Goodbye Dear Brown Hound

We are so sad to have to tell you that yesterday afternoon, our beloved basset hound Brownie, died. Brownie had been sick for nearly six weeks and after a very poor prognosis from the vet, we made the unimaginably difficult decision to put Brownie to sleep. What made Brownie so sick is still a mystery. The vet did determine that he had a parasite (which we cleared up), but he also had what we think may have been a spinal disease, causing him difficulty to walk, go to the bathroom, severe weight loss and extreme pain. Brownie was 3 1/2 years old.

We adopted Brownie about two and a half years ago while we were living in Virginia. We wanted a playmate for Bullit and happened to find an almost identical match from a local basset hound rescue organization. From the moment we met him, Brownie was a ball of energy. When we took Bullit to meet him, the two chased each other and barked like they had been friends forever.

Brownie had a really sweet disposition. We called him our needy dog because he always wanted to be as close as possible to us when we were on the couch or in the bed. We joked that he would have climbed on our head if he could have! Brownie had a very distinct personality. He was quick, agile and crafty. Of our two bassets, Brownie was the only one able to jump onto our bed and surf the edges of our kitchen counters. On more than one occasion, we came home to find the trash knocked over and its contents pillaged. One time in particular, we had just cleaned out the leftovers from our fridge... Brownie looked like he had eaten Thanksgiving dinner! Brownie had his fair share of shoes, underwear, chicken breasts, tissues and other household delicacies. We are still apologizing to some friends of ours who watched Brownie for the weekend-- he ate a pair of wedding shoes and some expensive make-up. Brownie was also known for his sneakiness. When Bullit was chewing on a bone that Brownie wanted, he would create a distraction, such as barking at the front door, Bullit would abandon his bone and Brownie would swoop in for the retrieval. Bullit didn't even know what hit him. We always said that Brownie had the brains in that relationship!

We all will miss Brownie dearly. Bullit has lost a great friend, accomplice and playmate. Jason and I have lost a loving companion and sweet little hound dog who would have been great with Evan. We know that Brownie is in a far better place now-- he's fat and happy, and his tail is finally wagging again.