Basset Notes

The following are some of the notes we've received from the many kind people who have stopped by and joined the pack.

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Just a short note add to your page. My husband and I have own 3 bassets over the past 13 years. Our oldest one(Sherlock) past away about a year and a half ago and it seems like yesterday he was just licking my hand. We miss him but we also have a female (Daisy) that is 12 and she is very gentle and very lady like. Then we got brave and bought Pearl. She is like no other basset I know. She is loving and cuddly and a little over weight, well okay alot. We bought her when she was 5 months old. We just lost Sherlock and we saw Pearl and fell in love with her. I should also say Bassets can live any where! We live on the Northern tip of Baffin Island (Canada) and it is very cold here now. It is dark all day and our Bassets ajusted well. Well we hope to here from other people and I think you pages are great! keep up the great work.

Debbie, Paul, Amanda, Steph(our daughters) , Daisy & Pearl (our Bassets) Cottrell.

Just a short note to thank you for your work.

Thanks to your internet page, we are the proud new parents of "Barney", a 5-year old tri/male.

As you recall, about a month ago we wrote you about losing our basset of 13 years and were wishing to find another. We asked for info concerning "rescue" work in Phoenix. You included our letter in your Mailbag and a week or so later a very nice, fellow basset lover named Denise, saw the letter and e-mailed us the info about the person to contact here in Phoenix. We called met and fell in love with Barney and he came to live with us about a week ago.

All because of you and people like you who love those sad faces and floppy ears, we again have a wonderful "basset boy" to love.

We are most grateful to you and a very wonderful lady named Denise.

The Yeager Family Gary, Linda, Katie and Barney

I really like your site. It's great to be able to hear from lots of other basset lovers.

We're owned by two bassets, Molly and Monroe. They are both young (2-3, we think) and are great fun and very much the inseparable pair. They found us last November through a local rescue organization. They had been picked up in a rural area of Virginia for chasing a farmer's chickens! Needless to say, they don't have to work quite so hard for their meals these days.

Unfortunately, both were heartworm-positive when found, so we're now going through heartworm treatment. It's been a long month, including a near-fatal bout with distemper for Molly, as a side effect of the treatment. If anyone doubts the need for regular heartworm prevention, just talk to me!

Keep up the great work on the web site. I look forward to haering from more basset lovers.

Kevin

P.S. I'll post pictures once I get them scanned.

I am so glad to read your updated notes every week or so. I am so very happy to have my bassett hound (Buck Junior) is his name but we call him B.J.

B.J. has to be the most expressionate (if that is a word) bassett. When you talk to him he looks at you like he understands. He is also very affectionate. He loves to crawl on your lap at night, stretch out and take a little snooze. He also is a PIG! He is the sloppiest eater I ever saw. He also likes to take a mouthful of food and go in the living room and eat it.

I read on another site someone else had a bassett who loves to stretch out with his legs behind him. B.J. does this all the time when he chews on his bones.

B.J.'s best behavior was the Christmas he thought the presents under the tree were for him. Christmas came a little early that year. You could not get mad at him, he just looked at you to say "What did I do?"

Also he loves to chew slippers. My husband and I have gone through I don't know how many pair since his arrival.

Thanks again for your site I love to visit it.

Mary Beth, Joe and B.J.

Hi, I loved Rusty's howl. And I thought I was original when I put my Bassett talking on her web page...

http://www.efn.org/~b_killam/ashley.html

Thanks for a smile,
Brett and Ashley

Hello!

I just checked into the Basset Den, and just love it! It's nice to know other Basset Hound owners. My puppy's name is Baldrick, and he's the son of two champions. He's the love of my life.

Just wanted to say "hey"...got to run. "Balders" has just entered the room and requires much petting and kisses!

Trikywu@aol.com

Checked in on your page. Glad to know theres a home on the web for lovers of "beautiful bassets" showed the pictures to our hound "olivia" she sniffed the screen and is now sleeping. Question: when we walk Olivia, her nose slows down the process. is there such a thing as a brisk walk with a basset?

