Sammy & Baby

by Michelle
(FL)

After the death of our beloved Bridgette the Basset from lymphoma at the age of 12, we were heartbroken. We still had Bridgette's partner in crime, Jake, who was the same age. Jake was slowing down quite a bit and just acted lost and lonely without Bridgette. After much soul searching we decided to use a Basset rescue to find an older dog needing a good home. We found "Sammy", a 5-year old at a rescue. We had decided that we wanted a Basset that looked nothing like our Bridgette. Boy, did we get a change. Sammy is a "Blue" Basset. He has one crystal blue eye (the other eye is brown) and a blue-grey color to his muzzle hair. Otherwise he is a mostly dark tri-color. For my husband it was love at first sight. For me not so much . . he was too different from Bridgie, and I just couldn't get over the eye. I thought he was very odd looking. I remarked on the way home that we should change Sam's name to Marilyn as in Marilyn Manson. The husband didn't think that was nearly as funny as I did.

After arriving at his new home, Sam's first priority appeared to be winning me over. Following me around the house, snuggling next to me on the couch, just generally being my little shadow and even trying to take care of me when I caught a cold. Needless to say, it didn't take long for him to succeed in winning me over. Now I think Sam is gorgeous . . I even call him my Beautiful Blue-Eyed Boy. He is and has always been a real treasure. He has always been well behaved, house trained and has a bubbly, joyful personality. I would not hesitate to recommend adopting from a rescue.

Also, although Sam and the old guy Jake hit it off from the beginning Sam did have a lot of playfulness and energy left even at 5 years old. We decided to adopt another Basset, Baby, from another rescue organization so Sam would have someone to play with.

Baby has been a great addition to our home as well. Although with her, she was rescued from a puppy mill where she was abused, caged, filthy and had not gotten enough to eat. The rescue organization did a great job of caring for her and socializing her before we adopted her. I will say she was a lot more challenging in acclimating her to her new home after what she had been thorough in her life. We went into this relationship with open eyes. The rescue organization was very upfront and honest about Baby's past and the challenges we would face. It has been well worth the investment in time, love and patience. Baby has returned it to us in spades. Reputable rescue organizations are not in the business of just churning out adoptions. They want to make sure it is a good match so that the dog will get a "forever home."