Lily and Suzy Q

                                     Lily and Suzie Q on their couch

 Lily

Lily and Suzy “Q” 

       Mid February I pulled the car out of my driveway and headed to Jackson to meet with two Bassets, Lily and Suzy “Q”, owned by Mark Johnson and Kathy Dubois, the subjects of this month’s interview. The house the pair resides in is easily recognizable. It’s the house with a graveyard as its front yard. They live on Church Street in Jackson across from the cemetery. 

       Walking among the tombstones up to the front door I could see two Basset faces staring outside through the front window. Bassets are pretty low to the ground and need a perch to see anything over two feet tall. While their height may be short their personalities are not. Lily came running to the door as fast as her four little legs could carry her while Suzy “Q” just stared at me as she was sizing me up as friend or foe.

        After the introductions were over, Suzy “Q” made up her mind that I was indeed a dog person and okay to be in the house. In the meantime Lily, according to Mark, never the shy one, was ready to make friends. She sniffed my coat and smelled the scent of my four dogs and figured I was a dog person. Once she made the decision she wanted all my attention while Suzy “Q” just sat on the couch content to sleep with one eye open just in case I had a treat.

        These two have been together almost since birth. They are products of a puppy mill near Redding California. They were rescued in April 2010 by the couple via Golden Gate Basset Rescue in Petaluma. Mark who has had dogs pretty much his whole life now has the two Bassets.  During the past year he has had two dogs pass away so now they are down to the two.

         When they rescued Suzy “Q” and Lily, Lily had a cleft paw, most likely the result of inbreeding at the mill. Lily was set to be destroyed at one point because of her paw. Mark indicated that when they saw her she walked with a definite lean to one side with most of her weight on her other paw.

         Mark and Kathy saw the two together and it was love at first sight. They paid to have surgery on Lily’s paw before bringing her home and today she has a minor deformity however it’s not very noticeable.

          When people think of Bassets the image of very sedentary animals comes to mind. Contrary to this image Lily and Suzy “Q” are best friends who run around and spend most of their time together. The couple takes them to doggie day care three times a week so they can run with other dogs.  They love the outing, but are always ready to come home to their couch where they have a full view of the room and the outdoors.

            Mark and Kathy live close to Jackson Elementary school, so each weekday around 2 PM the dogs enjoy watching parents load their children into the cars after class. If not watching the school kids, they enjoy the run of a nice size back yard. What makes their backyard unique is that among the grass there is a ton of granite (literally). The granite that was left by the previous owner is partially polished and was to be placed on graves of people that have long since passed away. The granite they inherited as part of the purchase of the property.

        By the time we finished the interview and headed into the backyard Lily rushed out the back door and Suzy “Q” decided she didn’t want to be left out so she came running out the screen door and joined us for our tour. Both girls ran among the granite that was at one time to be shaped into memorials of someone’s life. As I left I came to realize that the stereotypical image of a Basset being sedentary is indeed a myth. These dogs love to run and play as much as any other breed. Lily, to her credit after her surgery, can keep up with Suzy “Q” every step of the way. These days like their whole life they are inseparable. They hopped up on the brown couch below the front window they share and said good bye with their tails wagging as I walked out the door and headed upcountry