Gracie's Mama

Hello all!

I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm a new basset mommy. Gracie joined our family 6 days ago. We're really happy to have her. The whole family loves her already. I'm actually a little worried she will become too spoiled!
As a new basset mommy I do have some questions. We will be taking her to the vet and I'm sure she will answer most of my questions. But there are a few things I would like to ask you guys.
We really love Gracie and she has been a joy. But, she whines....a lot. This is normal, right? I did read that bassets are vocal. And boy is Gracie vocal! My question is...is it possible to teach a basset a "quiet" command? I taught our lab "quiet" but, it only took a few days. Gracie doesnt seem to be picking it up as quickly. I'm not giving up by any means. But I was just curious...do you your bassets know a "quiet" command?

Geekerbell

Welcome to Gracie and her mama!!
I am also pretty new to being a basset mommy, and everyone here is wonderful! A perfect place to have your questions answered.

I'm sure others will have much better advice, but our Molly did whine quite a bit when we brought her home. It got much better after a couple of weeks. We did not teach her a quiet command, but instead ignored the whining/barking until she was quiet, then went to her and played with her, praised her etc. At first we would have to go to her when there was just a few seconds of silence, because it seemed like the whining was constant. Then we could wait a little longer. Now if she does start the whining, I will turn my back to her, she stops almost immediately and I can turn back to her and give her attention.

Hope that helps!

Laura and Molly

Esther

"You ain't nothin' but a hound dawg; cryin' all the time"
~E.Presley

the defense rests

Geekerbell

Hahaha Esther! So true!

Gracie's Mama

Haha Esther! We actually sing that song to her!

Laura - We will try to ignore her more. Daddy gives in after awhile. That cant be helping! She's a smart girl. She probably already has his figured out!

Geekerbell

Aahhh... I understand. Molly's daddy is the same way. Of course that just reinforces that her barking/whining is getting attention and then makes it harder to extinguish in the long run. Random reinforcement or something like that; kinda like a slot machine. Can't remember exactly what it is called.

I was lucky in that I am the one home with her all day and most evenings, so I was able to extinguish the behavior pretty well. But when daddy is around on the weekends, sometimes it's a whole other story. And that's when I resort to constant activity (puppy class, Home Depot and Petsmart walks, neighborhood walks, going down to the river to chase the ducks lol) to tire her out so much that when she gets home all she wants to do is sleep! hehe

And where abouts in North TX are you? We live down near Austin. My family lives in Aledo and Stephenville.

Good luck!

Gracie's Mama

We are north of Dallas by about an hour. Oh. What do you do about ears getting soaked in the water bowl? Gracie's ears get dipped into the water almost everytime she gets a drink. It makes her cold and shiver.

Geekerbell

Oh my, the ears... *sigh*
Well, we don't do anything about it, just clean them and dry them off, a lot! I actually think Molly likes getting her ears wet. There have been numerous occasions when she goes over to the water bowl and lays down directly next to it so that one of her ears is completely in the water.
I have seen a few suggestions from people on her such as clipping them up, using a "scrunchy" hair band to hold them back, and a baseball cap. Also someone posted a link for (and I may not have this correct) a snoodie or a snood? It looks like a head covering that you would put on a dog so and it keep ears covered.
But like I said, for now we just let her do whatver she wants with her ears, and just clean up! LOL

Gracie's Mama

lol. Well I dont think Gracie would like to have anything put on her head or ears. So I guess we will just keep the "ear towel" handy.

Esther

and drool towel, but that's another matter entirely.
i have a bowl made for long-eared breeds that works pretty well.