[Dailydrool] Rescuing a basset

[Dossey, Gwenda G]

For Jerry:

I have done both the puppy thing and adopting.  For me, adopting is the way to go!!  As many have said before me, they usually come housebroken when you adopt, although there are always exceptions to the rules!  Our Teddi came paper trained at 8 weeks old!  The only problem was that she would stand on the paper and squat off it!  (Missed it by that much! ☺)  We didn’t have a doggy door back then so we would take her out and she’d spend a half hour doing everything except taking care of business, and as soon as we got back inside, she’d go straight to the papers!!  Clicker training was the only thing that stopped that!  Either that or I got lucky! ☺

We adopted our Madden from Golden Gate Basset Rescue.  Gloria has this knack of putting the right dog with the right family, so don’t just look at the picture – each basset has its own personality and quirks and that really cute one might not be the one that fits in with your family!  Gloria asked us to foster Madden (then called Kaluha) for a couple of weeks.  The first night, my husband told her she could stay if she wanted to!  Gloria knew the whole time that we’d be the perfect home for her and visa versa!  She was right (again!)!!

As for cats – my girls LOVE cats!!  When our boy cat was still alive they used to play with him seeing who could make him jump on the fence first, but then he’d come back down and cuddle with them.  Of course the reason they liked chasing him so much was because he would wait until they were in a full squat and come up behind them and jump on them!! ☺  As for cats other than ours – if they run, they are fair game and the chase is on!!  If they don’t, they get a good sniffing!!

Ears – I’ve learned (thanks to the DD) that if you give your basset a scoop of non-fat yogurt with live cultures every night in their dinner, you won’t have nearly as many problems with their ears.  However, I think what you’re feeding them may also be a big part of this, so don’t scrimp on dog food if you can!

Exercise - My girls are the best!!  We can stay home and do nothing all day, and they barely make a fuss.  But go to put your shoes on and they’re ready to go!!  We try to go for a 1 to 2 mile walk each day.  Sometimes I’m too tired from working all night, but it’s OK – they’ll cuddle with me instead!!  Remember that just because they don’t have the energy level of a German Shepherd or a Lab doesn’t mean that they don’t need exercise - we all do!!

Bad things about bassets - They can drool (mine only do when they want something you're eating!  Sadie drooled when she was at a new place with new smells!). They shed 24/7/365! They tend to drag their ears through the food and water bowls.  Most will do anything for food, but once in a while you will get one that will only do something if you make them think it's their idea!!  Once they are done, they're done.  If they want something bad enough they'll try to find a way to get it!  They hate to be left alone for long periods of time!

Great things about bassets - they are loyal and loving! Most love to cuddle! They are GREAT with kids! They always want to be with you! They can be great watch dogs because they have a DEEP bark!  Their bark isn't annoying like a beagle because it's so deep!  They make great hot pads to warm you up on a cold night!

One last thing – if you do put in an application to adopt from GGBR, please be patient!  We received 60 adoption applications in the month of December alone thanks to all the publicity from the kennel intake.  Each application has to be approved and a home check done before we can even consider placing a dog with their family and then again, it has to be the right one!
I’m sorry this was long-winded, but the basset owners on this group are nothing if not passionate for the breed!  We all think they’re the best!!

~Gwen - Slave to Tatum (atb), Teddi, Casper, Sadie Jean (atb 5/2/07) and Madden~ 
Dogster Pages:                                                                
Tatum: http://www.dogster.com/pet_page.php?i=2769&j=t 
Teddi: http://www.dogster.com/pet_page.php?i=2773&j=t                                             Casper: http://www.dogster.com/pet_page.php?i=2775&j=t                                              
Sadie Jean: http://www.dogster.com/pet_page.php?i=3464&j=t                                                     Madden: http://www.dogster.com/dogs/562679