Jeakins' Precious Whimpers - In Memory

If a true animal lover you know how hard it is to lose your fur-kid. I have always been told God only loans these wonderful animals to us. I just always wish I could extend my loan on them. We had Precious from the time she was 6 weeks old till she turned 12. She went to the Rainbow Bridge 4 days after she turned 12. She had spent a week in the hospital after developing bloat, which we got under control. Unfortunately she suffered a stroke in her back area and was paralized from the mid-section. Our vet, God love him, is the best and did everything he could for our beloved Precious. I visted her 3 times a day for a week before she finally passed away that Saturday morning. I knew something wasn't right when the girls in the office would not talk to me about her, they just said Dr. would have to call me back. She passed away in her sleep around 5:00am on June 18, 2005. She is know running free of pain and enjoying all the flowers and streams at the Rainbow Bridge. Mommy will always love you and remember you as my first hound dog that started it all. Tell we meet again at the Bridge. Rest In Peace Precious June 14, 1993 - June 18, 2005 HoundDogMom

HoundDog #3 Joins the Family

At one time we had some friends that had a bloodhound, my husband said it would be cool to have a bloodhound sometime. When we will ever learn to never say these things in the presence of a dog lover. This particular day we were headed to a small town where they hold a community sale. Everyone sets their stuff out on the curb of the main street and it is all auctioned off. We were about 20 miles from home headed NorthEast when he stopped and bought me a paper. I love to read the paper and don't like to be disturbed when I do. I was ready the ad section and came across this one that said "FREE" 10 month old bloodhound. I immediately told him and gave me one of those looks, again. We proceeded to our destination, it was a very cold March day, blowing snow and about 20 degrees out. Not a good day for a sale. Of course, we still were behind the times and didn't have a cell phone to call about the FREE puppy. We went to the local Bar and gave the bartendar $2.00 to make call on the ad. The lady informed us that she was abused and already had 4 homes and there was a rescue group person coming out to get her. She said it was first come first serve, basically. I looked at my husband he looked and I looked at him with that look. I told the lady that we were leaving Flanagan and we would call when we got to McLean. This was 40 miles back to Bloomington then another 20 miles to McLean to the South. Well 2 hours later we called and the lady said still nobody had shown up for her and we proceeded with directions. We arrived about 10 minutes later on this farm, a little warmer but still in our carharts. The lady came out and greeted us and then yelled "Tabitha". A few seconds later around the corner came this big red floppy eared long legged "HUGE" puppy. She immediately came over to us, almost knocking me down, smelled us and jumped in the truck. I am sure you no the rest of the story on "Tabitha". Tabitha joined our family on March 19, 1999.

Three HoundDogs - Husband said Enough

Well with three hound dogs in the family, my husband has finally learned to say enough is enough. I have to agree a 3rd dog will presented a lot more work. Also, Tabitha (Tabby for short) came with some left over issues from her abuse. She still had what they call "Threshold Shyness" when we got her. She would not move room to room freely. It actually took 24 hours for her to come back in house after we brought her home. It was so sad and we really wondered if we did the right thing taking her from a farm to a fenced in yard. But, new she wasn't going to be able to stay on the farm no matter what and I did not want her to get in the wrong hands again. We just took it day by day. HoundMom

HoundDog #2 Joins the Family

HoundDog #2 Joins the Family Well I was looking for a male dog to breed our female with and went to meet the potential daddy. Well after meeting them and talking it was discovered that our dogs had the same mother, just a litter a part. A little to close in the genes. Well she just happen to have 2 male puppies from her recent litter that were 3 months old. Of course, my husband doesn't say "NO" to me very often and he was like. If you have to have one, get the black and white one because it looks different then Precious. He then left me with 2 adorable basset hound puppies to choose from. Well I choose the Black/White one because the owner assured me he was the most melo, never barked one of the bunch. So we paid the lady our "blue light" special price and off we went to show him to his new fur-sister, 4-legged brother and Daddy of course. I was very excited because I got my male dog and would hopefully soon be able to breed a litter of basset puppies (another posting to come). Well this new puppy presented some challenges when he first came home. The first thing he did was sit in the middle of the living room and bark consistenly for several hours. Oh, great the one that never barks boy was I suckered and wondered what the other one was like. We also had quite time trying to figure out a name for this little guy with a very loud voice. After several days of study him, watching him our son came up with Elliott. I immediately think why would we name a dog Elliott after a dragon, where is the relationship. My husband is like "NO" he would be named for Elliott Nash "The Detective" because he was always snooping around. I am like "who", the only Elliott I know is the Elliott the Dragon in Pete"s Dragon. My husband gave me one of those looks like "DUH" you are not the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes. Okay, I fully understood the need to name him Elliott after the explanation. His official name was Sir Elliott Jeakins and he was one of the most loving bassets I could have. He had a heart of gold and you could do anything you wanted to him. He and Precious became instant buddies and never missed a step together. Precious as a puppy ate and chewed everything insight. Elliott did none of these things, except bark and take his food bowl to the living room, dump it out in front of the TV and then eat it. Things were going along fine tell one day I read the paper and see HoundDog #3 Joins the Family.

How the Hound Family Began

Well my husband has always been a Basset Hound lover and always wanted one from the time he was a small boy. I grew up with small dogs and we started our family with a toy poodle named Lady. Lady was 13 years old and was failing fast and we so desperatly wanted another dog before she passed. We had been search high and low through the local papers for a basset hound for almost a year. At that time we didn't have a computer or the internet. Well I finally found an ad in the local paper and called immediately. We set a date and time to go view the puppies, which I knew we would be coming home with one. Who can honestly say they can go look at puppies and not come home with one, especially the breed you have longed for. We made the journey to Hudson, IL about 25 minutes from our home in Bloomington, IL. There was a litter of 8 puppies with both mom and dad on the premises. We fell in love with a little female that kept coming up to us. Of course, she was the one we had fell in love with then the owners informed us she had a slight tear on her ear when she was little. She know had a small loop that dangled down on her right ear. We thought it gave her character and said she was not going to be a show dog but a couch potato and love bug. We brought her home that day and all the way home I just kept saying she is so "Precious". Then while she ate her meals she would whimper the whole time. Well that is how she got her official name Jeakins' Precious Whimpers. She was 8 weeks old when we brought her home and she always tripped on her ears. Precious and Lady immediately became friends with Precious soon becoming Lady's eyes and ears in her last year with us. Precious was the only fur-kid for almost a year when I really wanted to get another one, to hopefully breed. Continued in HoundDog #2 Joins the Family........

My 1st Blog Post

Well I have been seening a lot of these blogs on the internet. I have decided to start my own blog today about my three Hound Dogs. I have been the proud of owner of 5 hound dogs in the last 15 years (Precious and Elliott have joined the Rainbow Bridge) I currently am the fur-mom to Tabby - 9 yr old Rescue Bloodhound; Cleo - 3 yr old Rescue Basset Hound; and Winston "HotRod" - 15 mo. old Basset Hound; I am new to the blogging world and just getting starting on starting my blog, so please check back for updates soon. I have lots of great stories that I am sure will bring a smile to anyone's face, plus they will think I am totally insane for still having three hound dogs. HoundDogMom