Peaches is gradually coming out of her shell.  It's only taken two and a half years and the death of her fearless leader, Bubba, to bring it about.  I think now that she is the only dog in the household and has no other dog to rely on, she has had no choice but to assume his role of leader of the pack.  She seems less fearful and reactive to new situations these days.  For example, last night some neighbors dropped by unexpectedly with some wine to share, and we all sat in the front garden and chatted.  Peaches barked a bit at first but then settled down on her mat and was quiet the whole evening.  This is much different behavior than I would have seen when we first adopted her and far different than Daisy's.  We didn't have many visitors while she was alive.  I miss her but not her craziness.  Thank goodness that Peaches isn't that bad.  One Crazy Daisy per lifetime is enough.

This morning at the park, Peaches walked up to a strange woman and made friends!  This is a first for her.  Of course, the woman was crouched down and looked less threatening to her, which helps with fearful dogs.  Little by little, we are making progress.  The more experiences she has, the better she gets, but it's a very gradual process.  I only wish I knew what Peaches went through in the three years before I found her.  Or maybe I'd rather not know.

I'm considering taking her to Golden Gate Basset Rescue's Waddle in Novato on July 4, although I'm not sure how she would handle a large crowd of people and hundreds of other dogs, even if they are bassets like her.  Plus the Waddle starts at 10:00 and it's a long drive to Novato.  Perhaps there's a pet-friendly hotel nearby where we could stay overnight.  I'll look into it.  It would be fun to go to a waddle again.  It's been seven years since my last one.  There's the added bonus that there are likely to be dogs there to adopt, and we might find Peaches a friend.  

However, if I am looking for a basset to adopt, I guess I should visit Daphneyland, a basset rescue organization in Southern California.  I was watching an episode of "Groomer Has It" last night on Animal Planet, which took place at the basset ranch where there are probably 100 hounds.  Many appeared to be seniors, sadly.  I've never understood people who can just dump their faithful old friends that way, just because they get expensive or troublesome to care for.  It's not the case with all the old dogs, I'm sure, but probably most.  The groomers had to identify a dog they had seen only briefly from all those hounds, going only by their markings--a nearly impossible task.  It was hysterical to watch, especially when they opened the gates to release all the hounds at once, all of them waddling and baying.  Gotta love those hound dogs!