Our New Dog, Basil the Beagle Mix
Meet the newest edition to our family, Basil, a beagle and basset hound mix!
Josh and James surprised me Saturday morning with a call from James’s school. They were at the yearly Fall Fest event and one of the vendors was a dog rescue group. After a brief call and some back and forth texting, I told Josh to go for it and to adopt this fellow. What made up my mind was watching a little video of James walking Basil on a leash–as you can see below, he is extremely rotund, and he waddles more than walks!
Josh instantly started him on a reduced calorie diet with a majority of cooked green beans, carrots, beats, or kale along with a portion of healthy dog food without fillers like corn and soy. Within a few days I noticed a difference in Basil; he was happier, moved around so much more, and he actually could run!
Well, it was more of a waddle-lope, but it’s definitely progress:
We lost our greyhound, Jinjo, in 2010. The memory of losing Jinjo is still painful for both Josh and myself, and it’s hard to even link to the post about her loss.
Basil is similar to Jinjo in many ways, although clearly not in weight! They are both very laid back, low maintenance dogs, and they both sleep and lie around for the majority of the day.
Basil has nearly one acre, completely fenced in, to explore and go on scent hunts. And James has made it a routine every evening to give him a run before he gets his dinner.
So that’s it about our new dog! He is an older dog at eight years old, just as Jinjo was when we adopted her at five. We hope to enjoy many years with him just as we did with Jinjo.
Leah
It is wonderful that your family has a new member and Basil has a great new home.
Congratulations to all of you! He looks like a great addition to the family and the video is priceless. Seeing an older dog get adopted is wonderful, thank you.
Cute dog. Did Josh come up with that diet on his own, or can I find it online? Our beagle Flip needs some help, too. Linda@Wetcreek Blog
This is awesome news, Leah. Basil is so cute. Congratulations and THANK YOU for rescuing, especially an older dog!!
That is so nice of you to adopt a senior dog. Basil looks great and he clearly enjoys running after your son. Cute dog and cute kid.
Oh how fun! I love beagles – he is sure to keep you entertained!
How wonderful! I'm a firm believer and actual adoptee too! Our most recent is a 3 yr old Bichon. Your little one is adorable. Look forward to many posts about him! Oh…I got sidetracked last night after watching your post on using rulers on domestic machine and I ended up going to Amy's blog so never got back to leave you a comment! Thanks for that post too!!!
That's so great. I love his name, Basil.
It looks like Basil PICKED James…they have clearly bonded! Win Win. Basil found what he needed – a loving family. Congratulations.
Congrats on Basil. It's been a year since I lost my lab Hailey, I'm so impressed you found a way to bring a new dog in to you lives. I've looked, but no dog sings to me yet. Keep us posted on Basil's progress!
Congrats on your new family member. He's incredibly lucky to have you and I'm sure the feeling is reciprocal. We used to have two rescued Greyhounds so I know exactly what you mean my "chillest". Wonderful dogs. Enjoy Basil every day. 🙂
Best of luck with your new fur baby. We always find dogs through rescue shelters. Have loved everyone of them. Have two now, a female black lab Maggie Marie and a jack russell named Stanley. Great dogs.
The rescue groups around here call this mixture of breeds a Bagle (Basset + Beagle = Bagle). 🙂
I've rescued six beagles, my most recent one is Feather who was five when I adopted her. Good for you for adopting!
I laughed out loud when I watched Basil "running" after James. They are going to be hard and fast friends. It is wonderful your family has adopted Basil in his Forever Home!
Congratulations on the new addition to your family. We are on our 2nd and 3rd rescues. So much love to share in both directions. Wishing you much joy with this choice.
Totally cute.
Wishing you many happy moments with Basil. In 2011 and 2012 I adopted my two adult rescue dogs and each one has been such a joy! ❤️
Congrats! Basil looks remarkably like our beagle, Brody, did. Same head shape and barrel chested, but Brody was full Beagle, as we had papers for him. I watched the videos and had memories of our dog. By the way Brody was 15 yrs old when we had to put him down, so hopefully you and your family will have many happy years with Basil.
We have an eleven year old beagle boy named Ike. He has been my companion for six years. He was a rescue from our local shelter. He is such a good buddy. Wishing you all many years of beagle love.
What a lucky dog Basil is. He even got a boy in the deal. I adopted my Murphy at one and a half years old five years ago. I had lost my oldest grandson to a psychopath running him and his best friend down on the road and almost getting away with it. I got Murphy one month later and he has saved my life. He loves me so much and makes me laugh every day. I think they all come from heaven.
I have an older rescue dog and her and I are retired together. Your dog is lucky to have a boy.
So happy for you and Basil! I volunteer at our local humane society and it seems the senior dogs take longer to get adopted. Thank you for giving him his forever home! Beagles are so sweet and cute! Have fun!
Thank you for taking in a rescue AND elderly dog. So great!
Lucky Basil to have found a loving forever home. He'll be very happy I'm sure. Good luck.
Oh my-Basil is sooo cute. My sister adopted an older beagle/basset mix and immediately put her on a diet and training program. Both breeds can be a little stubborn but they are faithful and absolutely lovable. Iris, my sister's dog, has lost about seven pounds and plays like a puppy now. Looks like Basil and James will have many hours "chasing" each other. Enjoy!
Best wishes to your family AND to Basil. I volunteer at a rescue shelter and nothing makes us happier that having a furbaby go to a loving home. Thank you!
What a gorgeous roly poly dog this is, looks almost like the dog that advertises toilet paper, hahaha! He looks totally loveable and am sure the kids will enjoy many years with him!
Oh Leah my heart melts when I see your son running with Basil. They look like an instant love match. Those runs and the great diet will be just the thing to complete Basil's incredible good fortune in joining your family. I guess he will need a nice doggy quilt to lie on in wintertime:-)
Oh what fun! Basil is as adorable as he is rotund! And he needs your family!!!
Congrats! I foster dogs for a rescue group from time to time and it is so rewarding to see them go to a loving home.
Bless your hearts, he will likely have many more years with your tender loving care (and diet) Some people don't seem to understand that fat may be cute on their dog or cat, but it sure is not healthy. Basil is adorable. We had dog once that was half Bassett and half Blue Tick. He was the funniest looking thing, from a distance you would have thought he was pure Bassett, but when you got close you could see sploches of spotty gray and he had one blue and one greenish yellow eye. Huge dog!
Congrats Leah! I've learned two new words today – "Bagle" and "furbaby". Have fun with Basil the Bagle.
There's no better companion for a child. I understand your feelings of loss for your greyhound. I lost my Gizmo, my therapy dog this past December. He had a stroke the Saturday after Thaksgiving and was in extreme pain. Letting him go was one of the hardest decisions I've made. There is a hole in my heart. Fortunately I had been training Pepper, who is now my service dog. I miss Giz so much. I hope for a day when it won't hurt so much.
Congrats on your new dog , I know how hard it is to lose one and the joy of another , we lost our big girl 20 months ago and are looking for another rescue to keep her sister company but its hard but I know our little dog would love a new sister , I am sure Baisl will bring you so much fun again congrats