LOWDOWN Winter 2016 page 3
The Editor’s Bark! woof! woof! woof!
Welcome to this winter 2016/17 issue of BHOC’s Lowdown.
Firstly, I should apologise for this slightly leaner newsletter. The last six months, or so, have been incredibly hectic - which I won’t bore you by describing, but simply say spare time to devote to this publication has been in short supply. So in advance I ask forgiveness for serving-up to you such thin gruel.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to attend all the Club walks; and some others have not been fully reported upon.
Also, dear Jean Miller who writes walk reports has been unable to attend many of our ‘meets’, due to undergoing a knee replacement. Unfortunately, while still recovering and unsteady, she slipped on wet ground at the Sullington Warren walk. This unlucky episode resulted in a stay in a nursing home. Jean bore all this with her usual stoical good grace and we all hope for her complete recovery.
Our own old boy, Pablo, now in his twelfth year, has also been in the wars.
Though deciding he was too old for any major surgery, we did decide to get some undetermined lumps removed from his tail, body, and ear.
We had been concerned that a sore at the very tip of his tail was refusing to heal, even though he had been on a regime of antibiotics and regular saltwater bathing. Occasional he nibbled it and bashed it against walls when wagging it. This had repeatedly re-opened the wound, leaving blood splashed everywhere. Our house looked as though we shared it with some serial killer, who brought his work home.
I know that tail injuries are notoriously hard to treat and we experimented with several increasingly inventive solutions to protect the tip from getting continually bashed. Even sponge pipe-lagging over a bandage was tried, but to no lasting effect.
Veterinary advice was to have the tail removed. Pablo looked set to join the Harry Sinclair para-Basset gang. However, we asked our vet to only amputate as much of the tail as was absolutely to remove the sore. This he did and took off about a third of the tail. Old Pablo survived the procedure, but we were still left with the problem of how to protect the wound until it had properly healed.
A young, fresh-faced, locum, who saw Pablo on a follow-up visit, modified a syringe - cutting off the needle end and removing the plunger, then taping this on the remaining tail tip. This bit of invention worked really well for the few weeks it took to heal. When home, I further ‘improved’ the design by drilling a series of ventilation holes around the syringe’s plastic barrel.
Anyway, now it has healed and the fur has regrown, only a breed enthusiast would notice anything odd about this short-tailed Basset Hound.
He is still quite fit and enjoys his walks, so we hope the weeks of discomfort and inconvenience has been worth it for him. He has worn his Dutch collar more often than Van Dyke - that’s Sir Anthony, not Dick!
To add to this litany of woe, Frankie also needed to trouble the medical profession by requiring an operation on her poor hand.
This had caused her trouble for some time. Her thumb joint had become increasingly painful because of arthritis, and made gripping and lifting objects almost impossible. As well as holding back eager hounds on leads.
‘Age shall not wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety.’
Anyway, the solution was to have some cartilage removed from her wrist and inserted into the cleaned-out thumb joint.
For several painful weeks following the operation she was in plaster, and later had to wear a supportive neoprene and metal brace.
Thankfully, her hand is now healing nicely, though she will never play Rachmaninoff again.
And anyway, if she did, she would lose.
So, the Christmas season is once again upon us.
Our Club Christmas lunch has taken place (full report and photos in the next issue) and preparations are well under way for the big day itself. No doubt, our plastic cards have taken a beating and our good opinion of our fellow man has been reinforced by being a part of the shopping hoards.
By the way, doesn’t the new fiver feel odd - seeming like something out of a game of Monopoly.
Though 2016 has had some good bits, I will not be too unhappy to see the back of it, but I’m quite looking forward to Christmas, the New Year, and all it holds.
I’ll haul out the plastic tree - with its one-winged fairy with her bent wand out of its enforced purdah; wrestle the turkey into the oven; and look forward to Johnnie Walker’s seasonal visit.
By far the best bit will be, whatever the weather, taking a crisp, early morning, Christmas Day walk on the Downs with Frankie and ‘the boys’. And afterwards, spending a lazy day in front of the roaring wood burner - Pablo and Nico contentedly snoring at my feet.
Equally, I do hope that you all enjoy similar good times with your hounds, and I eagerly look forward to seeing you all on our Club ‘meets’ next year.
With this in mind, I invite you to promptly renew your subscriptions for 2017.
