Benji was a rescue at four years old. He had been abandoned in kennels when his owners moved to Europe. They were going to come back for him then changed their minds. When the vets got his old notes through, it turns out they had thought of removing him several times before because they thought he was 'difficult ' and 'aggressive '. So they had no intention of coming back for him in the first place.
It makes me really angry.
When the vets delved further into the notes, it was truly horrifying. The previous owners bought him from a puppy farm, obviously knew nothing about the breed, and kept asking the vets 'why is he behaving like this? ', 'Is this normal? '
He arrived into our lives a week after our old boy Barney had been put to sleep. We were devastated and decided we would wait a while until we got another dog. Then the vets called my husband and told my husband about Benji saying 'We know it's a bit soon after Barney but we were asked if we knew of any experienced Basset owners and thought of you guys........'
And what would be the harm in just looking?
So we went to visit, he came straight home with us (purely on a trial basis! ) and never left!
He's just turned 11 and is the best behaved Basset we've ever had! There's not an aggressive bone in his body, he's an absolute poppet, loves everyone, rarely barks or howls, and is incredibly easy going.
He's also a sneaky little escape artist, as are all bassets, and is a food ninja. If you can't see him or hear him then assume he's up to mischief! He can be stubborn, independently minded, and unusually for a Basset very fussy about what he eats for his breakfast and dinner. He'll happily scavenge through the bin and eat crap but not his food! We're forever changing his food brand! Fussy little git!
I just think his previous owners had no idea what they were letting themselves in for with either a dog or a Basset. When we collected him he arrived with a dog crate and had been used to spending all day crated. Now he has full run of the place.
His paws were so soft and tender where he hadn't been walked, we had to be very careful where and how long we walked him for until his pads hardened up.
He doesn't know how to play with toys, and even though we've tried to teach him with a ball he just looks terribly confused at why we're throwing things at him! He has a couple of soft toys that we try to encourage him to mouth on however he's not interested and just doesn't understand the concept of play.
He's very good at playing with other dogs though.
Sorry, I've given a complete biography of Benji
Sunshine, Dogs and newly dug holes - they just love them don't they?
