Bassets

[henryhsmum]

Has anyone on here got a basset hound? I am thinking if getting a dog but it has to be cat and child friendly. I have 2 pedigree cats one of which I hope to breed from so I need a breed that is calm around cats. I have always loved bassets but would love to find out a bit more

My foster greyhound lives quite happily with my cat. She occassionally barks at him but it's a "get down from up there and play with me!" bark

The issue about basset stubborness depends on your household dynamics and in particular the personality of the person who will be their main carer.

I was a control freak and needed everything to be perfect, whether to do with my house, DD, outings etc etc. Having had various animals all my life, cats, staffies, I thought I could handle the combined force of 2 hounds. But I can't emphasise how powerful they can be as young dogs. I think we eventually gave up having friends round for meals as none of them could understand how good bassets are as food thieves, from the dinner table, right under their noses...

I do have to say they never did biting as puppies. Just ate everything from Sylvanian Families to loo rolls to raw sprouts. And they were strangely deferential to the cats, the cats almost ranking more highly in the pack....

But if you are after a dog that will trot along behind you when are around the house or in the garden, I'd say forget it. One of my best friends had bassets as a child near Bath in fabulous dog friendly grounds, yet they always escaped and went walkabout, usually being picked up eventually by someone when their paws were bleeding from walking so far on roads.....

Before we got our new pup (miniature schnauzer), I had my heart set on a PBGV - I love them.

However, speaking to 3 different owners made me change my mind.

It was the whole very hard to train story and that they're notorious for disappearing when they get a scent. It's very rural where we are, so I had visions of myself scouring the countryside for a lost dog!

Still love them though!

VEB I had a PBGV! He lived to be 16 and much as we loved him he was not the best of family dogs. He barked very loudly all the time - to go out, come in, for doors to be opened to be fed, because he fancied a walk or there was a cat in the garden. He was very hard to keep clean and liked to eat all sorts of poo, and he ran away after a scent the minute you let him off the lead until he was about 10, when we had 4 happy years of relative obedience. He was very soppy and affectionate though, the sort of dog you love to distraction but have a pretty hard time living with. We had a dachshund before teh PBGV and were convinced we were hound people, until we got our Staffy, now we realise the error of our ways.