Xena

Favorite things about your Basset (i.e., goofy grin, silly bark/howl, counter-surfer):
Xena is a love bug. She wakes you every day with a thousand kisses. She needs hugs sometimes throughout the day. She’s just full of love. She has a goofy streak too. She can run like the wind and zooms around the house like a dog possessed.

Challenges you faced and overcame:
She couldn’t be kept in a crate. If she smelled food anywhere in the house and she couldn’t get to it, she would howl and scream and make all manner of unhappy noises. We live in a condo and we couldn’t have that at 4:30am. We eliminated the crate completely and the issue went away. She’s potty trained and so far hasn’t destroyed anything at all, so it hasn’t been a big deal. She has a pretty big fear of strangers and we’re working on that, too. How do other people and animals react to your Basset? Everyone thinks she’s adorable. So many people wanna pet her and love her. She, of course, wants none of this. She’s content to sit and observe people at a distance.

What do you like to do with your Basset?
We take pretty long walks every day. We’ve been to the local parks. She enjoys being outside with us. She’s VERY good at fetch. We love to teach her things. She’s already learned sit, stay, give me your paw, lay down, come and she will sit and wait for her food until you tell her it’s okay to come and get it. She loves to sleep in bed with us and she’ll wag her tail like a crazy dog if you wake up and smile at her.