Jason Bergerson and his wife Jodall got their pure bred Basset Hound "The Dude" from a breeder in Bonney Lake three years ago. How did he get that name? "We really like the movie 'The Big Lebowski' so we were watching it one day and it just clicked so we named him 'The Dude'," after the lead character in the film Bergerson explained.

Unlike the film character however, this 'Dude' actually sings. That might be a bit of a stretch but, "When my wife sings he'll howl along with her. It's pretty hilarious," Bergerson continued, "He sings along with the Star Spangled Banner." No, he doesn't sing along before every football game or other sporting events. He requires in person accompaniment. "He also likes Happy Birthday or really any high pitched song," said Bergerson." Bergerson described it this way, "You can tell when he's going to start doing it because he gets this look on his face and his lips kind of turn into a little 'O'." Which we take to mean 'Oh say can you see?" So he's good for the 4th of July, up until the fireworks start. He's frightened by them.

This is not a particularly adventurous dog though he can take care of himself, but he does have other fears. "Vacuums and mops, really anything that cleans the floor he's terrified of," explained Bergerson. "One day I was sweeping and he ran out of the room and jumped on the couch and wouldn't come down and I realized it was the broom."

The Dude has really large scale friends and sad to say, they chew up all his toys. "They are all labs and shepherds, he doesn't have any friends his size." Is this depressing for him? "He always kind of looks depressed," said Bergerson, referring to the Basset Hound's typically sad face.
"He's very happy actually," said Bergerson," He wags his tail constantly and he's always got a kind of peppy attitude. They said that when Basset's get to this age they get kind of lazy but that hasn't happened." He loves the family cats but they don't reciprocate. "Cat's really aren't into being sniffed," Bergerson said laughing,"So he loves them but they despise him."

The Dude normally eats wet food or sometimes dry but to get him to eat it they add a secret ingredient. "Bacon," said Bergerson, "once we add that he'll tear it up."

The Dude was not a fast learner taking nearly a year and a half for potty training. "One day he just came up to my chair and scratched on it and I knew he wanted to go outside," said Bergerson.

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