Basset hound lovers unite!

I was filling out an online dog show entry, and realized I had forgotten to brag about all of Daisy's milestones recently :) I love to show her off so bear with me, I think she's the sweetest...

May 25th Daisy turned 9, hooray!

June 14th she qualified for her first leg of her Rally Obedience title, AND got 2nd place in her class! (her first show!)

and on June 20th she officially became Daisy Duke Garrett, CGC! She passed her Canine Good Citizen test on the first try, and I could not be prouder!

One of my fav pictures of the Goober:

HAPPY (belated) 4TH EVERYONE!

My husband had a Basset Hound as a kid, and has been dreaming about owning a basset hound for the past 5 years...today I caved and we picked up this puddle of puppy.  I'm new to puppy-ownership and am hoping I can get questions answered from folks in the know here. 

No name for him yet, but here he is.  We're in Southern California.  Any right-off-the-bat tips?

My poor basset Groucho seems to have some pretty acute separation anxiety - apparently he barks all day long when we're gone. He's a rescue dog, so it's not like it's an unheard of problem, but we live in an apartment building, and I'm totally paranoid about our neighbours complaining and us getting kicked out/having to get rid of our pooch :(

We've tried to give him a plush life, letting him sleep on the bed and all, but it's just made him more attached to us (me in particular) - and his separation anxiety worse! The internet has only been a little helpful (contradictory advice 101), and my daughter-of-a-dog-trainer friend suggested we muzzle him.

We want him to be a happy, confident, independent, dog, and we can see him coming around a little - he'll occasionally play tug with us now, and will sometimes play with his toys on his own - but overall he's very clingy and yeah, starts barking almost immediately after we leave.

Has anyone successfully dealt with a barking problem? What works best for a basset? Point me at some resources that have helped? I'm really on edge from worry here folks :(

So, give me your verdicts!

Collar & leash? Choke chain? Pinch collar? or harness?

Groucho was pulling so hard on the choke chain that came with him that we've switched over to a pinch collar - it looks like serious hardware, but they're much less likely to damage a dog's throat, and besides, Groucho has an extra dog worth of scruff, so I don't think he's too troubled by it.

I've noticed a lot of community members use harnesses - how do you find it?

Sharing some pictures today of the bassets. :) We have Beau, the lazy big-brother basset who is so completely laid-back, and we have Penny, who apparently is going to be a little basset. She was the runt of her litter, and she's from the same parents as Beau, but she's reached her full size, and she's not even half his size (she makes up for it by being a pig! We have to watch what she eats because she gets fat very quick, and she's a thieving intelligent basset, lol).

Pictures. ^__^

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Flashie is six today! :)


More pictures of my cute Basset...
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How do you all interpret their various verbal noises?  All of us Basset owners know that our dogs are really verbal and whine, whimper, squeal, and make all sorts of other random noises. 

I guess my biggest question is how do you interpret it when your dog is sleeping / laying on the couch happily, and then sits up, looks at you and whimpers?  Or stays laying down in the same instance and makes a noise of sorts?

It seems- to me- to be a request for attention / petting.  First off- trust me- my dog is not lacking for any attention- I love her so much.  At any rate, I'm wary of falling into a trap of her constantly whimpering to demand attention.  About a year ago we fell into this cycle where she'd whimper for attention while laying down, and then as soon as I sat back down after petting her, she'd whimper again and not stop until I pet her once again.  I don't want to get back into that- has anyone else had this experience? 

And on that note, is responding to these random, un-prompted noises something we want to encourage or discourage?

Basset's are so funny- they make such a wider range of noises and vocalizations than other dogs and you never know it until you own one.  So how do you all interpret all their expressions?

I look forward to all your thoughts about this- I'm really curious.

Congratulations to Groucho & girl_fawkes & warmbear! (Yes I am a sucker for bassets with good names, what can I say, hehe).



Also! I am in the process of making a little intro survey so we can get to know everyone (and their bassets of course) a little better. Do any of y'all have suggestions of questions that should be on it? Thanks!

More pooch photos

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Hello all-

I was just wondering if any of you has tried DAP for your dog's anxiety (separation or otherwise)? The vet suggested it for Wrigley today.

Thanks!

behtzie running for the exit being antisocial at the michigan basset waddle picnic.

here come the bassets

I posted here a couple weeks ago about Casey's scent gland problem. The vet said she had an infection in her right one and she got all the fluid out that she could. Casey Belle was prescribed Amoxicillin for a week and it seemed to clear up. This weekend it came back, worse than before. This time accompanied by occasional blood and/or bloody discharge. I got her into the vet early yesterday morning and a different vet looked at her and said the infection is now in the left gland but that he got all the fluid out of both glands but that there was some blood that did come out. He also put her on Clindamycin for 10 days. He said there could be a tumor but that he didn't feel anything at the time of exam. She hardly had any draining yesterday before I went to work but my fiancee said that after she went potty yesterday she had a bit of blood. I just took her downstairs and she had some more so I cleaned her up and let her out. She did her stuff and there was another small amount but nothing else in the last half hour or so. I called the vet to ask if some of this was expected the next few days or if he thinks the blood warrants a more thorough exam. He was with someone so I am waiting for his reply. For those whose houndies have ever had a pretty bad infection: Has it come along with blood? Or was a tumor ever found? I am on pins and needles right now. I am scared :(

The Furminator grooming tool is THE BEST. I ordered one on amazon, and it came in the mail yesterday. I pulled a RIDICULOUS amount of fur off of Flash. This may be the best investment I've EVER made! No Kidding!