Is a Basset Hound Right for You?

How could that sad eyed dog not be anything but perfect? Like all dogs bassets do not fit into everyone’s lifestyle.

*Bassets are people lovers and want to be part of a family.
Sometimes they are like little Velcro strips./////////////////////////////

*Bassets and kids under 5: Bassets are a lot of work for a family with small children. They are food slaves and will remove food from a child hand.
Dirty diapers are a favorite item to chew and shred up. (hepa filter may not even help after this point...........)
A basset cannot distinguish the difference between their stuffed toy and a child’s stuff toy.
Young bassets love to chew up anything plastic (mostly children’s toys). Bassets are the same height as the child’s riding toys, but a basset's back cannot take the weigh of a child riding them – small children don’t understand the difference. Bassets are indoor dogs that want to be in the center of family activities, so they will be in the middle of any activity with the children. A parent needs to be very diligent about teaching a child about the proper way to treat a basset. Their long ears are tempting to pull. Unless you are diligent about brushing, you have dog hair in everything, which goes into your child’s mouth. At least ½ of the bassets I have turned into rescue are from families with small children, who didn’t understand that having a basset is like having another two year old, and is just too much.

*Bassets not only shed in the spring and fall, they need to be brushed weekly to keep the shedding down.

*Bassets are thin coated and cannot be an outside for extended periods of time in our area. They are inside dogs.

*Bassets must have a fenced yard. Being scent hounds they will follow the scent of the cat, squirrel, etc which traveled through the yard. Without a fenced yard they will wander off to see whom they can visit. The grass is always greener…

*Bassets are very food orientated, which includes your garbage cans, therefore garbage cans must be placed under the sink.

*Bassets have selective hearing when it comes to doing what you want them to do. But they can hear you open the cookie jar from the farthest room in the house.

*If you work a doggie door is almost a must, so the dog can go out a do their business and come back into the house.