Hi, my name is Emma the Basset Hound. I would like to tell you a little about myself.
I was born into a large pack. (You would call it a family.) I had lots of brothers and sisters. There were so many of us that we could not all live in the same house so I went to live with some nice people.
They loved me. They cared for me. They took me for walks and made sure I was ”well behaved”. Then one day when I was about 8 or 9 or maybe 10 months old, they got LOST! I don’t know where they went. I was following a very good smell. When I looked up, THEY WERE GONE! I don’t know how long I had been sniffing. (Sniffing is so pleasant.) I couldn’t find my new pack. I looked and looked and looked. They were lost. I got very worried. Without the pack I didn’t know where to find food. I didn’t know where I would sleep. They really caused big problems when they got lost!
After wondering around for a very long time, I found out that I could get food from trashcans and handouts. I had to sleep any place I could find where I was kinda safe. Nobody wanted me in their pack and My pack was lost. I was scared. Then a man came with a treat. He bent down and called to me. I was a little leery of him but he smelled okay. When I got close to him, he grabbed me and put me in a box on a truck. Boy, was I scared! When the truck stopped he tried to take me out but I made myself very small in the back of the box. He tried and tried to reach me. Finally he got me! We went into a large building. They called it a shelter. I didn’t feel very sheltered. They gave me a room with a Chow dog. He was the scariest dog I’ve ever seen. I found the farthest corner away from that dog and stayed there shaking. Nice people would come by and talk to me and bring food. I was too scared to eat. I was too scared to sleep. I wanted out of there. I wanted my pack and they were lost. I heard people talking about me. They said I had to stay in the Shelter for 72 hours to see if my pack would come for me. 72 hours meant nothing to me. I just wanted my pack and to be out of there! No one came. My pack was lost.
When my time was up a lady came for me. They called her Chris. She was there to rescue me! She called me poor puppy and tried to make me feel better. I slept at her home for the night. The next day we got in a car. I was still shaking. I had not eaten. Chris said she was worried about me. Why didn’t she just find my pack? They’re the ones who got lost. We drove a long time. I kept trying to tell her my problems. She said nice things but she didn’t know where my pack was. The car stopped. It was raining. I was cold. Some people came up to the car. I didn’t know them. They smelled okay. The lady said I could go live with her! I wanted MY pack! She picked me up. By this time I was so tired and cold, I didn’t even try to get away. I let her take me to another car. We didn’t drive far this time. When the car stopped
Inside the house, there was a little girl! I ran to her. I like little girls and maybe her pack was lost too. She smelled very good. She played with me. I sniffed around a bit. This place smelled just fine to me. The lady gave me some food, cheese. Mmmmm, cheese is good. It was just a little piece but soooo good. The lady petted me and scratched my ears. She seemed to know what a Basset Hound likes. I liked the lady. Then the little girl’s mommy said they had to leave! I just found her and she had to leave. Would the nice lady leave too? Would the lady’s man leave? I would be alone? Not alone again. I don’t like ALONE. A Basset Hound needs a pack.
THEY DIDN’T LEAVE! The lady and the man started to act like my old pack. I got my own big pillow to sleep on, my own dishes and some toys. The toys smelled as if some other Basset Hound had played with them. I got a collar. It smelled like Basset Hound. I know they had washed them. I could smell that soap stuff. I hoped they didn’t want to put that soap stuff on me. I don’t like that soap stuff. Hey, this was pretty nice! When it was time to go to bed, the lady took my big pillow and put it beside her bed. This pack was nice to me. I was cold so the lady covered me. I burrowed under the blanket. I like my whole self to be covered. Not even my nose can stick out.
The next morning my lady coaxed me into eating a little food. It tasted good. I had eaten that type of food before. This place might be all right.
That is how I came to live in the Shaffer pack. We’re not a big pack, just 3 of us. The little girl comes to visit sometimes and her brother comes too. I like kids. I really like my new pack.
I’ve got sniffing to do. Talk to you later,
Emma Basset