IT'S PEACHES' GOTCHA DAY

                            Pretty Peaches then and now

 
Six years ago today, a little tri-color basset with a white fish stripe down her back dashed into the get-acquainted room where I was sitting at the SSPCA and plopped right down on my foot.  I knew I had been selected, even before I selected her.  I never had met such a fearful dog as her, and the only thing she wanted was to get out of there with the first person who would take her.  So I did.

When I adopted her I was told she was 3 1/2 years old. That would make her close to ten now, though of course you never really know for sure with most shelter dogs.  Our wonderful time together has gone by so fast, and I long for so much more with her.  She's come a long way in the time I've had her, though some situations still make her nervous, such as busy dog parks and kids playing with balls or just about anything kids play with.  I'll never know what happened in her past life, but she's no kid's dog, that's for sure.  Her once beautiful russet-colored muzzle is now frosted with white, but she is a very young 9 1/2.  I hope that she will be with me for as long as our Bubba was, a record 14 years of all the bassets we've had.

It's interesting to note that on her special day I also received a box of advance review copies of my fourth Beanie and Cruiser Mystery, BRACED FOR MURDER.  It's been a real doggy day, my favorite kind.