When can Bassett traits be found in a puppy?

[ocean2026]

A friend is re-homing some Basset Corgi mix Puppies. They are 4 weeks old and I think she will give them to homes when they are 8 weeks.

My kids and I would like one but

1. we want one who has that bay-bark of a Basset Hound. Are there any visual signs we can see that he/show will bay?

2. We'd prefer one more easily trainable - less stubborn more like a Corgi.

When will the these traits ( both #1 and #2) become apparent?

Here's bonus (lol ) statistical genetics question for a real expert. If a puppy has one basset trait is it more likely to have another bassett trait or is it simply random chance?

Random chance - flipping a fair coin and getting tails - the next flip is still 50-50 tails or heads.

Non Random Chance- A criminal goes to jail for two dumb burglaries. Is it also likely that criminal has low IQ / education? Answer it is as there is a correlation between those in prison and low education.

[Dekka]

Actually corgis tend to be more 'trainable' than bassets.

Mendel's second law, the law of independent assortment; during gamete formation the segregation of the alleles of one allelic pair is independent of the segregation of the alleles of another allelic pair.

So if you have one trait its still just as random where other traits end up.

[ocean2026]

I agree Corgis are more trainable - I need to know at what age - when I go see the puppies to make a selection whether I can ascertain whether it has the nice bay-bark of a Bassett and the trainability of the Corgi. Those are the traits I want.

Can an 8 week old Bassett mix show what kind of voice he/she will have?

Is there a way to when one is just meeting the puppies for the first time to ascertain whether and which will be most easily trainable?

[Dekka]

there are temperament tests... now I can't help you with the bay...

I would talk to basset breeders they might know when you first hear the bay...

[Romy]

It's a different mix, but I know of a litter of beagle/blue heelers where one of the pups just wandered around squealing a lot. She got named Hoot, and boy can she hoot. All of the puppies in that litter got that beagle baying voice though, so maybe that hound bay is a dominant trait?

[corgipower]

Corgis are trainable?

Someone forgot to mention that to my corgis.

[MafiaPrincess]

I'd tell the person rehoming them that you would prefer one that bayed.. so when they do they can take note of which ones are baying and which ones don't seem to be. And then use temperament testing to decide which one s that bay you think are more trainable.

[ocean2026]

OK im new here how can I do the temperment testing when I see them?

Also how long does it take to bay ( how old)?

[Maxy24]

I don't know at what age pups show their true voices, when you meet them see who's vocal. We have a Beagle breeder here who might now when pups start howling. For all you know they might all be vocal, or none of them might be. As far as trainable, meh, Bassets like food so in my world they are not that hard to train. I suppose though, you'd look for a pup who pays attention (breaks his attention with other things to look at you) when you speak to him and try to get his attention. One who runs to you when you entice him to come (clap hands, kneel down, run away from him etc.). These things might show a dog who may be less distracted by everything else and more interested in what you are doing, more able to focus. Feel free to bring some treats with you and try out a little training with each pup, an 8 week pup can do a short training session. See if he stays focused and is very intent on earning his reward or whether he is more interested by the rest of the world.

[lizzybeth727]

Originally Posted by ocean2026

1. we want one who has that bay-bark of a Basset Hound. Are there any visual signs we can see that he/show will bay?

Visual signs for baying? No, as far as I know there are none. I got a lab from a shelter (looked pretty close to full blooded, but you never know) who bayed. Whoda thought.

Originally Posted by ocean2026

When will the these traits ( both #1 and #2) become apparent??

Baying, I don't know, as was suggested before you might want to talk to a hound breeder. Or talk to this breeder and see if any of them are vocalizing yet.

As far as trainability, temperment tests on puppies are pretty unreliable. Mostly they give you a baseline so that you know what you will need to socialize your puppy to. Like Maxy said, getting a puppy that seems to be very oriented to you is a great idea, but even then your odds are only slightly higher than if you had picked a random puppy.

I work for an organization that rescues dogs from shelters and trains them to be assistance dogs for people with disabilities. Obviously puppies would be great for our program, we can socialize them and get a jump-start on their training so that they have a longer working life with their disabled partner.... But the temperment tests on puppies are so unreliable that we would waste a lot of time on puppies that look like great service dogs at 8 weeks old, and then end up washing out by 8 months old. Instead we will not take any dogs less than about 10 months old (best we can tell), and prefer them around 1 1/2 years old.

But, we don't test for trainability at all, only temperment. If they have the right temperment, we will spend as long as it takes to train them.

Originally Posted by ocean2026

2. We'd prefer one more easily trainable - less stubborn more like a Corgi.

I just want to say - be careful what you wish for! As my trainer friend says, "Dumb dogs take two weeks to learn a simple behavior; smart dogs take two days to learn the behavior, and then spend the next 30 days trying to figure out a better way to do it." Smart dogs are easier to train, yes, but they also can figure out how to get the treats no matter WHERE you put them; how to break out of their crate; how to chew on your favorite shoes ONLY when you're not watching. I worked with a GSD once who, I swear, was smarter than I am. If she wanted to do something she would figure out how to manipulate me to get to do it, I don't know how she did it most of the time but I do know she was very good at it!

I'm a professional trainer, and trust me, when I get my next pet dog, I do NOT want a smart dog!