God has sense of humour. That's why we have bassets!

by Helen Kazandjis
(Sabie South Africa)

We are extremely proud (as all Basset owners should be) parents of a precious baby girl (almost 6 months old) called Shayla. What a treat. She is what memories are made of!

We are fairly new to the breed. But, we did a lot of research and found that we were happy for the challenge and our respect for the breed opened up our minds and hearts to how amazing they really are. I feel that there is a lot of 'crap' written about the breed e.g. difficult to train (house breaking), disobedient, lazy etc. Utter rubbish in my opinion. It would depend on the owner and the amount of unconditional love and effort put in. We have up to now found 187 uses for a bassets ears and unfortunately I will run out of space to share all that.

To all of you out there, I say Bassets rule! Presently she reminds us of an army tank. She's strong, fearless and goes where no other dog dares to tread, yet affectionate, hilariously funny, entertaining and very very smart (as I'm sure most Bassets are). She gives her 'brothers' a short haired German pointer (4yrs old) & a Cocker Spaniel a hard time with her unyielding tenacity and boldness. Basically they learned a very quick lesson in respect. She is not spoiled and we do not allow her to take advantage of her brothers.

We are teaching her sulking wont work and that there is enough love in abundance to go around so jealousy wont work either. I believe and trust that as long as I'm around to offer a great home to a dog (my 1st choice will always be to have our household with at least 1 or 2 bassets) our lives are so much more meaningful with the love they offer.

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God has sense of humour. That's why we have bassets!

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Sep 08, 2010
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by: Angie from Durban in Sunny South Africa

Hi there, I agree with your comments about them not being difficult to train. I honestly feel that "positive reinforcement" does a long way. Our bassets are such clowns and they make us laugh all the time. If we're sitting outside having a braai (barbeque for non South Africans) then Basil my male basset will try to sit on his mom's lap. I end up with tired arms after a couple of hours because I literally hold him on my lap to stop him from falling off. I recon he thinks that dad will give him a snack if he sits quietly instead of openly begging for a snack. Shannon our female basset is very boisterous and barks at Basil if he has something she wants until he backs down. Sometimes this goes on for hours....its like the battle of the wills to see who's going to give in first. If I ask Shannon to keep quiet, she looks at me with her goofy grin and then looks back at Basil and continues with her barking. Once she get the rope or ball from Basil, the takes it to her bed and then waits for him to come and fetch it from her. I think she does it just to annoy him :-) My poor neighbours must get so tired of hearing them bark - sorry neighbours! They're just having fun....
Aug 03, 2010
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by: Anonymous

by the time our basset was 1 yr old
he was well trained, sit, down, kennel, up, stay, and he would always lay down in the car.

from what i have gathered from our boy of 3 yrs he knows his commands but it is his choice if he wants to listen. ( or at least he believes it is his choice) they have their challenges. a basset hound will never be a perfectly well trained dog that is going to be good 100% of the time and listen 100% of the time. if they were like that then they wouldnt be bassets. they melt your heart, and we as basset owners enjoy their sometimes naughty behaviour because thats what makes them the best dogs ever!
i enjoyed your post very much! good luck with your puppy. i am jealous! Basset puppies are such a treat!

Now our husky on the other hand! he was a challenge to train. i have never in my life had to train such a difficult breed. he was a new level of stubborn!
Jul 22, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Congrats on your new Basset Hound Puppy...
by: Virginia from just-basset-hounds

Thanks for sharing. Glad to hear that you are enjoying your new puppy. I'm sure she is adorable and sounds like tons of fun.

I love the title of your story, "God has a sense of humor..." So true!
Jul 21, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		pics
by: Anonymous

Please send us a pic of your new addition.

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