A short-legged dog with such size and bone can't run all day in the field.
My grandpa tells lots of dog stories.
Among them was the story of a basset hound, a dog with such short legs that they cooked out to the sides. This animal had been purchased from a pet breeder in the hopes of making him into a good rabbit hound.
But that’s not what happened.
He had the instincts and drives to chase the rabbits. He relished a good chance to flush the cottontails from the briars.
However, unlike the more common field-bred beagle, which is the main rabbit hound in these parts, he couldn’t run for more than 45 minutes without getting so worn out that he had to lie down.
He would wear out too easily. His big size and short legs meant that he had to work very hard to get up and down the steep hills. His long ears also got torn to bits in the thorns, and his “extra skin” got cut to pieces in the undergrowth.
It was not that he didn’t have the instincts or the ability. It was that his conformation was all wrong.
The truth needs to be known about bassets.
They are part of a large family of “low-set” hounds in France.(“Bas” means low). There are many breeds. The one we call the basset is actually largely derived from the basset breed native to Normandy, the Basset artésien normand. This breed was imported to Britain, where it was “improved” into the show basset we all know.
Here is that breed:
Note the longer legs, less excessive skin, shorter ears, and lighter frame.
There are also working strain bassets, which have the lighter frames, shorter ears, and tighter skin.
Now, why does the show basset has such screwy conformation? Once agiain, the culprit is, dog shows. In fact, that’s the only place where a dog with such bizarre conformation would have any utility. And the basset hound standard isn’t designed for function. It is largely based upon the caprices of the fickle fancy with “fancy points” becoming institutionalized and then written into the standard.
And just watch the reaction of breeders of show bassets when they are challenged about the terrible conformation of their dogs:
From foundonly.
I had a surreal moment yesterday at Colorado’s (and the surrounding states) largest dog show. I wasn’t showing any of my dogs in conformation or agility or anything this year, but Celeste’s breeder was in town from Idaho and so I drove down to let her see how Celeste is maturing and watch her run her new stud dog in Agility.
Ringside following the Border Collies being judged in conformation, one of those nexus moments happened. My breeder from out of state, the woman I take working/herding lessons from, and one of the show breeders I know well were literally within inches of each other. The three estates (sport, work, and show) colliding.
The difference in opinions was simply amazing. My breeder who had won Best of Breed with her new stud dog the day before was in a hurry to get to the real action over in the Agility ring the next building over. My herding instructor and her trialing friend were simply disgusted with the dog that won that day, noting that not only had the dog likely never seen sheep but had horrible structure to actually do any work, and my show friend was delighted that the puppy she bred was 13 points toward her 15 point championship.
Hilarious.
I don’t know how you could have a conversation in that situation.
Well perhaps there needs to be an alternative registry to the AKC and its current equivalents? It is after all, when everything is said and done, just a registry. They do little to nothing to stop puppy mills or curb poor breeding practices. All they really do is collect fees for registering your litters through them and then flipping a portion of that income to sponsor dog shows. Which is probably another reason commercial breeders and Puppy Mills continue to exist. But, they’ve made these events into a collection of snobs with skewed ideas on what the perfect representation of a dog should be and then proceed to parade their mutants around a ring for the opinion of one person to judge the dog, oh and throw in how the owner dresses too, because its apparently not about just the dog when you go to a dog show. A registry that rewards on health and not conformation would certainly change things. A championship based on excellent health clearances and temperament would rattle the ground beneath the current status quo.
