Dog Blog

Thursday, February 28, 2019

Peaches, 2019

Peaches is the record holder for our longest-lived basset hound.  In June, she’ll be 16 years old.  We are amazed!  That’s very rare for a basset.  The only other one we had that lived beyond 12 years was Bubba Gump, who was 14.  Ten to twelve years is the average lifespan for this breed.  Peaches has kidney issues now and makes piddle mistakes in the house, something she has never done her whole life.  However, she’s on a special renal diet and seems to be doing well thus far.  That, plus plenty of fresh water on hand at all times.  I feed her the Royal Canin renal canned and dry with a bit of Just Food for Dogs renal on top which she loves.  It is all fresh and just slightly cooked (I would never feed my dog raw because of Salmonella and other contamination risks).  JFFD is rather costly at $7.99 a package, so I supplement her other food with it.  Peachy’s always been a picky eater, but she really likes her new special diet. I also give her an herbal supplement for her kidney problems. She looks really good for her age and still likes to take her walks, though not as far as she used to.  We just let our old girl do what she wants, which is mostly sitting out on the front lawn watching other dogs and barking at them as they pass.  Her favorite is a big, black lab named Ocean.  She always does a little dance whenever he visits.  He leaves her a pee mail, and she answers with her own.  She sleeps a lot, like most old dogs (and people) do.  I just hope she decides to stay with us a good while longer and her quality of life continues to be good.  Her presence is precious to me and always a comfort. I am so glad she was still with me for my long-awaited Maxwell Award win because my bassets have been my inspiration for writing the Beanie and Cruiser mysteries all these years.  They have helped me fulfill my doggy destiny.  I’m also glad that Peaches and my sweet Beau grace the book cover of “Ears for Murder.”  This one is for them.

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