BA: Ottis The Basset Hound, RIP

Brent Andrews: have shared many stories of Ottis the Basset hound here. She’s the impossible, and impossibly cute dog who would roll in “human” to hide her scent, who would attack her sister Basset at the slightest provocation, who would run off into the woods at the slightest chance and stay gone for hours and hours … well she died this week after 12 years of the most loyal service. We got her at six weeks old. She moved with us to Idaho and back to Tennessee. She tried our patience many times, escaping, chasing every scent like it was the last one and pulling on her leash like crazy everywhere we went. Full comment below .

Question: Describe the best dog you ever owned?

I have shared many stories of Ottis the Basset hound here. She’s the impossible, and impossibly cute dog who would roll in “human” to hide her scent, who would attack her sister Basset at the slightest provocation, who would run off into the woods at the slightest chance and stay gone for hours and hours … well she died this week after 12 years of the most loyal service. We got her at six weeks old. She moved with us to Idaho and back to Tennessee. She tried our patience many times, escaping, chasing every scent like it was the last one and pulling on her leash like crazy everywhere we went. She could never get close enough to her humans. She would get on your lap and drape herself over you like a cat. She had a deep, resounding bark, a bane to the neighbors but a joy to hear as she followed a scent through the woods. On a scent, her slobbers would stretch several inches long and drag the dirty ground, the better to collect smells with, and when she returned her whole head would sometimes be covered in muddy slime. She had more heart than any other animal I’ve known - she’d run up on dogs three times her size and command respect. She was so tough you could step on her foot or her tail as I accidentally did many times and she’d never utter a squeak. She had an incredibly high tolerance for pain, yet she’d growl and pretend she was going to bite me if I just said “Ottis, do you have a tick?” and tickled her soft pink stomach. She loomed large in our lives for so long. Her passing leaves a big hole in our hearts