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G'day from down under

6K views 28 replies 13 participants last post by  steve m 
#1 ·
Hi Guys

I'v been following the threads on your site for a while and have just joined the forum. Quick introduction, I live near Sydney, Australia ( fly from LA to Hawai and keep going in the same direction for another 10 hours ) and am just about to adopt an 18 month old Basset called 'Woody'.

My wife and daughter are really excited about our proposed new family member, and if everything works out OK we will have him on Sunday. It's a 5 hour drive from here to Woody's current home, so I will go down there and stay a couple of hours with him before hopefully bringing him home.

We previoulsy had a lovely Saint Bernard called Hannah, but sadly she passed after 11 years of happy life with us and left a huge hole in our lives. Saints and Bassets have a lot in common in terms of personality and stubborness, so I think we have chosen well.

I will be checking Woody over and seeing how he behaves with me before making the final decision, but would welcome any advice from Basset owners to take into consideration. I have spoken to the breeders that supplied Woody to his owners, and they tell me that their line of Basset's come from a good pedigree line and are regular show winners. We won't be showing Woody, he will be joining us as part of the family and as a companion dog.

I have attached a photo of him, handsome lad isn't he ?
 

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#2 ·
He's BEAUTIFUL! Such a handsome boy. I think being a previous stubborn dog owner, you have a pretty good handle on how to deal with stubborn breeds. I hope everything with your adoption goes well. Can't wait to see more pictures of Woody when you bring him home. Welcome to the forum!
 
#4 ·
Welcome! Yes, he is a handsome guy :) Stubbornness is the worst (yet still endearing) trait of a basset, from my experience. I've never met anyone who challenged by own stubbornness as much as my Molly. Winston is following in her footsteps now. Slow housebreaking is also an issue with puppies, but there's lots of advice here on the boards regarding that. Overall, I think they more than make up for it with their sweetness and silliness.

I hope it works out with him and we get to hear more about his antics...and see pictures :)
 
#5 ·
He is a very handsome boy, and they way he is sitting looks like he is surveying his kingdom!

Bassets can be stubborn, for sure (Boomer says that he is NOT stubborn), but they are sweet dogs. IMHO.

I hope that he works out for you, and we would love to see more pictures and hear about him.

You'll find a wealth of info and friends here.
 
#6 ·
He is a very handsome man indeed.

I've worked with Aussies and New Zealanders pretty frequently so I am used to your kind :p
 
#8 ·
I will be checking Woody over and seeing how he behaves with me before making the final decision
in all honesty a single meeting is not an accurate way to assess a dog.

Temperament Testing in the Age of No-Kill
Despite an article in the September/October 2003 issue of Animal Sheltering magazine, the claims of predictive validity do not stand up to scrutiny. In other words, we can’t say, with any sort of scientific rigor, that the result of a temperament test has a definite correlation to what a dog will do once he or she gets comfortable in a home. If a dog fails his temperament test because the doll that is supposed to resemble a child scares the knickers off of him, does that necessarily mean the dog will react like that with your kid? If a dog passes the test with flying colors, does that necessarily mean that he and the mailman are going to be great pals? We are not sure.

In fact, because of the training and ability of shelter personnel or, more accurately, the lack thereof, if you took two testers and had them test the same dog, you could easily get two different results. If you took the same tester and the same dog over different days, you still might get different results.

...But there are other reasons that temperament testing is so problematic.
One reason is that dogs are highly contextual, and we can’t recreate life experiences in all their complexity. We can put a doll in front of a dog, but not a cooing, arms outstretched, grinning from ear to ear, real little kid who wants to run up to the dog and throw his arms around the pooch.

...Having said all that, let me engage in what appears to be a contradiction: We should still do temperament testing. But, I advocate the use of temperament testing with the caveat that we need to be cognizant of its limitations,
Actual more important than a one time meeting is the experience of those that have owned live with the dog before. What do they say he is like?

