Basset Hound

The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of scent hound. The Basset Hound was developed in Great Britain from several now-extinct strains of French basset breeds. It was bred primarily for hunting rabbit and hare on foot, moving slowly enough that horses were not required. Their sense of smell and ability to ground-scent is second only to the Bloodhound.<ref name="Hart-Master">Hart, Ernest H. This Is the Basset Hound, T.F.H. Books, 1974. Template:ISBN</ref>

Basset Hounds are one of six recognized "basset"-type breeds in France. The name Basset is derived from the French word Template:Lang, meaning 'low', with the attenuating suffix -et—together meaning 'rather low'. Basset Hounds are usually bicolours or tricolours of standard hound coloration.

Description

Adult Basset Hound

Appearance

Basset Hounds are proportionally akin to a large breed dog with short legs. Their slightly-curved tail is held high above their long backs. Size and weight is variable between bloodlines, but weigh between Template:Convert on average. This breed, relative to size, is heavier-boned than any other breed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Similar to the bloodhound, the basset hound has wrinkled, loose skin that incites a sad expression. The loose skin around the neck is known as the dewlap.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The characteristic long ears help to stir up ground scent. They have slightly crook'd legs that help to support the broad chest and ribs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The coat is most-often short with coarse hairs under the tail. They come in all hound colors except merle and brindle. The most popular colors tend to be variations in tricolor patterns, but they also come in various shades of red and white.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Temperament

Basset Hounds are renowned for their gentle, docile demeanor.<ref name="DorothyHardy">Liebers, Arthur; Hardy, Dorothy. How to Raise and Train a Basset Hound, T.F.H. Publications, Jersey City, New Jersey, 1959.</ref>

The Basset Hound is a friendly, outgoing, and playful dog, tolerant of children and other pets.<ref name="DorothyHardy"/> Their temperament is typically mild and extremely devoted, though not timid.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Health

An adult Basset Hound with a puppy on its back

Osteochondrodysplasia

The Basset Hound's short stature is due to the genetic condition osteochondrodysplasia.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Osteochondrodysplasia causes stunted growth and impacts movement. Affected dogs develop splayed hind limbs, enlarged joints, flattened rib cages, shortened and bent long bones, and deformed paws.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Life expectancy

The breed has a median life span of 10–12 years. A 2015 French study found a life expectancy of 10.3 years.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A 2024 study in the UK found a life expectancy of 12.5 years compared to an average of 12.7 for purebreeds and 12 for crossbreeds.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Other health issues

A common eye condition Basset Hounds develop called cherry eye

Basset Hounds are prone to yeast infections.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Leading causes of death in a 2004 UK Kennel Club survey were cancer (31%), old age (13%), gastric dilatation volvulus (11%), and cardiac (8%).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Information from veterinary data found the prevalence of glaucoma to be 5.44%, second highest in the study.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The Basset Hound is predisposed to gastric dilatation volvulus.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> One study found the odds ratio to be 5.9.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Basset Hound hereditary thrombopathy is an autosomally inherited platelet disorder characterised by a thrombasthenia defect in primary aggregation abnormality of clot retraction. Glycoprotein IIb-IIIa is defective although detectable.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The Basset Hound is prone to several skin conditions: allergic skin disease; intertrigo; Malassezia dermatitis; and otitis, primary keratinization defects.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The Basset Hound is one of the more commonly affected breeds for primary open angle glaucoma. An autosomal recessive mutation of the ADAMTS17 gene is responsible for the condition in the breed.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

History

St Hubert's Hound

The Basset type originated in France, and is descended from the 6th-century hounds belonging to St Hubert of Belgium, which through breeding at the Benedictine Abbey of St. Hubert eventually became what is known as the St Hubert's Hound around 1000 AD. St Hubert's original hounds are descended from the Laconian (Spartan) Hound,<ref name="CampbellThornton">Template:Cite book</ref> one of four groups of dogs discerned from Greek representations and descriptions. These scent hounds were described as large, slow, "short-legged and deep mouthed" dogs with a small head, straight nose, upright ears and long neck, and either tan with white markings or black with tan markings.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Laconian Hounds were reputed to not give up the scent until they found their prey. They eventually found their way to Constantinople, and from there to Europe.<ref name="CampbellThornton"/>

France

1879 woodcut of Everett Millais' first Basset-type hound named Model, who was imported from France in 1874

The first mention of a "Basset" dog appeared in La Venerie, an illustrated hunting text written by Jacques du Fouilloux in 1585.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The name "Basset" has its origins in the Latin word for low, bassus, and the French diminutive -et. The dogs in Fouilloux's text were used to hunt foxes and badgers. It is believed that the Basset type originated as a mutation in the litters of Norman Staghounds, a descendant of the St Hubert's Hound. These precursors were most likely bred back to the St. Hubert's Hound, among other derivative French hounds. Until after the French Revolution around the year 1789, hunting from horseback was the preserve of kings, large aristocratic families and of the country squires, and for this reason short-legged dogs were highly valued for hunting on foot.