Sure the AKC also contributes some of its funding to study the causes of genetic defects in the pure breeds that they acknowledge. But, if they can’t enforce better practices from all the registered breeders to help these animals based off of these findings then what good is it? Too many breeders just won’t change a thing from the way they are doing things now. I remember a time when no one was forced to have to spay or neuter their dogs based off of a contract. When new owners were asked to delay such a decision until the health of the animal could be determined at a later date and then a decision made on breeding it to another excellent “HEALTHY” specimen. If more people knew their rights and knew the true situation with todays genetic stock then perhaps the trend to spay and neuter would be changed to a period of determination before “fixing” your dog. My first FCR was very impressive in my opinion and others, we attended fun matches with him and well, he didn’t disappoint. Yet, the breeders did a curious thing. They registered his litter with limited registration. Which I can understand, but they also did something odd. They would not forward his papers to me until after he was neutered and they required his neuter within his first year of life. Which according to the AKC means I was literally sold an unregistrable dog, but it gets worse… I was also expected to get OFA and CERF clearances in the dog’s second year. Again something fruitless if they determine the dog was in excellent health because the potential contribution would have already castrated away a year prior. We decided to pass on the papers at that point. And cleared our decision with our Lawyers who clearly pointed out that such practices of selling an AKC registrable dog without the supporting paperwork nulls the contracts since a misrepresentation of the product, in this case the AKC registrable dog had occurred. But, that’s neither here nor there at the moment. We had an oops litter sired by this big guy. And it turned out to be a wonderful thing and a window into the past for the FCR. And caused the breed clubs, which we refused to join, to come down on us. But because of their very harassing practices it reinforced what we already knew about the plight of the AKC.
If forced to change with lawsuits, then the Registries will cry that the current memberships will leave them and further hobble their finances. At least that’s what the Registry in England claimed before Crufts was pulled off the air. I say let the members who wish to leave…. leave. Change the standards and promote best practices and they’ll see a new crowd join where the old school once was. Taking a hit for the benefit of these breeds would be worth it. And the long term rewards may see more interest in the registry than ever before. And result in better dogs. If change just wasn’t so difficult, then maybe.
The AKC membership has dropped to a point where it is alarming the foundation. They are looking for ways to increase membership and interest in their registry, yet don’t seem driven to do much more than collect information on our dogs for a fee. I’d rather pay my fee to a registry that is more proactive in in the overall health of all the dogs that are in its records. But because the existing breed clubs seem so “good ol boy” or exclusively discriminatory in their ways its really no wonder why the AKC has taken a hit in the wallet. They can blame it on a very fanatic driven dog fancy confirming to the public that they indeed are all a bunch of snobs and pretentious folk who have nothing but cosmetic concerns for their animals. And the current practice of contractually obligating the spay and neuter regardless of health has had more of a damaging effect than positive on the breeding populations over the past couple of decades. Its gotten to a point where the Veterinarians constantly ask, when do you want to neuter/spay or they just flat out say that you should neuter or spay. My answer everytime, well let me see doc, wouldn’t you want to know if you had a genetic defect that you could pass onto your offspring before deciding to castrate yourself, and if you did know, would you castrate yourself? The baffled look is very amusing.
Who said that the AKC and its counterparts are the end all be all? If the Lacy Dogs are doing things right and don’t rely on a dying registry to achieve success in their goals, then others can too. These established kennel clubs either need to review what is happening with the Lacy dogs and repair what they’ve managed to muck up for all these decades, or the next mutation of the Goldens that our beloved blogger here is fighting for will start to have baggy folds of skin and Wrinkled foreheads added to the breed standard.
Let me show you an alternative registry for Jack Russells and their registration criteria:
http://www.therealjackrussell.com/jrtca/registry.php
I think we should have that for all breeds that have a purpose.
Well, when you look at the Jack Russell registration criteria, they have a lot more genetic diversity in that strain than most other dogs.
They are basically the old hunt strain of fox terrier.
Now, in Europe and Latin America, most male dogs aren’t castrated. In Sweden, it used to be illegal.
I have a dog book translated from German, and it says to castrate male dogs only if there is a severe behavioral or medical problem. Spaying females, though, is good for their health. I’ve never heard a US vet say this, but we do know that if you want a dog that has some maleness to him, you let him mature before gelding.
A friend of ours raises Tennessee walking horses, and he gets all sorts of heck because he gelds at 18 months, not earlier. He just wants a his geldings to develop more before gelding.
The best rabbit dog I ever saw was a Basset-Beagle X owned by extended family in WI. He was tireless and could keep a family of 6 fed if they really liked rabbit. Note: that he actually caught and killed the rabbits, then brought them home to share w/ the family (unlike my daughter’s Saint, who eats bunnies on the spot.)