I just wanted to tell you I think this page is great.. there is so much info on bassets I love it... i have two basset Izzy and sherlock . They are the love of my life. They have brought me so much joy and happines and now i can read about how much joy other bassets bring to there mom and dad's. This is great thanks again

bridgette

We really enjoyed your web page. We have a seven year old basett named Georgia who is currently sitting on the furniture (her nor mal pose) and watching anxiously to see if this computer is a food dispenser. (her usual source of anxiety).

Perhaps you could give coverage on your page to bassets which do something other than eat or sleep (assuming such a beast exists)

Pat and Doug Bingley
Barrie, Ontario

We have two gorgeous basset hounds. Our male, Debit, is three and a half years old. We purchased him from a breeder as a "left-over." He has a deviated septum-a really crooked nose! He was lonely while we were at work so two years ago we adopted our female basset, Credit from a poor home life. She is four years old! These two are our babies! We have no room in our bed anymore becuase the two of them sleep inbetween us! We carry their pictures in our wallets! They even have their own bedroom with a cozy futon. The neighbors love to hear them sing to each other. You have never heard two howls like this. They go on for half an hour or more just wooing each other. It is a good thing they are fixed! We call them Super Sniffer and Dotty Dog and we wouldn't trade them for anything! My husband wants to adopt a third!! We are pleased to see so many other basset lovers out there!

Tam, Dave, Debit & Credit Sorbellini

just to let you know Dexter went in his first dog show this past weekend and finished 2nd in hound puppy class. He lost out to his brother Zach.

Have a good one,
Gord Hay (aka Penguin)

Yesterday I had an experience that all of you who connect with the Head Basset can relate to... I was driving my daughter and a friend to a birthday party in Charlottesville, VA, and was going about 60 mph down US route 29, a fairly major 4-lane highway. I looked over in the next lane and saw the sweetest basset hound sitting on the passenger's lap in the car next to us. I waved (at the dog, of course), and the lady smiled and held the basset up a little higher. We continued into town for about 5 miles, with us waving, and the dog looking at us, and finally we happened to be stopped side-by-side at a stoplight in front of the local Wal-Mart. I rolled down my window and the lady in the other car did, too. I told her that we have a basset named Cleo...hers was Susie...ours is the funniest, full-of-personality dog we've ever had...hers was so neat that she thought they'd like a second one...we have two dogs and they get along fabulously... she had called and called and called an ad in the paper about one someone was giving away, and never got through...I had seen the ad, too, and how could anyone ever give a basset away...and the light changed as we said goodbye and laughed the rest of the way to the birthday party!

By the way, Cleo is so happy that the snow from the Blizzard of '96 is finally melting: now she can find sticks again. She was so desperate last week in the 2 feet of snow that she was pulling up little trees by the roots. My mother-in-law says it looks like beavers live at our house because our front lawn is so littered with peeled tree branches, some as long as six feet!

I saw a phone number for a Basset Rescue organization in Washington, DC.

Does anyone know anything about them?

Thanks again for your great Web page.

Nancy and Bill Kay

Hello fellow basset lovers! We have a Normandy Basset that we adopted @ 7 months. She had been in an abusive home and had never gone on a walk in her life. She is the light of our lives, even though she is the most disobedient dog that has ever live. We call her our little cheval du maison, duck, pooka-dog, coco rico chienne, fanny-dog. She is wonderful, and such a comedian. She is very bad, but we rationalize it all away because we love her so much. I'm gushing, because I'm so happy to find other smart people who love them bassets alot!

I AM WRITING THIS NOTE TO TELL YOU HOW GREAT BASETTS ARE.

I HAVE TWO, SISCO AND DEXTER AND THEY ARE THE GREATEST DOGS ANYONE COULD WANT. MY MOM HAS ONE, GRETZKY.

BASETTS ARE VERY FRIENDLY AND LOVE EVERYONE.

SISCO IS 4 YEARS OLD. LOVES TO BARK AT EVERYTHING THAT MOVES (SHE IS NOW DE-BARKED) THE ONLY WAY FOR HER TO ENJOY LIFE WITHOUT GETTING YELLED AT FOR MAKING SO MUCH NOISE. SHE IS DEFINETELY THE COUCH HOG IN THIS HOUSE. SHE IS IN CHARGE OF DEXTER. IF SHE DOESN'T WANT HIM TO DO SOMETHING SHE WON'T..... HER FAVORITE THING IS WHEN YOU GET HOME FROM WORK SHE RUNS AND FINDS A TOY AND MAKES YOU CHASE HER AROUND TO GET IT.

