Adopting an old hound.

[Scarlett_O']

We used those...umm...leg slings, to pick up her back end and help Clara climb up stairs.

[Caty M]

OMG.......Caty.....you HAVE TO GET HER!!!!

Im in tears right now!! She looks like our Clara Belle that I grew up with!!!

She is SOOO cute!!!

LOL I know.. the bf is less than enthused though because he thinks it will be baying all the time- I'm sure it's not that bad, LOL.

She just looks sweet. I'm sure with a good diet and some slimming down that she will do great- being overweight can't be good for her bad hips.

[Caty M]

There are stairs going down as well from the back door to the backyard. Maybe I should look at a breed without a long back..

[Scarlett_O']

LOL I know.. the bf is less than enthused though because he thinks it will be baying all the time- I'm sure it's not that bad, LOL.

She just looks sweet. I'm sure with a good diet and some slimming down that she will do great- being overweight can't be good for her bad hips.

C.B. didnt bay all the time...only when she knew someone was at the door, or when the cat would annoy her(she had the cat trained!LOL)

And she could climb the stairs well(if given a LONG time to do so)until the cancer hit her when she was 12. Before then she was perfectly fine with stairs(as long as we gave her the time she needed!!)

[xellil]

There are stairs going down as well from the back door to the backyard. Maybe I should look at a breed without a long back..

back door to back yard is very easy - get a board and make a ramp. We have very high stairs in the back and my husband made a ramp in about 10 minutes.

There was a bassett named Fred at our dog park. He was one of the very few dogs that made me want to run out and get my own - extremely calm, friendly, loved everyone. He liked to hump, but would get to that point in such slow motion he wasn't really a threat to anyone.

[xellil]

Here is Snorkels on her ramp - it's not winning any beauty contests, it just wood with an outdoor kind of grippy carpet on it, but it's very functional:



Oh, and the side rails are so she doesn't fall off. Without them, she did.

[GoingPostal]

It's probably awful for her, but my boyfriends family has an old basset that goes up and down their stairs, and jumps on stuff. She's older than 10 and massively overweight as well. I'm talking like an 80 pound basset. If she's fine by herself you could always let her stay downstairs, my oldest female has a bum knee and I don't want her going upstairs so she sleeps in the living room instead.

[Caty M]

Well I am going to set up a home visit (after we move). What are the sorts of things they look for? I've never had one before.

[xellil]

Well I am going to set up a home visit (after we move). What are the sorts of things they look for? I've never had one before.

That's so exciting!

Really, if they are doing a home visit your application looks good and they are just getting to know you and making sure there aren't any giant red flags. At least for the home visits I've done, that's how it's been.