Loretta left a void

It the last few years, since Smid's death, we've had a Basset Hound named Loretta (pronounced Low-retta). Melissa brought her home when Loretta was two weeks old. The mother had quit feeding her litter. We bonded with Loretta early, because we got Loretta early. Loretta looked like one of those "pound puppies". One of those little stuffed toys. All sad eyes, long ears and big feet. I can't imagine a cuter puppy than Loretta. Her looks went straight to your heart. Smid never thought much of her, but by then, he couldn't see much and he was an old dog. She was just a nuisance to Smid but they adjusted and just ended up not bothering each other.

Eventually, after the deaths of Smid, Sadie the German Shepard mix and her daughter Honey, Loretta evolved into an only dog and the apple of her Dad's eye. Loretta was the definition of "laid back". She acted like she wanted to be fed, take a nap and be left alone. With her looks, it was hard not to love on Loretta. That seemed to annoy Loretta. She put up with it. Affection needed to be on her terms. She'd wag her tail when she'd see me, but she didn't seem to want me to get carried away with all that hugging and stuff. She liked to have her back scratched, but when the scratching was over, she wanted to get on with her regularly scheduled nap.

Like with Smid, I have many memories of Loretta. The reason I'm writing this is, my dear friend Loretta has passed away due to complications from heart worms. She was over 8 years old. She left a void that Luvy, her canine sister of about two years, and I are left behind to deal with. Loretta had Sunday dinners with my parents (her grandparents), and their dog Barney. It was very few Sundays that Loretta wasn't eating people food, hand fed, from their table. Loretta left a void.

As with Smid, numerous stories.

Before and after pics. Before Loretta lost patience and after.

Loretta was about 6 months old in these photos.