Another basset has turned up at the SPCA, but Gaston is being fostered because of health issues. He has kennel cough/pneumonia and has to have a sebaceous cyst removed from his chest when he is neutered.  He's a nice looking dog, and he wags his tail in circles like Bubba did.  He's very friendly with everyone, I'm told, has no behavior issues, and is house trained. He's not a red and white, like we'd prefer, but has almost the same markings as the dog I saw yesterday--white with black and some brown on the head.  I wasn't sure when I saw his photo online that it wasn't the same dog (from the same line or even litter, perhaps).  

I'm understandably leery of adopting a sick dog, and I will not bring one home that would infect Peaches with kennel cough.  She is not inoculated against it, although she had it when I adopted her.  Just about every dog contracts the virus in shelters, and it's never a good introduction to an adoptive home and puts the adopter through the mill from the git-go.  I got little sleep for a couple of weeks when Peaches first came home.  I know kennel cough runs its course, unless there are complications like pneumonia (or distemper in poor Bramble's case), but if this dog already has cyst problems at age two, it may be something that will plague him his whole live and empty our wallets getting them removed again and again.  Bubba developed them only in later years, but it was costly having them removed.  

I'm probably being way too cautious, but perhaps if people took more time and entered cautiously into pet ownership instead of making emotional decisions and bringing home the first dog they see, fewer dogs would end up in shelters in the first place.  Of course, I've had plenty of bassets, so I know the breed, but I've had too many dog woes in the past and plan to wait for just the right dog for us before giving my heart to another dog to tear.  I hope I'll know that dog when I see him.  As I've said before, Bubba left big paw prints to fill, but if I'd been so picky years ago, I might not have ended up with Bubba.  I really didn't want a male dog when I found him.  I wanted a female, but I couldn't find any, so he was my first male basset.  I've never regretted adopting him.  

I seem to be having trouble finding or committing to another dog, which means it's either too soon after losing Bubba or I just haven't found the dog I'm meant to have.  Sometimes I feel guilty looking for another dog, as if Peaches is not enough dog for me.  She most certainly is! Sometimes I rather like having only one dog to care for and dote on.  She's the loveliest little girl and my canine soulmate, but I know she is lonely for a companion and still misses Bubba. Our pack is somehow incomplete without two dogs, and we all keenly feel Bubba's absence. The other day, when it was time for walkies, I saw her look up at his old leather "Chairy" where she now sleeps, as if expecting to find him still lying there to bark at and roust from his old dog slumber for our morning walk, like she used to do.  Old habits die hard, and sometimes so do old dogs.  

Oh, if I had a wishbone and wishes always came true, I'd wish for my Bubba back again.  There'll never be another quite like him.