DEXTER IS 2 YEARS OLD. LEMON AND WHITE COLORED, HAS THE LONGEST EARS IN THE WORLD. HE IS MY BIG BABY...HE FOLLOWS ME EVERYWHERE AND DOESN'T LIKE IT IF YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE. HE RARELY BARKS, EXCEPT AT THE KENNEL AND IF YOU SEPERATE HIM AND SISCO. HE LOOKS LIKE THE BASETTS AND THE BIRTHDAY CARDS AT THE MALL.

I WOULD NEVER SUGGEST ANY OTHER BREED TO ANY ONE. BASSET HOUNDS ARE THE ONLY DOGS TO GET.

Just a note to say we love the Basset's Den and have it on our list of favorite internet sites.

Our favorite basset is Bessie, a 4-year-old female who is mostly black and tan with some white on her chest and feet. Bessie is a typical basset, affectionate, stubborn and possessing just a little bit of an attitude. She has adopted the sofa, a waterbed in the guest room and any other furniture she can reach as her own. She gets along well with Buster, our 17-pound cat who was here first.

Bessie's favorite activities include getting belly rubs, mooching from the table, going for long walks and sitting in people's laps -- well, trying to sit in people's laps. She also loves to meet other dogs.

We'll keep on reading the page. Hello to all the other basset lovers.

Tricia and Merton Vance

We live near Charlottesville, VA and are continually tickled at being owned by our 1-year-old tri-color basset, Cleo. She was one of only two pups in her litter, so she was huge from the start...no one can believe she's so young. We love your web page and look forward to reading more mail from other basset lovers...thanks for your hard work!

One of your earlier letters referred to now knowing why their basset limps. What were they talking about? Cleo limps occasionally, too, and

My wife and I have a basset hound named Eleanor Skywalker Roosevelt. She is, and I speak from experience, the most splendind basset ever. Beautiful and talented, and completely disobedient.

If I ever get around to scanning some pictures of her, I'll send you some.

Oh. And my brother-in-law Bob invented a word for when dogs (bassets most especially) shake real hard and their skin goes flying and flapping all over the place. This act is called: WAPPING.

Have a lovely day.

- Andy

We are one of the fortunate families who have Bassets for companions. We have two: Emily, a 3.5 year old tri-color who is affectionately dubbed "The Princess" due to her avoidance of rain, dirt, and anything not "ladylike"; and Rusty, a 1 year old lemon color who has no "princely" attributes but rather enjoys a romp in the rain, mud and snow. I am very happy we have found this resource for information on Bassets and I am sure we will visit frequently.

Very surprised to see so much on Bassets on the net. We own 2 Bassets - Corky and Rufus - who turned 2 years on May 14. They are litter mates. They are tri colored and slender females. They have each have their distinctive personality and both love the water. Is that normal for most Bassets? Their favorite things are food, exercise and people - not necessarily in that order. Very active and very much a part of the family. Would love to participate in this "Basset Exchange." Will even provide a picture later. Ever heard of the Basset Bash that is part of the All Fool's Parade the last Sat. in March in Woodinville, WA? We have attended and it's great! Several hundred Bassets! Ought to be a bumper sticker that says "We Brake for Bassets" because we do!

Thanks,
John, Mary, Rufus & Corky

Greetings from new adoptive parents...

We just adopted a 6-wk old little tri-color basset we named "Buzby Berkeley" nickname: Buzz & he is such a joy! We have a 2-yr old golden retriever (Trooper) & 4 somewhat dubious & disgusted cats, & Buzz & Trooper have already become fast friends. Buzz is a very loving, gentle, easygoing little guy, & we've all really been enjoying him so much! I have a couple of questions:

He was a very distinctive black, brown & white only a wk ago, & it seems almost daily he changes color! He has become more & more dappled & his "white" seems to be slowly disappearing. Is it true that puppies can change several times in markings before they have their final colors?

Also, we had tremendous success with crate training Trooper when we got him (he was about 9 mos. when we adopted him). Is it too early to start crate-training Buzz? Do you have any other suggestions for housetraining this little basset?

