[steve m]

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 ?

 

[roscolaylamommy]

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!

 

[Annie714]

Woody is a VERY handsome young man! Annie is very impressed with the length of his beautiful ears and his GIGANTIC paws! Hope your meeting him goes well and we can see more pictures

 

[MollyMcFrecklesMom]

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

 

[Boomer's Mom]

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.

 

[Kirska]

He is a very handsome man indeed.

I've worked with Aussies and New Zealanders pretty frequently so I am used to your kind

 

[Esther]

i'm not stubborn. i'm independent. except in the food category tho... heehee


btw kewl paws there woody!
(what big paws you have)

 

[Mikey T]

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

 

[bubbad]

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.

 

[mhvonalmen8908]

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!

 

[steve m]

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. ( 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.

 

[klm42005]

Woody is a very handsome dog.....good luck and keep us posted.

BTW, LOVE the name...

Woody Hayes and his mom ( I go my baby woody to my peeps)

 

[bubbad]

Ok as long as you feel everything is above board ,great.I hope you stay in contact with his breeder and let them know how things are going I'm sure they are concerned too. Keep us posted we would love to hear more about him once you have him home.

 

[Kirska]

Sounds like there isn't much you can't handle. Be sure to post pictures.

 

[Esther]

oh man i wish i could go to work with my people
one is a bank, one is a hostpital. not happening.
dangit. they should just quit and focus on MEMEMEMEME

 

[Wworm]

Welcome! look forward to hearing about how it goes w/Woody. He does look handsome on that chair, indeed!

 

[mhvonalmen8908]

and be welcome to come to work with me each day of he behaves himself.

Well then he'll never be going to work with you! I'm just kidding though. Sometimes I wish my husband could take the dogs to work with him. Then I would have the whole house to myself!!!

But it sounds like you know what you're getting into with Carlos and are willing and able to take care of him. That's fantastic and please post more pictures when you get him home. We love to fawn over pics of dogs new to the board. Congratulations again!

 

[Mikey T]

Ok as long as you feel everything is above board ,great

couldn't of said it any better,

 

[steve m]

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.

 

[mhvonalmen8908]

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!