[LibbyRed]

I thought I had a well fenced back yard until Miss Libby found a small opening which I didn't see before. This happened on Monday. I was looking for her everywhere. I was freaking out because I couldn't find her.
So I headed for the vet and as I opened the front door there she was. She came inside like it was nothing. She just took the liberty to go out for a walk on her own.

I read that Bassets supposedly don't know their way back home, but I'm not sure about that anymore since Libby came back.
I covered that opening really well. It was a bittersweet moment.

 

[Emma and Doris]

Good to hear a happy ending,
I've seen several stories about
escaped bassets ending much worse.

Emma has always found her way back,
but I wouldn't recommend anyone to asume
they will.


--------------------
<span style="color:#009900">The one that drools rules,
Steinar - daddy and foodslave to Emma and Doris!

http://www.basset-hound.net.tf</span>

 

[Rubydoo]

My childhood basset Bud couldn't find his way home from next door, but then again he had never been there B4.....I don't know about Ruby finding her way home. I'd be afraid to try it.

 

[faysie]

My Bassets go straight to where the kids live. Down the street, around the corner. A couple of years ago, Belvedere went to the house down the street where the old guy hands out Alpo snacks in the evening. He used to just race to that house on our walks. That's the first place I looked when he got out.

 

[Sandy and Bo]

I had a basset as a kid. This was waaaaay back in the day when dogs were allowed to run free. We even had our dog door right beside our front door.
Brutus had the run of the city. It was nothing for her to show up at my school, or downtown. She seemed to have her own little daily route.
She came and went as she pleased. But always came home by supper time. Even at our cabin at the lake, she had run of the land, but showed up later in the day. So I think they do know how to get home, but only when they're good and ready.
In hindsight, we were soooo lucky she didn't get hit by a car. or stolen. I could NEVER let my hounds run loose now, I'd be sick with worry...

Sandy

 

[BubbaLeroy]

Where we used to live about 15 years ago in Missouri one of the neighborhood families has a Basset named Mortimer. He walked the neighborhood every morning, sat with the kids at the bus stop, and would then head back home to snooze away the day. You never saw him in the middle of the street , always walked by the curbing. Pretty smart guy.

 

[mgbrown66]

I believe the problem with bassets is they can pickup a scent which can take them very far off the normal routine. So far they can't find their way back.

 

[Sabian's mom]

Glad you had a happy ending. One time Sabian got out and I found him at a child daycare happily sitting on a couch eating treats!

 

[Valerie and George]

George has taken off a couple of times. Once his outdoor lead broke and once he unhooked it (that's the most recent, and Gigi told on him; if we'd only realized she was telling on him, we'd have gone after him before the neighbors had to call and tell us he was at their house! We thought she was just barking to hear her head rattle.) He'd never find his way home. He's too easily distracted by smells and small children who want to fawn over him. Gigi broke the lead once, too -- yes, we bought a much stouter one! -- and she went for a walk by herself and came home when she was good and ready. She knows where the cheese is kept.

 

[kittiesareus]

Its so funny that this came up because my hubby and I were wondering the same thing. We want to buy a wooded lot, a few acres of trees that we can explore and we were discussing how we would fence in 5 acres! I was thinking about the info that was ground into my head "never let a basset off the leash" I always wondered how people knew that their dogs were trustworthy to be able to stay off leash. I am to scared to try it.

I did loose duncan once, we were standing in the driveway and I was talking to someone and lost track of the dogs. I saw him down the street on the neighbors lawn and when I called for him he perked up his ears ( as best a basset can ) and promptly went and sat at the door to the neighbors house. You could tell that he could hear me but couldn't figure out which direction it was coming from. he kept turning his head around. When he saw me he then came running and came back to the correct house on his own.

 

[sadeyes2]

Toby is off lead at the park and at the beach, but I am always there ready with a treat if he gets too far away. My back garden is totally fenced in and the only way out is through the house. The front door has a baby gate in front which must be opened and then closed to answer the door. I know of one basset who escaped from the garden and was killed on the road 5minutes later. If he ever did escape, I would be totally panic stricken I think you are so fortunate that she came back it could so easily have been a different story.

 

[Seth-7557]

Bassett hounds can and do find there way home. Some of our dogs fail to return to the truck after a day of hunting. We were forced to leave em there and 3 days and 9 miles later they show up at our house. Other hunters have had the same experience with their Bassett hounds. The natural instinct of these dogs is far stronger than we give them credit for. They have an amazing sense of direction. We were also given a hound from a neighbor 12 miles away, one day in the middle of a terrible snowstorm she went missing and 2 days and 2 nights later showed up at his house hungry and exhausted.

 

[Jnfr]

So glad to hear it turned out good for you.

I don't let mine(on purpose) go on "walk about" but Jake has managed to escape a couple of times. I go into full panic mode (we live on a rural road, but the cars fly down it) fortunately, he seems to head out back into the woods (smells I guess) So we've been lucky with him.

One night, I was awakened to put them out in the middle of the night, went to let them back in and Abby wasn't out there.... I completely lost my mind, woke up the whole house......... turns out, I never let her out, she was still cuddled up on the bed (UHG... Don't do this to momma when she is mostly asleep!)

Another time, before I had my own dogs, I found a basset wandering on a busy, curvy country road. Pulled over and easily coaxed it into my car and took it home. I was SURE he would get hit out there. I was living in my folks house at the time and their dogs were not too keen on his presence... but he was a really sweet dog. He stayed in the garage for about 3 days before I found his owner... Apparently he was somewhat of an escape artist and followed his nose.