I’ve always loved basset hounds ever since I was a child.
My mum and dad had them when I was growing up and they are quite an unusual breed.
You either love them or you don’t really understand them, but I have always been obsessed with them!
Basset hounds are completely independent, they don’t listen and are very stubborn. But they are the most loving dogs ever.
I have two Basset hounds called Goose and Berry.
Berry is the oldest one, she is aged five and a half. While Goose is seven months old.
Before I got Berry, my family had a basset hound called Dolly and she was the third one my family had.
But she passed away when she was 12 in 2019.
After she died I spoke to my husband, Tom, about getting our own one and we decided to get our own puppy and start the cycle again.
Berry is our first basset hound
We got Berry, who is black and white, as a puppy in 2019.
Tom and I live on a farm in Alyth, in the Strathmore Valley, which is known for potato farming and berries – like strawberries and raspberries.
So when it came to naming her I wanted a name that began with a ‘b’ – so it went with basset – and something which had a ‘y’ ending, so we decided to call her Berry.
We got her just before Covid so when I started working from home she became like my best friend and sidekick.
She doesn’t really do much though and I will usually find her fast asleep!
Goose has loads of character
As we were moving house which had a slightly bigger garden we decided to get another basset hound.
I searched online and saw there was a family in Glasgow which had two basset hound puppies in the litter.
Tom and I decided to go along to see if one of them would be the right match for Berry.
That’s when we got Goose.
When it came to naming her we thought it had to be a type of berry because that would be funny.
So we went through all the different types of berry and decided on Goose.
She is still quite little but she has loads of character. Goose has crazy puppy energy.
She will have her half hour ‘zoomies’ but then she will fall asleep.
At the moment she struggles to get up on the sofa or get up the stairs because of her very short legs, but she will try!
Goose also likes to steal shoes or anything lying about and she also brings in sticks from the garden.
She likes playing with her toys but if she gets them stuck under the sofa or a bed she will just howl at them until you help her reach them.
Goose and Berry are the best of friends
Berry was really patient with Goose when she first arrived. She never gets jealous and they are actually best friends.
Berry shares everything with Goose which is nice. They have got beds all over the house but they always end up snuggled up together.
Berry is quite independent and likes to do her own thing.
But Goose just wants to copy her and be with her. Goose is always following her and I think Berry has just accepted it.
They both get up to mischief especially in our garden which has a few apple and plum trees.
Over the summer they have both been obsessed with eating all the apples and the plums.
We put up a little fence in the garden to keep them away from the trees but they spend most of the day trying to leap over the fence.
Berry has been flying over it to eat some of the plums!
In the end we gave up and took the fence down.
They love going for walks and new adventures.
But their favourite thing is probably snuggling under a duvet or causing mischief out in the garden.
Sometimes we separate them – Berry goes to my mum’s and we take Goose out on her own.
This is to make sure they will be ok by themselves, but when they are reunited they are both really happy.
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