Archive for November, 2009

Training Your Basset Hound

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Training a dog should be an enjoyable and easy task both for you and your dog, but training a basset hound is another story. They can be extremely difficult to train. Being sent hounds, they prefer to follow what their noses tell them instead of what their owner commands them. Basset hounds really don’t have a reason to please anyone except themselves.

When it comes to dog training, basset hounds are less likely to be the favorite among dog owners and trainers. They are just flat out hard to train!  However, it is not impossible to train a Basset hound if you really want to. A few owners and trainers have been successful at training them. Patience, along with great love and respect for your Basset hound is essential in order to have a well behaved dog.

There are lots of resources online and offline related to dog training. But experts agree the best method in Basset Hound training is to know and listen to your dog. Discover what exercise or activity your dog likes and start from there. Make training fun! Vary it from time to time so as not to bore him. Limit all training sessions to only 10-20 minutes. Slowing down and showing resistance to work is an indication that he may be bored or tired.

Use rewards in every training session. Most Basset hounds obey commands when offered rewards, but will forget the training when the reward is being offered. To prevent this, hide the reward from the dog before giving a command. Show him the reward only until he has obeyed the command. This possibly results in a basset hound who follows command with or without the presence of a reward. The point being is to give him the perception that you may have a reward for him even if he can not see it.

Knowing the right time to start training is very important. Mistakes in the beginning of the training may delay the process and may not guarantee better results. Begin the training with something your basset hound enjoys. Avoid being harsh and force your dog to do something which you think he doesn’t like. Consistency and determination is much more helpful.

With these tips, you should be able to come up with a nicely trained basset hound. You can now aim for higher levels of training such as obedience and agility training, and prove to others that it is not impossible to train these stubborn four legged hounds.

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Recession Threatening Closure of Nation’s Largest Basset Hound Rescue

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
Daphneyland Basset Hound Rescue Voluteer at Work

Daphneyland Basset Hound Rescue Voluteer at Work

According to the AP, the recession and the economy is threatening the survival of the nation’s largest basset hound rescue group.

Donations to Daphneyland have never been so low, bills so overdue and the availability of volunteers been so low, according to Dawn Smith, Daphneyland’s owner and founder.

According to Smith the rescue group is bringing in about $5,200 month. They need $10,000 to survive, according to Smith.

Animal rescues and shelters have suffered, particularly in states hit hard by the real estate bust, such as California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida.

At Daphneyland, according the Smith, the mortgage is only a month and a half behind, so they are not in danger of foreclosure. The food and vet bills are always the first to be paid. The electric bill is about $1,500 a month. Because it takes a electricity to run the well, when the electrical goes out, so does the water.

On November 3, Smith’s bill was $7,500 past due and the utility turned off the power. After two hours on the phone, $3,000 and a payment plan, the electrical was restored.

Unless adoptions pick up, donations increase or grants become more easily available, Smith doesn’t know what they or other rescue groups are going to do.

Of course this goes back to a much bigger problem. Wouldn’t it be nice if more people were responsible pet owners and got the pets spayed or neutered? Then there would be no need for shelters and rescue groups. Pet overpopulation wouldn’t be a problem. But, that’s another blog for another time.

If you would like to contact Daphneyland to make a donation during this very critical time for Daphneyland, visit their website at http://www.daphneyland.com.

A link to this story from the AP is located at http://bit.ly/nwmtO

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Whatever Happened to Quincy the Basset Hound on the TV Show “Coach”?

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

From time to time throughout this blog we are going to be covering the lives of some famous basset hounds. This is our first post in this series.

Remember the ABC-TV show Coach? Luther Van Dam (Jerry Van Dyke), assistant coach under head coach Hayden Fox, owned a basset hound named Quincy. Quincy’s job was to pretty much sit, do nothing and be pulled in a red wagon– because he was too lazy to walk. He was Coach Van Dam’s pride and joy!

Quincy’s real name was Issac, a veteran performer who appeared in a recurring roll in the daytime soap opera Santa Barbara and in several Purina dog food commercials.

Issac was owned and trained by Cheryl Shawver who reported that Issac “was chosen for the part because he was not pretty”. Issac died during production of the series and was replaced for a short period of time before he was written out of the show during a funeral episode.

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