Basset-type hounds became popular during the reign of Emperor Napoleon III (r. 1852–1870). In 1853, Emmanuel Fremiet, "the leading sculptor of animals in his day" exhibited bronze sculptures of Emperor Napoleon III's Basset Hounds at the Paris Salon.<ref>Fusco, Peter and H. W. Janson, eds., The Romantics to Rodin, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1980, p. 272.</ref> Ten years later in 1863 at the first exhibition of dogs held in Paris, Basset Hounds attained international attention.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The controlled breeding of the short haired Basset began in France in 1870. From the existing Bassets, Count Le Couteulx of Canteleu fixed a utilitarian type with straight front legs known as the Chien d'Artois, whereas Mr. Louis Lane developed a more spectacular type, with crooked front legs, known as the Basset Normand. These were bred together to create the original Basset Artésien Normand.<ref>Breed standard, Basset Artésien Normand (DOC file) at FCI.be; Template:Webarchive</ref>

England

An early 20th century Basset-type hound

French Basset Hounds were being imported into England at least as early as the 1870s. While some of these dogs were certainly Basset Artésien Normands, by the 1880s linebreeding had thrown back to a different heavier type. Everett Millais, who is considered to be the father of the modern Basset Hound, bred one such dog, Nicholas, to a Bloodhound bitch named Inoculation through artificial insemination in order to create a heavier Basset in England in the 1890s. The litter was delivered by caesarean section, and the surviving pups were refined with French and English Bassets.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first breed standard for what is now known as the Basset Hound was made in Great Britain at the end of 19th century.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This standard was updated in 2010.<ref>Breed standard, Basset Hound 2010 (DOC file) at FCI.be; Template:Webarchive</ref>

The only Basset Hound to win at Crufts is Antoinette's Hili's Basset hound, Ch. & Eng. Ch. Switherland Sensation At Haven. He also became the first dog from Malta to win Best of Breed at Crufts,. 2004.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hunting with Bassets

A 1925 illustration of a Basset Hound hunting a rabbit

The Basset Hound was bred to hunt, with a keen nose and short stature suited to small-game hunting on foot. A variety of Basset Hound developed purely for hunting by Colonel Morrison was admitted to the Masters of Basset Hounds Association in 1959 via an appendix to the Stud Book. This breed differs in being straighter and longer in the leg and having shorter ears.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In popular culture

• On February 27, 1928, Time magazine featured a Basset Hound on the front cover. The accompanying story was about the 52nd annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden as if observed by the Basset Hound puppy.<ref>"Baby Basset Hound". Time. February 27, 1928.</ref>
• The Brand Hush Puppy, founded in 1958, uses a Basset Hound named Jason as its logo.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In subsequent TV adverts, many different bassets are used.
• Elvis Presley famously sang "Hound Dog" to an uninterested top-hat-wearing Basset Hound named Sherlock on The Steve Allen Show on July 1, 1956.
• Syndicated comic strip Fred Basset by Alex Graham (and since 1991 by Michael Martin and Arran Keith) has been a regular feature in newspapers since 1963.
• There is a Basset Hound in the Smokey and the Bandit movie series. The dog, Fred, was personally picked by lead actor Burt Reynolds because it refused to obey commands.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Hanna-Barbera's Droopy first appeared in 1943 and has his own comic book miniseries.
• The Barnyard Dawg from Looney Tunes is the archenemy of Foghorn Leghorn.
• In Disney's 1970 film The Aristocats, Lafayette is a basset hound paired with a bloodhound that cause trouble through the French countryside.
• In Disney's 1986 film The Great Mouse Detective, Sherlock Holmes has a basset hound named Toby.
• The anime movie Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence features the main character's basset hound Gabriel.
• Morgan was a 1950s television basset that often appeared on The Garry Moore Show, The Jackie Gleason Show and many other variety shows. He played a dog from Pluto on Captain Video and appeared in a Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis movie. His last appearance was on the Hallmark Hall of Fame in 1959.<ref>"Mr. Morgan"</ref> He had a plush toy modeled on him.<ref>Template:Usurped</ref> and appeared in a Life magazine article.
• In Columbo, Lieutenant Columbo played by Peter Falk owns a Basset Hound named Dog. Peter initially found the idea gimmicky, but after meeting the basset decided it would pair well with Columbo's character. Two dogs played Dog throughout the show.
• In the Bruno, Chief of Police detective series, by Martin Walker, Bruno owns a Basset Hound, Gigi. When Gigi dies, Bruno is gifted another Basset Hound, Balzac.

A Basset Hound in front of the General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard, outside Cooter's Museum in Nashville, TN

• In the young adult novel The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, the basset hound is the mascot of an all-male secret society at the titular character's school.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• In The Dukes of Hazzard Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane owned a Basset Hound named Flash from the third season on. Sheriff Rosco's best known one liner was "Go get him, Flash!". Flash would subsequently ignore the sheriff.

• Pet webcomic artist Scott Kurtz features a basset hound named Kirby in his comics.<ref>https://www.amazon.com/Scratch-Sniff-PvP-Webcomic-Collection-ebook/dp/B0FHG7BTTX?asin=B0FHG7BTTX&revisionId=8af37e3e&format=3&depth=1</ref>

See also

• Basset Artesien Normand
• Basset Bleu de Gascogne
• Basset Fauve de Bretagne
• Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen
• Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen
• Bloodhound

External links

Template:Commons category —An active listing of Basset Hound links Template:Hounds Template:English dogs Template:Authority control