Rory (aka Aurora)

We’ve had Zoe (previously known as Rory) for three weeks now, and what an interesting three weeks it has been! When Sandy Aldrich brought her to us, she took one look at the couch in my office, jumped up on it and cuddled with her new Mom. It was love at first sight. That first night at bed time, she jumped up on the bed and immediately invoked Basset Rules 9 and 10 - The basset can sleep under the covers every night and Humans must ask permission to sleep under the covers with the basset!!!! – and went under the covers. That was our first clue that Zoe is a typical basset; only interested in her comfort. And she continues to prove it by getting into the front room and jumping on the sofa when we leave. She will re-arrange the cushions just so and settle in. Now she knows she isn’t supposed to go into the front room but she’s not going to give in or up. Oh, and that’s another basset trait – stubbornness beyond belief. She gets scolded when we return and find that she’s been in the forbidden place, but she just gives us that look that says “but Mom, that’s the most comfortable couch we have and I’ve claimed it for my very own”. What were we thinking, she’s going to win this battle!. She does not seem to have another typical basset trait – drooling. Really, we have not noticed drool anywhere and we would notice because our previous basset used to make a pool of drool beside the dinner table. Somebody has said that she’s just saving it for the "big sling". She has plenty of playmates in our yard that she talks with (read barks at). The deer just run away, the squirrels glower and run up the nearest oak tree. Our neighbor has a wooden owl that he set on the fence between us to keep the birds away from his garden. Zoe bark s and barks at it but it doesn’t answer; it just stares at her. The basset society was afraid that Zoe would not be adoptable because of her barking; it really isn’t that bad. She only barks when there is a reason to; who wouldn’t bark at deer and squirrels. And then she barks with happy barks when we return after an absence of more than a few minutes.