Most people don’t know Bassett Hounds love to run. You would think their short little legs would impede the speed at which they could move their large bodies, but we learned this was only a myth… very quickly.
Sir Huckleberry Longfellow, or just Huckleberry as we called him, would find every opportunity to escape out the front door. Our kids were small and he was strong. He’d wait for them to head out and dash past them, pushing them to the ground if need be. Oh, and how he loved the chase. Embarrassing us as we chased him around our neighborhood, again and again and again. When we first moved to our new home and brand-new neighborhood with our six children, lawns and shrubs were just beginning to be planted. One Saturday morning he escaped and ran down into the cul-de-sac where a woman was watering her new plants. We were still in our pajamas. We peeked around the corner of the house, just out of sight. Huckleberry made a bee line to her freshly planted shrubs. We could hear she trying to shoo him away. We all ducked back around the corner. Then she shrieked, “No, no, no.” We couldn’t help but take a look. Huckleberry decided to help her water her bushes. The whole family laughed soundlessly, so not to be found out. The poor woman bounced up and down, trying to shoo him with her hands but the damage had been done and Huck moved on to the next bush. One of the many times Jer chased Huckleberry, a man stood outside watching him. He commented on how his dogs were better trained. Jerry bit his tongue, although he had all kinds of unkind rebuttals racing through his head. Huck’s running became tiring. Jer vowed to get rid of him but we came up with a better solution. We just stopped chasing him. He’d eventually come home, usually in the middle of the night, covered in manure. Jerry and I took turns bathing him after his little excursions. It’s funny how a pet can be so annoying, yet we all loved him. Once he ran away for two days. I was sure something bad had a happened and stayed up late praying for him to come home safely. He did come home hungry, tired and covered in manure. We thanked God for answering our prayers even though it was a stinky mess.
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