This is the page that no one ever wants to have to make...a page in memory of our beloved dogs who have died.  But it is something every dog owner must face and we are thankful for all of the wonderful years and happy memories we have with our dogs that definately outweigh the sadness that comes at the end. Many of our dogs live on in their wonderful offspring that are featured in our testimonial pages.  We always want to remember them and their own uniqueness and part in our Basset family !!

     Rudy, our always very happy Rudy...the photo above left is the perfect representation of how Rudy lived his life.  He was always, always happy and his tail was always wagging.  I believe you could also see that smile that was on his face all of the time.  Bonus Rudy Romeo did come to us as a bonus and was much loved by all of our girls.  He was our hormone barometer and was the first one to let us know when one of the girls was in heat.  He loved to run but also loved just to sit in your lap and have close time.  Rudy just exuded JOY all of the time.  He wasn't a very big guy but he sired huge puppies.  In every one of his litters he had one puppy that looked just like him (usually a boy but also some girls).  We are so happy that his beautiful puppies carry on his good looks and his happy disposition.  We love being in touch with his puppy families and seeing his heritage carried on. (I will be posting some photos of his kids below this memorial in the future so families with Rudy babies send your photos to be posted !!) 
     Rudy was always a very healthy boy. But he became very suddenly sick and diagnosed with Acute Lymphatic Leukemia (ALL)  in early Dec. 2010.  This is the nature of ALL...it is sudden and very aggressive.  Rudy outlived all of the vet's predictions and with medications carried on being quite active and happy for over 2 months....going home to heaven on Feb. 19, 2011 at the very young age of seven.  We are heartbroken and Rudy is very, very missed.  His lifelong penmate and companion is our Precious.  She stayed by his side and is now adjusting to a new friend and doing ok.  You can see them in the photos below taken in Jan. 2010. 
     We are so thankful for Rudy and all of the love and joy he brought to our family !! 

 Our sweet Betsy was here before all of the Bassets came. In fact when the Bassets began to arrive she still had her best pal our black Lab, Jack, as her companion.  When Jack died at age 14, Betsy was left with only the Bassets.  Although she was probably by our vet's best guess, a Beagle/Basset mix....she never claimed the Bassets.  She only liked to provoke them by running free around the pasture by their fenced  play area.  Betsy was our great front porch dog and watch dog until she became too old to see well and became deaf too.  She was a very sweet and very loyal girl and lived to the old age of 16 years.  She died in the fall of 2010. We still look to see her on the front porch and we truly miss her (the Bassets don't).  We are thankful for all of the years we had with Betsy, all of the time she had growing up with our kids and going on family camping trips and chasing rabbits and even catching the tail feathers of our neighbor's wild turkey.  She was quite a gal....even if she wasn't all Basset !!  Betsy you are missed !!