arooh!...

When people find out that we own Bassets they almost always ask, "oh? Do they bay?" What they really are saying is, "Thank God we don't live next door to you because my cousin/uncle/hairdresser
/mailman lived next to a Basset once and that thing never shut up".

Well, let's be honest: Bassets are not known for their skills at remaining demure and not speaking until spoken to. There are any number of YouTube vids showing Bassets barking and stuff, but baying is really more of a Beagle thing. Bassets do more of an AROOH! thing. Beagles are cute and all, but they lack the all-important qualities that Bassets have. Like long, velvety ears, and mellow dispositions. I don't mean to offend any Beagle owners out there, but if you want a low dog that looks like a Basset, why not just go all the way? Sheesh.

Bassets are slated for world domination, anyway, so you might as well just suck it up now.

Anyhoo, I digress. In answer to those, "oh, do they bay" people, we respond, honestly, "No." They do Arooh, and ours only do it when they're playing. Or when you're the first one home (by the time the second owner comes home, they've shot their wad, so to speak, and merely bark at you). Oh, and when Toula gets her bark on, Molly usually responds with an Arooh. So, that's three times.

Did I mention our next door neighbors are a retired couple who are hearing impaired? Sometimes you just get lucky.

So, last night we were watching a Tivo'd episode of the Kennedy Center Honors so that I could watch them honor my desert-island boyfriend, Steve Martin, who, while I wasn't looking, went off and crushed my soul by marrying some other gal who is apparently 'brilliant' and 'nice' and 'kind' and 'top in her field' in publishing. Whatever. If he'd met me and my lowdogs, he totally would have reconsidered. But I digress, again. In the middle of watching it Toula decided to start barking at Molly who responded in kind by aroohing. I didn't mind that they interrupted Steve's banjo 'ing because Tivo lets you pause the play, thank God.

Can't you just hear the love? Toula in the background gave it her all, but she's not as talented in the Arooh department as Molly.

This is so much better than that plain-vanilla 'baying'.