout came over for a visit, but he seemed a bit bored just laying around like the basset hounds, so I decided to see if he would follow some commands, none of which I was sure he knew.

I must have seemed a bit of a bumbling idiot (though this comes as no surprise) when I said "bring" to Scout and pointed at his toy. But Scout seems like the type of dog who can really think on his feet, and he popped up, grabbed the toy and carried it to me, then waited for me to take it from his mouth.

I'm sure he was wondering what this crazy lady was doing (I mean, why would I want his toy?), but he put up with me. Scout has the patience of a saint.

Scout looks deeply pensive. But he's probably just wondering what in the world I'm doing laying down on the floor with my camera. He's still probably thinking I'm crazy.

And I couldn't very well leave the basset hounds out of the post. So here is Tucker.

Tucker can really boogie. I mean, he's fast...for a basset hound, anyway.

I like to think he's hurrying to see me, but it might have to do with the treats in my pocket. But I'm just going to tell myself it's because he likes me.

Lovely Lucy lounges. She can move out too, but being a basset hound, what she probably does best (next to smell) is hold down important things like dog beds and comforters and couches. And sometimes, just simply the floor, as it works in a pinch if one of the aforementioned places is too far away.

It's a very important job, and I think Lucy's got it down pat.

I'm glad it's Friday, and I hope I'll get to emulate Lucy a little bit this weekend. As far as the lounging goes, that is. I might look funny with long ears and all that fur.