Lastly, all our animals are adoptees, & we have always spayed/neutered them when they came of age...Buzz will also be neutered, but when is the best time for him? I've gotten conflicting times from our vet.

Thanks for making this page available; I really enjoy it & love seeing the many photos. Take care,

Kim
wsmco@connect.net

I found your page and I think it's great !

My husband and I had a beautiful tri-color Bassett we called Jessica. She was VERY stubborn but VERRRRRRY lovable. It took us three years to completely housebreak her and she also had a propensity for rearranging our livingroom furniture. She finally gave up her decorating ideas. Someone told us that when she hit three years of age she would be a reformed animal and they were right. Other people we have met that have Bassett puppies or 'toddlers' tell us their 'horror' stories about bad behavior. We always tell them to hang in there and wait until they mature which is apparently at about three years of age and they will love them to death.

Jess was a great garbage disposal but she was a lousy watchdog. She would always make sure she was safe before she barked when someone came to the door. She was also afraid of cats and rabbits unless, of course, they were running the other way and had a good head start! She liked to go camping with us to Presque Isle in Erie and everyone knew her. When we went for walks, people would pass by and say 'Hi Jess, how ya doin' " but we would have no idea who they were. She had a great disposition and was eager to please and ALWAYS eager to eat. At her best, she weighed about 80 pounds, she had cute back-end and I though she looked great but the vet said she should go on a diet. We had her put down when she was 13 1/2 years old (September 93) and it was a blessing because of her suffering from her back and cortisone shots no longer worked. Our vet was amazed she lived as long as she did. We took her for MONTHLY cortisone shots for four years because of skin problems and back injuries (she was attacked by a German Shepard when she was about 7 and suffered a ruptured disc) and the vet warned us that it would shorten her life but it never did seem to affect her.

One of the best descriptions I heard for a basset was "they are half a dog high and two dogs long".

Greetings from the Dal-Tex Basset Hound Club. Bodacious Max and Dos Acres Absolutely Super (Misty) live at our house. We have been owned by basset hounds for 30 years. As I write this note they are lying on the couch and watching Nightline. Soon we will retire to our king size bed with the ramp at the foot, so the dogs can get into bed. Dal-Tex puts on two specialty shows a year in Dallas (March and September). If y'all are down this way, stop and see many fine dogs competing. Details if you contact me.

My wife and I recently adopted a male basset, Elvis. He has come a long way in the 5 plus weeks that we have had him but he continues to do things that he shouldn't (use us a chew toys, use the house as a bathroom, etc.)

We are cage training him and it is finally begining to kick in.

Is there any advice you can give?

Bob Eells
GRIFEEL@aol.com

Hello I am new to the net and hope this finds it`s way to the basset home page soon. We have a basset hound who is a year and a half. His name is Zack he is the most beautiful tricolor male basset on his block. Zack loves to eat anything he can set his teeth into. Always the first to the table when anything is being served. Zack has three adorable kitties to play with. They sorta like him sometimes he is a bit rough with them. Zack is an active basset we were once told that basset`s are lazy and that they are not smart, but our Zack proved them wrong he can sit and go down ..(with the help of some food) He knows each of our family by name. When Zack wants to go outside and have fun he rings his very own parrot bell at the back door. He loves to go on a car ride and is at the door when the car starts. He is very much appart of our family, and so we thought we would share alittle bit about him to our fellow basset hound friends out in cyberspace:) Sorry if you may have recived info on Zack before but we were unsure if it had been read? Please reply back if you recive our note. We are at:

isbell@dlcwest.com

Thanks hope to hear from you and happy howling

As a volunteer with the GA rescue group.....I salute your efforts on behalf of all those long eared, droopy eyed sweethearts that need a warm place to live and lots of lovin'. I have 2 right now. Tyrone will be 15 in April (we hope he makes it til then) and was the sole survivor of a parvo litter from a puppy mill. Belle is 4 1/2 and I took her in for foster care 2 years ago and adopted her myself. She is the reason that Ty has lived this long, I'm sure! Hope all your efforts are a "howling" success. It was good to hear your pooch!

HAPPY NEW YEAR>>>>>
Howard, Joan, Tyrone & Lady Belle

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