BASSET DOG – Information About Dogs – The basset, which is little known in this country, was imported into England from France between fifty and sixty years ago. It was a popular sporting dog in Germany and Russia also at that time.
THIS TEXT IS EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK:
“THE BOOK OF DOGS – OUR COMMON DOGS” BY LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES AND ERNEST HAROLD BAYNES
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES
PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY WASHINGTON, D. C. U. S. A. 1919
With its keen scent, extremely short legs, and very slow movements, it was well equipped for finding game in dense cover. The face of the rough basset is often very wistful; it is one of the most beautiful canine faces I know.
The basset is doubtless a compound of the old long-eared hound and the dachshund. In- deed, the type is exactly described if we picture a small bloodhound set on a dachshund’s legs, and further words become unnecessary, except to say that the breed “comes” in two forms — smooth or hound-coated and rough or terrier- coated.
The latter has never, I think, and the former but seldom, been introduced into this country, where the more active (though possibly more erratic) beagle has so firm a hold. In Europe it is used as a rabbit dog, being low enough to enter the warren. Here, where the rabbits do not dig, but live on the surface, the lively beagle is more useful than his slow, sedate, and steady congener.
Any “hound color” is correct.
You must be logged in to post a comment.