Allison,Lightning&Stomps

I was told that there are two physical types of bassets, what I call "the Hush Puppy" type and the field-hunting type, which was described to me as lighter of bone and less droopy, for lack of a better word. Is this true? Does anyone have photos of the field-hunting type?

pinehawk

they are the same as far as i'm concerned,our dogs look smaller because they are in running shape most of the time.take a show dog teach it to run rabbits and it will get in shape real fast.feed them like they are running when they are not and they will blow up fast.

__________________
</font>[list]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

Anonymous

People who breed Bassets for the conformation ring strive to come as close to the breed standard with their breeding. These are the droopier, larger Bassets you are referring to. Those who compete mainly in the field usually breed their Bassets based on hunting ability. They are generally faster, smaller, leggier, with tighter skin and do not come as close to the breed standard as the conformation Bassets. There are more "typey" Bassets competing in the field these days. They are both the same breed, they just look a little different. Alot of sporting dogs used for hunting look very dissimilar to the ones you see in the breed ring. Belinda.

Anonymous

P.S. If you want to photos of field Bassets go to the Basset Hound Club of America's website and look up Field Trials. I think th American Hunting Basset Association website may also have photos. Take care, Belinda.

Allison,Lightning&Stomps

Thanks Belinda. I got Lightning from a breeder in Virginia's hunt country, and everyone who saw him remarked on how beautiful he is. But he's exactly as you described the hunting type and not the more conformationally correct type. (But I can tell you he's no hunter--a rabbit could swat him in the face and he wouldn't notice!) I would love to see bassets hunting. It's got to be quite an impressive sight! I'll check out the photos on the sites you mentioned.