Featured Contestant #6 Buckley

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Dogs Deserve Better

A Basset’s Tale

It all started with an ad on Craig’s List; male basset for sale is all that it said.  A local rescuer, Leslie Crickenberger, who volunteers with the Basset Hound Rescue of Georgia, saw the ad and could not sit by and let this poor, unaltered boy be discarded to another irresponsible owner.  BHRG does not take owner surrenders, so Leslie was going out on a limb here to rescue our boy.  She was able to convince the president of the rescue group to take a chance.  When Leslie contacted the family, they told her that the basset had been living in a 6 x 

6 pen in the backyard for the past year (YES…I said YEAR!) because they had gotten a new English Bulldog puppy that did not get along with him.  Needless to say…the bulldog lived inside.

Hearing this, Leslie jumped in her car and drove to their home.  It was raining extremely hard on this particular day.  She pulled up to their house, and rang the doorbell.  The wife answered the door with the bulldog right behind her…inside, warm, and well taken care of.  When Leslie told her that she was there for the basset, the husband came out and led her to his pen in the backyard.  There he was…soaking wet, covered in mud, and shaking from being so cold.  Leslie didn’t hesitate.  She swept him up in her arms, mud and all, and without 

second guessing placed him in her car.  

Leslie’s first stop was to the vet.  The basset was severely under weight, unaltered, had a double ear infection and they discovered him to be heartworm positive.  With all this to overcome, he ended up having a fairly long stint at the vet.  He was neutered, treated for heartworms and well taken care of.  Once he was ready to be fostered, Leslie and her husband were there to take him in.  Once they got him home it was obvious that he was 

unsure about being inside a house.  He was very shy and even hesitant to cross doorways.  They worked a lot with Buckley, not only with house and crate training, but also on how to trust people again and how to get used to being an inside dog.  

On November 4, 2010 my husband and I attended the annual Basset Bash event.  We were interested in adopting a hound, and had a few we were interested in meeting.  Well, needless to say, we only met one of those bassets.  The first pen we walked up to held this precious, tri-colored male with the sweetest eyes you have ever seen.  My husband leaned over to say hello and our boy jumped up and gave my husband a kiss right on the lips.  Well, it was over right then and there.  Wesley was convinced this was our boy and we did not need to look any farther.  We filled out our paperwork and were able to take him home shortly after.  He came to us with the name of Pilot, but my husband immediately thought he looked more like a “Buckley”.  So, that was it…his new official name was Buckley, and from that day forward his life has been filled with soft beds, lots of hugs and kisses, plenty of food and water, and amount of love that all dogs deserve. 

Shortly after Buckley came to us, we found him to be epileptic. We witnessed his first seizure early one morning when we were getting ready for work.  Having discovered this about him confirmed our feelings that we were meant to have Buckley.  Growing up I had a dog that was severely epileptic.  This provided me with an understanding of the disease that made it easier to handle it when the news came back about our boy.  I also have a keen awareness of what to look for and how to properly handle myself and Buckley during a seizure.  

With my past experience, when we witnessed his first seizure I knew exactly what was going on and how to handle it; my first instinct when he collapsed was to look at the clock so I could time the duration  of the seizure...I would not have known how important that was without my prior experience.  This boy was meant to come to us, not only to make our family complete, but because we were already equipped to provide a dog with 

special needs with a suitable home.  His seizures are few and far between, but no less scary.  Buckley can sense a seizure coming and makes sure that he is right next to his DogDad when it starts.  All seizures he has experienced at our house have started with him secluding himself from us for a few hours (just lying in another room – which is strange for him because he always likes to be right with us), and then right before it starts, he 

finds his DogDad.  Once he reaches him, it is almost immediate that he collapses and begins seizing.  His seizures are currently infrequent, but we are prepared to handle it if his case becomes more severe.  

Buckley had a crummy hand dealt to him at the beginning of this life, but this will not shape how he spends the rest of it.  His new life suits him much better and he is well taken care of in our home.  He is truly a part of our family and we could not imagine our lives without him!

I believe Buckley truly deserves this Lucky Fiona make over.  While he has the life every dog deserves, his life was not always so sweet.  This boy has made a transformation from a cold, wet, scared and dirty hound to a pampered pooch that deserves to have his transformation complete with a Lucky Fiona makeover. 

Below you will find a list of 10 important things we love about Buckley…

10 Important Things We Love About Buckley 

1. His Freckles.  Every freckle on 
Buckley’s body was placed there for 
a reason. I am certain of this, 
because their placement is close to 
perfect.  The number, the 
distribution and color range of 
freckles are fabulous…I am positive 
they do not get better than this.




2. His Sounds.  Buckley’s many sounds 
can be heard throughout the day.  
Imagine a lethargic, floppy, fullgrown basset hound.  
Now imagine
him stretching, rolling over, chasing 
bunnies in his dreams, and yawning 
after naps.  The sounds he makes 
range from high pitched whimpers 
to gurgling growls that are hard to 
describe and can only be 
experienced.  They are magnificent!
3. His Body Temperature. When the 
temperature drops, having a dog 
with a normal body temperature of 
around 100 degrees is better than 
any Snuggie you can buy.  It’s true!

4. His Nose.  While he has a great nose 

for hunting, this is not what I am 
referring to.  We are in love with the 
smell of his nose…yes, the smell.  It 
is intoxicating.  When he comes up 
to you with that wet snout, it is 
almost impossible not to grab it, pull 
it to your nose, and take a great big 
breathe in.  He loves this to, because 
he can sneak a few kisses in 
5. His Floppy Ears.  The signature sign 
of a basset hound…long floppy ears.  
While they are natural collectors of 
scent, they are also the perfect 
accessory for any droopy eyed 
hound.  They are marvelous!

 6. His Infamous “Basset Ball”.  While 
setter’s have the “setter roll” bassets 
have the “basset ball”.  This is a 
sleeping position where they curl up 
in the tightest possible ball.  You can 
even pick him up in this position, set
him down in a new location and he 
will not budge.  We have come to 
love the basset ball!












7. His Belly Button Lint.  Yes…he gets 
it, and every time we collect it, it is 
just as funny as the first time.  It is 
amazing how much lint a basset’s 
belly button can collect in such a 
short amount of time.

8. His Flexibility.  Believe it not this boy 

is quite flexible.  He will lie on the 
ground to chew on a toy and his 
back legs will be in a perfect split 
position.   I have even found him 
drinking water in this similar 
position…he loves it, so naturally, 
we do too.


9. His hunting instinct.  Bassets are 
bred scent hounds that have the 
second strongest nose (behind the 
bloodhound).  Buckley not only has 
an amazing drive to hunt, his 
instinct is spot on.  He knows exactly 
what to do, and he does it well.  We 
have him signed up for a “Fun with 
Nose Work” class in June to further 
his hunting experience. 


10. His Boyish Good Looks.
Do Bassets get more good looking than this?
I don't think so. But don't worry his good 
looks don't go to his head. He is handsome
but the sweetest boy you'll ever meet.
And we love him for that.