Please don’t be tempted to Brexit the Basset Hound Owners Club - we trump all others! 
editor@bassethoundowners.org.uk
Welcome to this winter 2016/17 issue of BHOC’s Lowdown.
Firstly, I should apologise for this slightly leaner newsletter. The last six months, or so, have been incredibly hectic - which I won’t bore you by describing, but simply say spare time to devote to this publication has been in short supply. So in advance I ask forgiveness for serving-up to you such thin gruel.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to attend all the Club walks; and some others have not been fully reported upon.
Also, dear Jean Miller who writes walk reports has been unable to attend many of our ‘meets’, due to undergoing a knee replacement. Unfortunately, while still recovering and unsteady, she slipped on wet ground at the Sullington Warren walk. This unlucky episode resulted in a stay in a nursing home. Jean bore all this with her usual stoical good grace and we all hope for her complete recovery.
Our own old boy, Pablo, now in his twelfth year, has also been in the wars.
Though deciding he was too old for any major surgery, we did decide to get some undetermined lumps removed from his tail, body, and ear.
We had been concerned that a sore at the very tip of his tail was refusing to heal, even though he had been on a regime of antibiotics and regular saltwater bathing. Occasional he nibbled it and bashed it against walls when wagging it. This had repeatedly re-opened the wound, leaving blood splashed everywhere. Our house looked as though we shared it with some serial killer, who brought his work home.
I know that tail injuries are notoriously hard to treat and we experimented with several increasingly inventive solutions to protect the tip from getting continually bashed. Even sponge pipe-lagging over a bandage was tried, but to no lasting effect.
Veterinary advice was to have the tail removed. Pablo looked set to join the Harry Sinclair para-Basset gang. However, we asked our vet to only amputate as much of the tail as was absolutely to remove the sore. This he did and took off about a third of the tail. Old Pablo survived the procedure, but we were still left with the problem of how to protect the wound until it had properly healed.
A young, fresh-faced, locum, who saw Pablo on a follow-up visit, modified a syringe - cutting off the needle end and removing the plunger, then taping this on the remaining tail tip. This bit of invention worked really well for the few weeks it took to heal. When home, I further ‘improved’ the design by drilling a series of ventilation holes around the syringe’s plastic barrel.
Anyway, now it has healed and the fur has regrown, only a breed enthusiast would notice anything odd about this short-tailed Basset Hound.
He is still quite fit and enjoys his walks, so we hope the weeks of discomfort and inconvenience has been worth it for him. He has worn his Dutch collar more often than Van Dyke - that’s Sir Anthony, not Dick!
To add to this litany of woe, Frankie also needed to trouble the medical profession by requiring an operation on her poor hand.
This had caused her trouble for some time. Her thumb joint had become increasingly painful because of arthritis, and made gripping and lifting objects almost impossible. As well as holding back eager hounds on leads.
‘Age shall not wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety.’
Anyway, the solution was to have some cartilage removed from her wrist and inserted into the cleaned-out thumb joint.
For several painful weeks following the operation she was in plaster, and later had to wear a supportive neoprene and metal brace.
Thankfully, her hand is now healing nicely, though she will never play Rachmaninoff again.
And anyway, if she did, she would lose.
So, the Christmas season is once again upon us.
Our Club Christmas lunch has taken place (full report and photos in the next issue) and preparations are well under way for the big day itself. No doubt, our plastic cards have taken a beating and our good opinion of our fellow man has been reinforced by being a part of the shopping hoards.
By the way, doesn’t the new fiver feel odd - seeming like something out of a game of Monopoly.
Though 2016 has had some good bits, I will not be too unhappy to see the back of it, but I’m quite looking forward to Christmas, the New Year, and all it holds.
I’ll haul out the plastic tree - with its one-winged fairy with her bent wand out of its enforced purdah; wrestle the turkey into the oven; and look forward to Johnnie Walker’s seasonal visit.
By far the best bit will be, whatever the weather, taking a crisp, early morning, Christmas Day walk on the Downs with Frankie and ‘the boys’. And afterwards, spending a lazy day in front of the roaring wood burner - Pablo and Nico contentedly snoring at my feet.
Equally, I do hope that you all enjoy similar good times with your hounds, and I eagerly look forward to seeing you all on our Club ‘meets’ next year.
With this in mind, I invite you to promptly renew your subscriptions for 2017.
