Ode to a hound dog

Friday was a very sad, sad day in the McCoy household. Our beloved Basset Hound, Lucy went on to that big belly rub in the sky after 12 amazing years of life. We were blessed to adopt Lucy over five years ago from the Nebraska Humane Society to join our family. At the time, it was just Kim, Steve, and Daisy as a puppy. Lucy went on to be one of the world's best dogs and we absolutely loved this little red head. She was notorious for her signature moves, the "high stepper", the "butt scratcher", and the "Daisy humper". Over the years, poor Lucy's health eventually started to decline. Unfortunately, like all older dogs, her quality of life started to go downhill too. One thing about Lucy, though. She was same old Lulu to the very end.

We'll always love you and we're going to miss you so much Lucy. You were a wonderful pet and companion.

Love,

The McCoy Family

Here are some of our favorite Lucy memories:

The first day we brought Lucy home. She obviously made herself feel right at home.

The ever vigilant guard dog.

Lucy in the tub with diamonds.

Daisy's birthday party. Can you tell how excited she was?

Typical Lucy pose.

She sure loved her momma!

Steve loving on Lucy.

Sleepy sisters.

"I feel ridiculous."

Trotting away in the snow.

We love you Lucy!

"Lucy! You got some splainin' to do!"

The three of us left the house for 15 minutes the other evening just to pick up some dinner and bring it home. When we pulled into the driveway Kim yelled two things at me, "Look at the window!" and "There's a fly in the house." The later corresponds with a scenario in which our older dog Lucy is left alone in the house, with a big fly. That combination has the tendency to produce some disastrous results about once a year. This time she chased a fly into Ben's room where it must have gotten between the Venetian blinds and the window. Of course Lucy, like every Bassett Hound, is a trained insect assassin so she proceeds to munch her way through the vinyl blinds until the fly is no more. As you can see from the photos, she managed to destroy her third set of window treatments in our house since we adopted her mangy butt from the Humane Society in 2006. Don't worry about Lucy, the blood is typical with her old gums and she wasn't hurt. Well, not until I got a hold of her. In all reality, we love Lucy to death; and the blinds...well that's just one of those things that happens in a household like ours. I think they were only like $25 in the first place.

Severe Weather = Green Lawn

Spring and Summer severe weather is nothing to take lightly in Nebraska. But for some deranged reason, I enjoy it. Partially because it is amazing to think about the shear amounts of energy and power that is out of man's control, and partially because it means I don't have to water my lawn. Don't get me wrong, I don't wish for the damage it can cause, but the deluge it brings with it is most desirable.

It's difficult to maintain a lush green carpet in our backyard with Daisy and Lucy's big clod-hoppin feet trampling it all the time. That's why I've really enjoyed watching it this year as the torrential rain has kept my yard looking well manicured (assuming I keep mowing it).

(The white spots are Daisy's toys or bones.)

A few new pictures of Ben

Here's some new shots we wanted to share with everyone of our adorable little man.

Mohawk Ben gets a ride.

It's a little washed out by the flash, but I thought he looked cute here (and so old).

Ben shows Daisey he doesn't know the meaning of invading one's personal space.

He'll do anything to win their approval.

"Heeeeere's Gus"

Kim's brother Jay was out of town this last weekend, so Kim graciously volunteered us to watch Jay's dog, Gus. Gus is a Basset Hound like our two dogs. But he is also very different. Kim's dad calls him "BlunderGus". This dog is the cutest and sweetest looking Basset you'll ever see, unfortunately he's got no couth, as my late grandmother would say.

The screen door to our back yard already had a few small tears in it from Gus scratching at it in months past. No big deal. It still worked fine and very few bugs were able to find the tiny openings to our living room through them. Well, on Sunday Gus decided to make on of the tiny holes a lot bigger by placing his entire giant snout through one ripping it open just enough to get his big head in the hole, ala The Shining.

The hole.

Lucy and Gus doing what Bassets do best.