does anyone know anything about

[-bogart-]

basset hounds? my hubby is gaga over them and since no dog i want works out i decided to look for something he likes.

my poor isabelle iis all alone , since her look a like never got to come home to us. ( the people decided thry where going to keep her)

so i want to get isabelle a friend and thought why not a hound of some sort .

so besides being the cutest thing in the world does anyone have experiance with one?

[AllieMackie]

I've never owned one, but I've spent time with a ton at my kennel job and at the dog park.

In my experience, they're very vocal, and can be stubborn, VERY food motivated. Real snugglebugs. Friendly, patient dogs, generally play really well with other dogs when properly socialized.

[-bogart-]

Originally Posted by AllieMackie

I've never owned one, but I've spent time with a ton at my kennel job and at the dog park.

In my experience, they're very vocal, and can be stubborn, VERY food motivated. Real snugglebugs. Friendly, patient dogs, generally play really well with other dogs when properly socialized.

well those all sound like pluses to me , do they do well with kids is a huge question? i love the vocal part , right now isabelle will howl when either one of the girls cries , it is great as they still look around wondering who could be louder than them? hahahaha
i have a tribe of kids and i know they are pack animals . does it transfer well to human packs instead of doggie ones?

[DanL]

VERY difficult to housebreak!! I had one as a kid and it took a long time... A woman I worked with also had one and had a hard time with housetraining as well.

[AllieMackie]

Originally Posted by -bogart-

well those all sound like pluses to me , do they do well with kids is a huge question? i love the vocal part , right now isabelle will howl when either one of the girls cries , it is great as they still look around wondering who could be louder than them? hahahaha
i have a tribe of kids and i know they are pack animals . does it transfer well to human packs instead of doggie ones?

Most bassets I know are family dogs in families with young children, so based on that I'd say they can be good with kids. Most I know are endlessly patient.

And as for the pack thing... that's a Cesar Milan mentality... archaic. Humans are not dogs, and dogs know that. But dogs like humans, and dogs usually like multiple humans too!

[FoxyWench]

as a breed they are INCREDIBLY stubborn...

a cousins baset house would sit down in the middle of their walk and refuse to budge...

they are BIG dogs, despite being so small height wise, these dogs can weigh alot so when one decides its not oging anywhere it can be a real chore trying to move it.

they are highly prone to obeasity, chow hounds definatly describes them well, they love to eat!

smart enough to know there big enough to not have to listen, they can be trained but it takes work, dedication and patients. ive met bassets that were "impossible" to housebreak, and just as many who were housebroken quickly...

they DROOL! and are prone to getting things stuck in those big droopy eyes and prone ot ear issues too, you also have to clean all the wrinkles...
medium to high shedders, Bayers (like most hounds, they like to hear their own voice and while not typically barkers (when they do bark they have a very BIG DEEP bark and an equally intimidating growl) they are howlers/bayers, they like to "sing"

watch for back and knee issues, hips and eyes are other areas of caution, as are ears...

GREAT family dog, as long as there properly socilized as pups, they are generally incredibly loving, sweet natured mellow beasties, who are great with kids...

my cousins basset had never met a child before my neice was born, the basset if 5, the neice is now just learning to walk, she was of course very grabby with those big droopy ears and lots of skin and he just took it. now he "helps" her get up, she holds his back and makes an Ehh sound and he stands up slowly lifting her to her feet, then he walks next to her carefully as she has one hand on him to stabalize...
there bestest buddies but he has a tendency to drool all over her head lol. she things its hilarious, loves to "give him kisses" (she makes kissy sounds and he procedes to bathe her with his incredibly long simely tongue as she laughs hysterically...)

[Maxy24]

My mom's cousin has two. Keep in mind they are not trained AT ALL, very "bad" behaviors are rewarded or ignored. I'll describe these two to you (one male and one female).
Anyway, they are calm, don't beg for you to throw the ball or play tug. Tolerant of the 2 and 5 year old, one likes to sleep with the kids.
The howl when anyone comes to the door (and then are promptly given a treat to make them stop , hence the severity of the problem) and they howl/bark at other dogs. one barks at animals on TV as well.
Both LOVE to be cuddled and pet, do not allow begging though, if you don't feel like petting say "enough" or "busy" or some other cue that it's not gonna happen right now and ignore them. Main reason being they tend to beg with their voice and it's annoying.
They will become obese if overfed, they LOVE food so I'd guess training is easy enough, they may be slower to pick things up but I'm not sure.
They are large, strong dogs so make sure leash pulling is stopped.
They can have back issues, I'd avoid letting them jump off of furniture. One of these two had to have back surgery, they don't know what caused it but he is longer than the average hound so jumping and using stairs could have contributed.
They love their walks.
no problem housebreaking for these two...female relapsed when they moved into a new house but they are fine now. these two actually don't drool much either, maybe after exercise but I would not call them horrible droolers.

Keep ears clean, they sometimes gets messy on the outside as well when they fall into water bowls, food and drag on the ground.

Sweet dogs overall. These two are counter surfers, they take food from the kids while they are eating at the kitchen table. I'd say the second dog learned it from the first dog and both dogs wouldn't do this if any training occurred (body blocking and keeping clean tables).

[Ratboy]

I had a cousin with the biggest one I've ever seen, about 90 pounds, not fat, just really big. He was a great dog, but was very hard to get housebroken, was kind of famous for refusing to move unless food was offered, no matter how much he was pushed on. Had an amazingly loud and deep bark that scared off a couple of low lifes that tried to break into their house, which was next to a park and had a lot of drunks passing through.

There are a couple of them around this area, mostly the smaller, thinner ones, but one looks to end up a very big one when he grows up and fills out.

Even the one that used to live down the road that fought (and did a good job of it!) other dogs all the time was amazingly patient with little kids.

[Romy]

One of my friends had a beagle/basset mix, and when that dog was a puppy she used to have to clip the ears over the dogs head with a clothes pin so it could eat without ears in the way, lol.

Strider's ob instructor was once told that it was impossible to train a basset to do agility. That made her mad, so she got a basset and trained it for agility. She was not the fastest agility dog in the world, but she was very accurate.

[Ivy]

I have a pure Basset Hound and a Basset X.
Both are very similar but have their differences as well.

As for the whole stubborn thing, I think it has to do with the dog not the breed. The purebred one I have is not stubborn at all. He does not need to be on a leash as he just follows me around outdoors. All I need to say to him is "get inside" and he runs to the front door. I got him when he was already an adult so I don't know about the housetraining thing. But since I have gotten him there has been no issues in that sense.
Yes, he does like to bark, but if you teach them to bark only in moderation it's not that bad.

As for the size concept,there are two different kinds of Bassets. There are the ones that are huge and very droop-looking and then there are the ones that are medium sized that do not have that much excess skin as the later.

Also, be prepared for many laughs as they are quite the characters.....I would suggest wearing Depends