Anyone own a Basset Hound?

[danger]

My wife and I are moving soon, and we are considering a dog to go with the new house.

We want a small to med size dog that can be home alone during the day, needs little exercise and most important has a laid back disposition.

Any experience or suggestions?

[Shark Bait]

We have two of them and I would strongly suggest you order a book called "The Basset Hound Owner's Survival Guide" and read it. :grin:

They are very laid back until they see something that catches their attention (which could be anything). Then it is like you flipped a switch. They have more energy than you think. Of course it is pretty neat when they start baying at Perry Mason (the oldest dogs favorite show) or the Final Jeopardy music. They are also very good with kids and let my niece and neighbor's daughter crawl all over them.

If you have any specific questions let me know, but I really think that you should read that book first. I would let you borrow ours, but it wasn't returned by the last person. Or maybe the dogs ate it to try and stop the spread of the truth?

[danger]

Is that the soft cover book with a brown border cover...I have been doing some research and I think I read most of that one standing at borders.

[garyk]

A characteristic (in general) of all the hound breeds is they don't have the innate desire to please their owner, as opposed to say, Labrador Retrievers.

At the same time, that trait makes separation-anxiety much less of an issue -- a real plus if the dog has to spend a lot of time alone.

With bassets, housebreaking can be problematic.

Another variety of dogs that are surprising couch-potatos and can do well in apartments is greyhounds. A lot of them are content to sleep about 23 hours a day - not a bad life !!

[ORrinker]

I think they are great. You better be prepared for that bark:-) It is loud and penetrating. Our neighbors had one and he barked at us every time we went into our back yard for the whole 3 years we lived there?? We wanted one but my wife was not sure she wanted to deal with the bark. They do seem to be great dogs though.

[Shark Bait]

A characteristic (in general) of all the hound breeds is they don't have the innate desire to please their owner, as opposed to say, Labrador Retrievers.

Our oldest is more like a cat than a dog when it comes to listening to us or doing what we want. Obedience training is pretty much wasted on Basset's.

This is it: