[Dailydrool] Are bassets intelligent?

[Anne Savidge]

   The only people who think basset hounds are dumb are people who've never been owned by one.
 
   They are, almost universally, dumb like a fox. Yes, we all know the really goofy, good-hearted yet rather clueless bassets out there. Sometimes, they ALL act like that. But get food involved---especially forbidden food, out-of-reach food, humans-only expensive food (read: prime rib or a bakery cheesecake), or food for other critters, like co-habitating kitties---and basset hounds become the sneakiest, craftiest, most Oscar-worthy, CIA-recruitable schemers in the universe. They are master manipulators. Why do you think we dub ourselves "basset food slaves"? 
 
   Bassets are not the most easily trained dogs because they are not out to please their people first, nor have they been bred for following instructions like the police-dog and service-dog types. However, they ARE trainable, and they are aces at figuring stuff out on their own if they think they can benefit from it. 
 
Auntie Anne
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