[Dailydrool] moodiness/behavior problem

[Marie Campbell]

 Hi Lisa,
    First, I have to ask if this is the only basset you have ever had?  I had/have a wonderful basset girl named Fancy.  I had her for 5 years before I got my Mississippi Man, Luke, a lemon and white talker/bossy butt.  Fancy would get grumpy/bossy/nasty with the other dogs but never with me, ever!!!  She is soft as a kitten with people.  So, when I got Luke a year and a half ago, I thought he would be the same.  Both bassets have a history of physical abuse and starvation. 
    Luke came 25 pounds underweight and had a history of horrific physical abuse.  The day I brought him home from the Humane Society of Tampa Bay was one of the happiest days of both of our lives.  He has brought such joy to mine and my mother's lives--unfortunately as you know my mother has recently passed.  He was/is food obsessed and always has to eat in his crate.  He is food aggressive with other dogs but not people.  He used to be a horrible food thief.  When we first got him, Luke stole a huge bag of dinner rolls off the stove.  I immediately gave chase and when I caught up with him he began screaming in terror.  I knew then that someone used to chase him down and beat him.  It just broke my heart and I still tear up thinking about it.  My Newfs have stolen food in the past and always view me chasing them as a game and are never fearful when I catch up to them.  
    Any who, Luke has slept with me on my bed since the day I got him and I have spent allot of time adoring him.  Not much time reprimanding him.  I feel like he has received enough punishment in his life time.  I tell you all this as a means of describing my relationship with my sweet boy.
    Well, after several months of living the fat, sweet life, Luke started going from grateful to grumpy.  Not always or often but once in a while with me.  He was always bossy with the dogs as bassets tend to be anyway.  But, one night, I was trimming his toenails and he growled at me and got snappy.  He would never actually bite me but he was definitely peeved at my nerve.  It really hurt my feelings!  I actually started to cry.  I thought, "How dare this dog growl at the person who saved his life and treats him like gold????"
    He also started grumbling at me if I would make him move over when he was hogging the bed.  It took me a while but I finally realized that he was not being violent or mean.  He just finally felt safe enough to express his true personality and was flexing his emotional muscle.  I started telling him, "No" in a stern voice when he gets grumpy/pissy with me and he does respond and calm down.
    I don't really reprimand him much.  You must remember that bassets love people beyond reason but that they also have a firm sense of identity and self.  They won't be pushed around by other dogs and they flex their muscle periodically with people.  They don't like their sleeping spaces violated and, almost universally, they don't like their nails trimmed.  I usually cut their nails at night while they are sleeping.  This usually works quite well and Luke tolerates it when he is sleepy.  My other boy, Beau, tolerates everything and everyone with unprecedented good humor.  He never growls and never grumbles.  He loves everyone and everything--man and beast BUT he is a LOUD MOUTH!!!  He barks, howls, and yips like a loon.  He is also a big cry baby and wants constant attention.  He was left on a chain for 4 years in some idiot's backyard.  He was found wandering the streets of Tampa, FL dragging his chain behind him.  All bassets are
 different and have different tolerance levels.
    Bassets can be grumpy but I think a truly violent, people aggressive basset is a rarity.  Bassets bullying other dogs is quite common and grumbling about being moved or nail trims is common but true aggression is rare.  I don't think your boy is truly aggressive.  I think he is just being a grumpy, basset boy.  A firm, "No."  Should do it.  If not, give him a time out in a crate whenever he exhibits snarling behavior.
Marie Campbell & Fancy, Luke, and Beau--the Basset Crew
Man Plans ~ God Laughs