Charlie is a loveable 7 year old Basset Hound. He came to be the patriarch of our 4 basset family when our oldest daughter was volunteering at the Pima Animal Shelter and Charlie’s owners surrendered him as they could no longer care for him. Our daughter immediately fell in love with his big brown eyes and since we already had 2 other basset hounds we could not resist a third. Charlie was all skin and bones (not to mention ears) when we brought him home that weekend, but he has thrived in our basset loving home and has been with us for almost 6 years.

Approximately one year ago, Dr. Aronson diagnosed an acute ear infection in Charlie’s left ear. We tried everything to clear it up… antibiotics, creams, ointments, you name it, and we tried it. Dr. Aronson was even seeing Charlie on a weekly basis to try and dry his ear out and tackle his infection. This became an impossible task what with basset ears being what they are and finally it was decided that the only course of action was surgery.

Charlie had his ear surgery just before Christmas and the surgery went well, the recovery on the other hand was a whole other story. After we brought Charlie home, he would not stop shaking his head, which resulted in him pulling out some stitches, he became depressed having to wear the Comfy Collar and spent the majority of his day sulking. He refused to eat or drink and did not like being followed everywhere he went (to stop any head shaking). Dr. Aronson decided that his recovery would be better spent at P.A.W.S. Charlie was a resident there for about 2 - 3 weeks and we were so excited when he was able to come home! While he did have to continue with the collar for a few more weeks, I am happy to say he is doing very well. He still wants to shake, and scratch his ear, but he is eating (and gaining weight again) and drinking. He has become more vocal both with the other dogs and with us… he just seems so much happier with out the ear pain. He now prances around the house and yard with his head and tail held high… happy to be the head of our basset family!