Okay. So I’ll probably take heat for this but so what. Someone emailed me because after reading my memoirs they wanted my opinion on whether or not their desire to adopt a bloodhound was “a good idea.”
As a pioneer in the pet detective industry, let me just say that I know a “good idea” when I see one. And while I would not say that adopting a bloodhound is necessarily a “bad” idea, I would just caution you that it takes a special type of person who can and should own / care for a bloodhound. Here’s the profile that I came up with for the perfect bloodhound owner:
Someone who is RICH and can afford to pay endless vet bills.
Someone willing to clean up the thick, gooey, and long Elmer’s Glue-like goobers that stick to walls, ceilings, clothing, and everything else under the sun.
Someone whose feelings won’t be hurt when your hound rips open every chewy within five miles just so he can surgically remove the plastic squeaker.
Someone with a heart who can forgive all of these flaws and who would PROMISE that, in spite of how frustrated or upset you became with all these bloodhound shenanigans, you would NEVER, EVER, EVER consider taking the delinquent hound to the pound.
I’ll end this with the definition of what I call “Bloodhound Love.” Bloodhound Love is actually the tentative title of my next book (a young adult mystery / romance). Here (below) is a very clear definition of what it is, and what I’d expect anyone who ever considers adopting a bloodhound to harbor deep within their heart:
Bloodhound Love [bluhd-hound luhv]
Noun
- the act of sticking with your boyfriend despite differences, just like a tenacious bloodhound sticks to a scent trail;
- accepting the bad in someone like when your bloodhound slobbers gooey spit on your clean dress pants or eats his own poop and then barfs it up—you clean it up, forgive, and resist the urge to drive him to the animal shelter because you love him with bloodhound love;
- a love that goes as deep as your DNA for someone (human or animal) to the point that if asked, you’d give your life to save their life;
- unconditional love.
