Truant19

Hey guys,

I need some advice on my Basset hound, Scooter. My wife and I got Scooter about 8 months ago, and he is around 15 months old. He lives with us along side 3 other dogs, 2 daschunds and a malamute/husky mix.

Ever since we got him he's a been a bit different then the rest of our dogs. He is extremely hyper and needs constant supervision. None of those things bother us, the thing that is driving the entire house crazy is the crying.

He crys..... non stop. I am not exaggerating, he will cry for 6 hours straight, he just never seems happy unless he is sleeping, hiking or eating.

I share a house with my parents who are retired, so he gets as ton of exercise. My parents will take him, with the other dogs for a walk everyday, any where from an hour to 3 hours. Then when me and my wife come home we will take him for another hike for about an hour, or I will take him on a run with me, which is about 7km which takes me about 40 minutes.

None of this seems to matter though, he just crys, he's crying right now. He sits in my room and just crys... its never ending. Even if you put him in the backyard to wander around, he crys.... he will cry for the entire day. You start to go a bit insane and its really starting to make my parents go crazy. My mom is is absolutely the biggest dog lover in the world, but cant stand scooter and is trying to get us to give him away, but I am hoping there is something we can do before we resort to this.

Any ideas?

momofedee

More qualified/experienced members will chime in shortly, but before giving him away, I say a trip to the vet is in order. Some dogs need medication to chill them out a little. Also a walk is great, but maybe he needs just a little more mind stimulation. Try using things that help stimulate his mind...kongs or even a milk/soda container with a small hole cut into it with food inside that he can move around to get the food out. Good luck!

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Edee--basset hound--age 5 ***rescue***
Domino--jack russell--age 3

miss.abbey.road

is he crying or howling?

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Fetch? Sit? Stay? Those are some weird names for a treat... Can I just have it already?

Barney'spal

Can't really help but someone will come along with some advice. I think that the first thing I'd do is take him to the vet to make sure that he's not hurting anywhere...if it's not physical, can't imagine what it could be....poor little guy....gotta be hard on everyone. Keep us posted.

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Properly trained, a man can be a dog's best friend.

Esther

"you ain't nothin' but a hound dawg... cryin' all the time"
*repeat*

CatherineM

I only had one do that, and it was a bad ear infection.


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Truant19

When he is by himself he will only cry. Sometimes if hes with the malamute, the malamute will start to groan (im guessing from frustration) then they can start howling together.

Besides normal vet trips for neutering and shots we have only taken him once. He hurt his knee and was limping. The vet did a physcal and said the dog was in great shape except for a brused knee. He stopped limping after like 2 days and he hasnt shown any other indication of being hurt. That being said though, I am not sure if this is a basset thing or a scooter thing, but he has an insane pain threshold. That scares me a little bit, when the vet is poking around and looking for a reaction and sometimes wonder if he's just too tough. I have seen scooter get stung in the face (multiple times), be hit, smacked, and rolled down banks, and he never even lets out a whimper.

He's not very interested in toys, and food can be a bit hard with 4 other dogs in the house (they don't fight at all, not even when there is food, but they will start to cry and be annoying if one dog is getting food and the others aren't) . We give him raw hide bones, which he loves, but I have read some horror stories so I always keep an eye on him and make sure he eats it slowly.

Is there any noticeable symptoms for ear infection? His ears look ok, and we regularly (once a week or so) clean them with some wipes the vet had recommended.

EDIT: Here is some pictures of the big baby :-)

shakespeare

Bassets are chatty. I work from home most of the time and mine are constantly talking to me when they aren't asleep or relaxing. Like the others said a vet visit to make sure there's not a medical problem. I walk mine about 2 hours a day (not Izzy) . Are you feeding him a good diet - with all that exercise he should be on a good quality high protein and quite a high fat diet and are you feeding him breakfast and dinner? Is he happy with the three other dogs you have? Does he have a place that is his to relax and sleep? Bassets are hugely sensitive and if any thing is amiss they will let you know and it is up to us to work it out.

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The Highbury Hounds Tallulah, Isabel and Margot

-SAN.

I don't have any advice, but I have a question: when you say 'crying' do you mean he's whimpering, or whining, or baying? Is there anyway you could video him during this behavior then post it here, so we can see exactly what he's doing?

He's a beautiful Basset, by the way - he looks a lot like our Maddie.

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So, is it voice? Or just the face
that captures me, and haunts me so.
Or, am I meant to never know?


-San.

Truant19

We usually only feed our dogs breakfast, but I have noticed that he really enjoys dinner. Were thinking about splitting the dogs meals up and feeding them twice, the other dogs don't seem to care.

We do buy high quality food, but I don't think its to high on fat content. Do you recommend anything beyond a good dog food? I have seen some websites talk about feeding their dogs chicken breast and rice, but that would be pretty expensive.

The alone time thing is probably the best way to get him to stop, but I am never sure if its cruel or not. Sometimes when there is just no pleasing him (feed him a little extra, give him a good massage, let him outside for a bit etc..) sometimes well stick him in his crate in another room and turn the light off. He usually stops pretty fast and starts sleeping. But I am scared that this is mean to him, excluding him from the 'pack', but then again, maybe he just needs some alone time.


I am not sure what the difference is between all of those. If he does it tonight (I am sure he will, lol) I will try and remember to record it on my phone.

Thanks, I think he is gorgeous! I absolutely love him to death, I just want him to be happy.