The Basset Hound is a short-legged
breed of
dog in the
hound family. The Basset is a
scent hound that was originally bred for the purpose of
huntinghare. Their sense of smell and ability to ground-scent is second only to the
Bloodhound.[1]
Basset Hounds are one of six recognized "
basset"-type breeds in France. The name Basset is derived from the French word bas, meaning 'low', with the attenuating suffix -et—together meaning 'rather low'. Basset Hounds are usually
bicolours or
tricolours of standard hound coloration.
Description
Appearance
Bassets are large, short, solid and long, with curved sabre
tails held high over their long backs. An adult dog weighs between 20 and 35 kilograms (44 and 77 lb). This breed, relative to its size, is heavier-boned than any other.[2]
This breed, like its ancestor the
Bloodhound, has a hanging
skin structure, which causes the face to tend to have a sad look; this, for many people, adds to the breed's charm. The loose elastic skin around the neck is known as the
dewlap. The Bloodhound has the longest ears of any breed.[3][4]
Coat
The EM allele produces a black mask on the face that may extend up around the eyes and onto the ears. This pattern is most easily seen on mahogany dogs, although any Basset color pattern may express the EM allele, except for "red and white" or "lemon and white" due to e/e.[6]
Temperament
The Basset Hound is a friendly, outgoing, and playful dog, tolerant of children and other pets.[5]
Health
Osteochondrodysplasia
The Basset Hound's short stature is due to the genetic condition
osteochondrodysplasia.[7] 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.[8]
Life expectancy
Median longevity of Basset Hounds is about 10.3 years in France and 11.3 years in the UK.[9][10] Leading causes of death in the 2004 UK Kennel Club survey were cancer (31%), old age (13%),
gastric dilatation volvulus (11%), and cardiac (8%).[9]
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.[15]
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,[17] 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.[18] 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.[17]
France
The first mention of a "Basset" dog appeared in La Venerie, an illustrated hunting text written by Jacques du Fouilloux in 1585.[19][20] 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.[21] Ten years later in 1863 at the first exhibition of dogs held in Paris, Basset Hounds attained international attention.[22]
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.[23]
England
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.[24] The first breed standard for what is now known as the Basset Hound was made in Great Britain at the end of 19th century.[25] This standard was updated in 2010.[26]
Hunting with Bassets
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.[27]
In popular culture
Basset Hounds have been featured in popular culture many times. Some artists, such as director
Mamoru Oshii and webcomic artist
Scott Kurtz, regularly feature their pet Bassets in their work.
Many cartoon dogs are based on the Basset, such as
Droopy, with several Bassets appearing in animated
Disney films. Syndicated comic strip Fred Basset 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.[29]
In the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard, a Basset Hound called Flash served as a companion to Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane.
In the series Foofur, a Basset Hound named Dolly, is the affection of Foofur and Burt's.
Another television Basset in the 1950s was Morgan. He appeared often 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, playing against
Tom Bosley in 1959.[30] He had a plush toy modeled on him.[31] and appeared in a Life magazine article.[32] Despite the article, he was never known as J J Morgan.
In the television series Columbo,
Lieutenant Columbo owns a Basset Hound named Dog. Originally, it was not going to appear in the show because
Peter Falk believed that it "already had enough gimmicks" but once the two met, Falk stated that Dog "was exactly the type of dog that Columbo would own", so he was added to the show and made his first appearance in 1972's "
Étude in Black".[33]
Basset Hounds are often used as advertising logos. The
logo for
Hush Puppies brand shoes prominently features a Basset Hound whose real name is Jason.[35] Basset Hounds are occasionally referred to as "hush puppies" for that reason. A Basset Hound also serves as the companion to the lonely Maytag Man in
Maytag appliance
advertisements. Tidewater Petroleum advertised its "Flying A" gasoline using a Basset Hound named Axelrod.
In video game series Freedom Planet,[citation needed] one of characters is an anthropomorphic Basset Hound called Milla.
In the TV animated series PAW Patrol, season 9 introduced a Basset Hound pup named Al who is a
truck driver that speaks trucker and is a member of the Paw Patrol.
^Gelatt, Kirk N.; MacKay, Edward O. (February 18, 2004). "Prevalence of the breed‐related glaucomas in pure‐bred dogs in North America". Veterinary Ophthalmology. 7 (2). Wiley: 97–111.
doi:
10.1111/j.1463-5224.2004.04006.x.
ISSN1463-5216.
^Bell, Jerold S. (2014). "Inherited and Predisposing Factors in the Development of Gastric Dilatation Volvulus in Dogs". Topics in Companion Animal Medicine. 29 (3). Elsevier BV: 60–63.
doi:
10.1053/j.tcam.2014.09.002.
ISSN1938-9736.
^Glickman, Lawrence T.; Glickman, Nita W.; Pérez, Cynthia M.; Schellenberg, Diana B.; Lantz, Gary C. (May 1, 1994). "Analysis of risk factors for gastric dilatation and dilatation-volvulus in dogs". Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 204 (9). American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA): 1465–1471.
doi:
10.2460/javma.1994.204.09.1465.
ISSN0003-1488.
^Mattson, Joan C.; Estry, Douglas W.; Bell, Thomas G.; Patterson, Wayne R. (1986). "Defective contact activation of platelets from dogs with basset hound hereditary thrombopathy". Thrombosis Research. 44 (1). Elsevier BV: 23–38.
doi:
10.1016/0049-3848(86)90177-5.
ISSN0049-3848.
^Hnilica, Keith A.; Patterson, Adam P. (September 19, 2016). Small Animal Dermatology. St. Louis (Miss.): Saunders.
ISBN978-0-323-37651-8.