Please don’t be tempted to Brexit the Basset Hound Owners Club - we trump all others!
editor@bassethoundowners.org.uk
Welcome to this winter 2016/17 issue of BHOC’s Lowdown.
Firstly, I should apologise for this slightly leaner newsletter. The last six months, or so, have been incredibly hectic - which I won’t bore you by describing, but simply say spare time to devote to this publication has been in short supply. So in advance I ask forgiveness for serving-up to you such thin gruel.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to attend all the Club walks; and some others have not been fully reported upon.
Also, dear Jean Miller who writes walk reports has been unable to attend many of our ‘meets’, due to undergoing a knee replacement. Unfortunately, while still recovering and unsteady, she slipped on wet ground at the Sullington Warren walk. This unlucky episode resulted in a stay in a nursing home. Jean bore all this with her usual stoical good grace and we all hope for her complete recovery.
Our own old boy, Pablo, now in his twelfth year, has also been in the wars.
Though deciding he was too old for any major surgery, we did decide to get some undetermined lumps removed from his tail, body, and ear.
We had been concerned that a sore at the very tip of his tail was refusing to heal, even though he had been on a regime of antibiotics and regular saltwater bathing. Occasional he nibbled it and bashed it against walls when wagging it. This had repeatedly re-opened the wound, leaving blood splashed everywhere. Our house looked as though we shared it with some serial killer, who brought his work home.
I know that tail injuries are notoriously hard to treat and we experimented with several increasingly inventive solutions to protect the tip from getting continually bashed. Even sponge pipe-lagging over a bandage was tried, but to no lasting effect.
Veterinary advice was to have the tail removed. Pablo looked set to join the Harry Sinclair para-Basset gang. However, we asked our vet to only amputate as much of the tail as was absolutely to remove the sore. This he did and took off about a third of the tail. Old Pablo survived the procedure, but we were still left with the problem of how to protect the wound until it had properly healed.
A young, fresh-faced, locum, who saw Pablo on a follow-up visit, modified a syringe - cutting off the needle end and removing the plunger, then taping this on the remaining tail tip. This bit of invention worked really well for the few weeks it took to heal. When home, I further ‘improved’ the design by drilling a series of ventilation holes around the syringe’s plastic barrel.
Anyway, now it has healed and the fur has regrown, only a breed enthusiast would notice anything odd about this short-tailed Basset Hound.
He is still quite fit and enjoys his walks, so we hope the weeks of discomfort and inconvenience has been worth it for him. He has worn his Dutch collar more often than Van Dyke - that’s Sir Anthony, not Dick!
To add to this litany of woe, Frankie also needed to trouble the medical profession by requiring an operation on her poor hand.
This had caused her trouble for some time. Her thumb joint had become increasingly painful because of arthritis, and made gripping and lifting objects almost impossible. As well as holding back eager hounds on leads.
‘Age shall not wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety.’
Anyway, the solution was to have some cartilage removed from her wrist and inserted into the cleaned-out thumb joint.
For several painful weeks following the operation she was in plaster, and later had to wear a supportive neoprene and metal brace.
Thankfully, her hand is now healing nicely, though she will never play Rachmaninoff again.
And anyway, if she did, she would lose.
So, the Christmas season is once again upon us.
Our Club Christmas lunch has taken place (full report and photos in the next issue) and preparations are well under way for the big day itself. No doubt, our plastic cards have taken a beating and our good opinion of our fellow man has been reinforced by being a part of the shopping hoards.
By the way, doesn’t the new fiver feel odd - seeming like something out of a game of Monopoly.
Though 2016 has had some good bits, I will not be too unhappy to see the back of it, but I’m quite looking forward to Christmas, the New Year, and all it holds.
I’ll haul out the plastic tree - with its one-winged fairy with her bent wand out of its enforced purdah; wrestle the turkey into the oven; and look forward to Johnnie Walker’s seasonal visit.
By far the best bit will be, whatever the weather, taking a crisp, early morning, Christmas Day walk on the Downs with Frankie and ‘the boys’. And afterwards, spending a lazy day in front of the roaring wood burner - Pablo and Nico contentedly snoring at my feet.
Equally, I do hope that you all enjoy similar good times with your hounds, and I eagerly look forward to seeing you all on our Club ‘meets’ next year.
With this in mind, I invite you to promptly renew your subscriptions for 2017.
Please don’t be tempted to Brexit the Basset Hound Owners Club - we trump all others!
editor@bassethoundowners.org.uk
