Day One: Ruby isn't sure about this guy - he needs to stay in the living room...
"I'm not looking at you," they both say to each other.
Here's Wilson! Look at that handsome devil. He says, "This is what a real beagle x basset hound looks like!"
You can't see her head, but Ruby is making sure Wilson doesn't get her bone.
Day three: now Ruby is watching Wilson chew on her bone.
Day Four: Ruby is sleeping on Wilson.
Day Four: More watching.
And finally, Ruby decides to give Wilson a kiss.
A couple of weeks ago we dog-sat for our friends dog Wilson. Wilson is a real beagle basset mix (not a total potpourri of breeds like Ruby). Wilson is extremely sweet and soulful and was the perfect house guest. At first Ruby wouldn't let him leave the living room (there was no barking or growling, Ruby just stood in his way any time he tried to go down the hall). But after a few days she really warmed up to him and he was given full permission to roam the house and yard.
At first he was such a good house guest that I started thinking, "hmm, what a good dog. Maybe I should look for a beagle basset mix to keep Ruby company." But Ruby kept getting more and more enamored of Wilson until the last two days they would spontaneous break out into neck chewing sessions in the evening or how full blown chase games up and down the hall which is all fine and dandy until Ruby accidentally knocks down JoJo while she's chasing Wilson and then Ruby accidentally chews on Lucy's foot while she is chewing on Wilson's neck under the coffee table. You see how it is - Ruby's enthusiasm for Wilson overwhelmed her good sense.
Lucky for all of us, her craziness help eliminate my craziness of considering getting another dog. The anti-dog-bite book, "Living with Kids and Dogs" analyzes the dog bite statistics and finds that families with two dogs living together are more likely to have kids bitten than families with just one dog (there are many other interesting statistics and good advice in the book). I think this is because with more than one dog you are more likely to get caught in the middle of the dogs fighting over something or inadvertently get knocked down or bitten in the middle of dog horse play.
Anyway, we had a great time dog sitting Wilson and the whole family loved him. Even our elderly cat ignored him. Even Mitch (who isn't always the biggest fan of adding to the chaos with more animals) loved Wilson and said he could come visit any time.
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