What is the "real" reason the dog is available at 18 months. a behavioral issue the original owner could not deal with? Those are the types of question you need to be asking to make a valid evaluation and even then you are reliant on getting truthful answers which have a tendecy not to be forthcoming if it is percieved to jepordize the likelihood you will take the dog. You need to make an evaluation of the truthfulness and completeness of the information you get from others.

I am not suggest you should not do your own temperment testing and evaluation but it must be done with the realization of the limits on accuracy that occur when only see the dog once and in an evironment that is different than the one he will come to live in.


personality and stubborness
Never met a stuborn basset only owners that did not know how to motivate them ;)
 
#11 · (Edited)
in all honesty a single meeting is not an accurate way to assess a dog.


;)

Woody's current owners tell me that he is a well balanced dog, great with kids, house trained and very good on a lead. The family have had a cat for a few years, and they tell me that Woody and the cat are not best of friends and cannot be left alone together. It's for that reason that they are looking for a new home for him. They are 'cat people' and have decided to keep the cat and let Woody go. :confused: ( Maybe Woody can help me chase off the skanky cats that keep lurking around our proerty ? )

We have spoken at length and they have sent me photo's and a video of Woody. The current owner seems very honest and I have no reason to suspect anything is being hidden from me. I will spend a few hours with Woody before making a final decision, but as I will be travelling over 300 miles to see him it's a once only visit.

I have to add that I have been a dog owner myself for over 40 years, this will be number five so I'm not a complete novice here. However your comments have been duly noted and although I don't completely agree with your views, rest assured I will proceed with caution.

My previous dog was a rescue case from the RSPCA and was in a very bad place both physically and emotionally when I got her. With a lot of care and love she became a great dog, so I have no worries about Woody at this stage.

Woody will be living with us on a half acre block, plenty of room to roam around and fully fenced. He will get lots of attention from my family, and be welcome to come to work with me each day of he behaves himself.;)
 
#9 ·
Why is Woody being given up? Do you feel they are being honest about the reason(s).There can't be many breeders of bassets in your country so since you have already made contact with Woody's maybe she can give you many suggestions on how to help him fit in to your lives. Good luck I hope he works out with your family.
 
#10 ·
He is such a handsome fella! Love love love his long ol' ears! I think bubbad has brought up a valid point. Make sure they're not giving you the run around about why they're giving him up. And please post more pictures if you decide to get him! Good luck!
 
#14 ·
Sounds like there isn't much you can't handle. Be sure to post pictures.
 
#19 ·
Well Woody gave me a great welcome when I went to see him and he took me for a long walk whilst I talked to his owner. After a few hours with him I loaded him into the car and made the 5 hour journey home with just one comfort stop on the way.

Woody spent a good few hours sniffing his way around our house and gardens before having his first meal with us. He follows us around like a shadow and just loves to be tickled and patted. However at bedtime he started to get bit distressed and spent a good few hours crying before finally getting a few hours sleep. The previous owners had him sleep in their utility room on a trampoline bed which they gave to us. We put Woody in a similar room here to make it as 'familiar' as possible but he made a few trips to our bedroom to check where we were before settling.

Today we left him alone in the back garden for a few hours, he has a large kennel ( kids cubby house ) with a comfy bed in there and some new toys. When we came back he was stood in the doorway of his kennel howling, and neighbours told us he had been doing it contstantly. I guess he misses his old mum and dad and is very confised about what is happening to him. Maybe he will get better as the week unfolds, but I imagine it will be quite a while before he feels completely at ease in his new home.

He is very well behaved though, he doesn't chew things he's not supposed to, plays gently and doesn't jump up too much and very well trained in the toilet department.

I got rid of the collar he had and bought a new chest harness and lead which has improved my control of him enormously. On the collar and lead he was constantly pulling in his own direction, the harness seems to keep him on ( my ) track a lot better.

Woody still has he's 'boy bits' intact so a trip to the vets is in order in a week or two - not a nice wlecome for him but he will survive without them.

I'll post some pics in a new thread next week when he's settled in and looking more relaxed.
 
#20 ·
I'm so glad your first day and night went so well. And you're right! He'll survive without his boy bits. He'll settle down in a few days I'm sure. Good luck with everything and please post pictures when you can!
 
#25 ·
I will take some photo's over the weekend and post them up in a new thread. Woody is doing very well, he has settled in very quickly and has changed so much over just a few days.

Walking him on a harness instead of a collar has made a huge difference, he plods along happily at the side of me instead of pulling out in front. He loved barking at other dogs, but that has now almost stopped and he now just gives a glance and walks on. He is getting two good walks a day, the morning walk down at the local beach where he has made some doggy friends and loves running around ( plays fox and hound with a poodle-x - his new best friend) The poodle chases a ball, Woody chases the poodle until he eventually runs out of steam and collapses in a heap.

The first few times we left him in the garden whilst we went to work he barked and howled quite a bit, but after just a few days he's stopped and is happy to sit in his cubby house and wait for our return. He has also started playing with the toys we bought him, loves a good chew and pull on a big knotted rope and spends hours trying to get a chicken leg out of the 'kong' toy. It looks like we will all be happy, he is fitting in very well and my 8 year old daughter just loves him.

I have a question - are we walking him too much ? I understand that as pups too much exercise can prevent their joints developing properly, but at 18 months I am assuming he's just about fully developed. We are walking about 2 to 3 miles twice a day, plus he is running around for a good half hour with his doggy mates at the beach. He seems to like it and it certainly has calmed him down a lot, but is it to much ?
 
#26 ·
but at 18 months I am assuming he's just about fully developed. We are walking about 2 to 3 miles twice a day, plus he is running around for a good half hour with his doggy mates at the beach. He seems to like it and it certainly has calmed him down a lot, but is it to much ?
When it comes to how much exercise is too much it is all about the the conditioning/condition of the dog. Bassets are hunters and should be able to hunt at a high energy level all day long. But just like humans If you go out an try this after that sat on the couch all winter long there are bound to be aches and pains. As long as you build up conditioning gradually and consitently the dog sould be able to go all day every day.

You also need to consider nutrition for an active dogs as well. IMHO studies have quitely clearly shown the benefits of a high fat, high protein diet for active dogs.

Preseason Conditioning Plays Important Role in Performance

Hydration Strategies in Sporting Dogs

Nutrition And "Feeding The K9 Service Dog" by Jean Heidker PHD
Thus the high fat, high protein diets are those that result in the best performance and the least injury in dogs.

Dogs that are fed a diet of 28 to 32% protein tend to have fewer training injuries, more oxygen uptake and more red blood cells and less risk of training anemia than those dogs fed a diet lower in protein. Dogs that are fed a high fat diet tend have increased stamina and maximized energy production. Fats also help to conserve body fluid by reducing the amount of nitrogen that must be excreted and minimized fecal volume and fecal water loss. Further they also provide metabolic water, water that is produced by the metabolism of the fat. They also do not create the same heat of digestion as that produced by carbohydrate breakdown and can help a dog to ìwork coolerì in the heat. Typically fat content of a performance dog diet should be between 25 to 32%.
Since switch to a high performance food diet I have not had a soft tissue injury in any of my agility dog, admittedly a small sample size but so far it works for me and given that it is calorical dense you feed less so the increse in cost is pretty much balanced out by feeding less.
 
#27 ·
What was that about a chicken leg in a kong? Steve, you sound as though you have yourself and your family a Gem of a dog.If that is a real chicken leg in the Kong get it out and throw the leg away.If is real and he gets it out he could easily splinter the bone then you will have no dog or some very expensive vet bills. Chicken bones cooked splinter, uncooked(raw) will not ,mine get neither. Have a great time with your new addition.
 
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