We had Basset's as I was growing up. All of them were rescues. There was Alfie who came from North Hollywood. Archibald, who came from a rescue.

Bosley ,who cam e from the humane society. Baxter, who was "Free" from a local ad in the paper (More on that in a minute) and Sadie who was given to us.



I was about 4yrs. when my parents got Alfie. I'm not too sure how old Alfie was but he was past the rowdiness of a puppy. My mother ran a daycare and Alfie did well with all the kids, until Food was involved… He was like a roving Hoover vacuum… Never snippy with the kids but they lost a lot of Peanut Butter Sandwiches with Alfie. Alfie was only ever aggressive with my father, in that he would snarl and back my dad into a corner of the kitchen until he gave up his sandwich. A funny sight as my dad was a Big Man.



Alfie came from someone in North Hollywood who moving and couldn’t take him. He was VERY spoiled. He didn’t like to have his ears soiled, which meant before he’d ever eat out of his dish we had to put them up with clothes pins. ( Now days they have a special dish for that.) We had several cats and other dogs, a few turkeys and some turtles and I don’t remember there ever being a problem with any of them. Alfie lived to about 10 before having to be PTS due to a mouth cancer.



Archibald came to live with us a few years before Alfie passed, and he was “Old” then. From what any of us could tell he had lived his life on the road. His teeth were worn down and he was already grey with age. Archie and Alfie did well together until there was Food involved. They had to eat separately.



Archie loved to roam. He would pick up a scent and off he’d go. We had moved to a small town in Washington and wasn’t uncommon to get a call or hear on the local radio station, “Mrs. D Archibald is out at So & So’s farm. Please come pick him up.” He once traveled over 20 miles in one day! Archie also had a serious case of the “Wind”. He could clear a room in seconds flat. He was our oldest Basset living to about 17. He passed peacefully in his sleep one night.



Bosley came to us from the humane society. My dad had said, “No more, dogs.” Yet he brought him home with him one day after work. Bosley fit right in. He and Archie made fast friends and they did well with the cats. Loved people, going Bye-Bye and of course food. Bosely wasn’t quite the wanderer that Archie was. He loved food though and one time stole a loaf of bread out of our neighbor’s bread drawer! They loved long walks on the beach, but being a Basset they could be VERY Stubborn. It only took once of packing a 55lb. Basset out on our backs from a 3 mile hike to always remember to bring the wheelbarrow after that. Bosely lived to be about 11 until a VERY nasty neighbor intentionally ran him over. We had had pets all my life and never once had I seen my father cry over a pet. It took my father months to recover from losing “The Boz”.



Baxter- after years of my parents having their own dogs I wanted one of my “Own”. My parents said it HAD to be a Basset. We found one in the local paper for “Free” papered and all. He was 2 and beautiful. The family “said” they were moving and couldn’t take him with. We soon learned the hard way why Baxter was “Free”. Bassets are not known to be an aggressive breed. In all my years neither I nor my parents have ever met an aggressive Basset. Over food yes, they can be as a whole they are a pretty mellow breed. I was doing my homework one night on the couch and Baxter turned on me. Out of no where. I thought maybe he was dreaming, but then again I was no where near him. The next day I get a call at school that as my Mother was letting Bax in from outside he jumped up and bit her. VERY unusual for a Bassett. We had to have him PTS. Found out later Bax was severely inbred with a brain tumor.



Enter Sadie. Sadie was our last Basset. She came to us an old dignified lady. She was a lot of fun and loved the cats and my dog Shadow. Sadie had bladder issues as she got older. She once wet the bed, with me in it! She was playing with Shad one night in the backyard, racing around having a great time. Then she ruptured a disc in her back. A week and several thousand dollars later she wasn’t going to get better so she was PTS at the age of 14.



All in all growing up with Bassets around was great experience. They were great with kids, and all of our cats. Baxter was the only exception and it was no fault of his own. All our Bassets were, loving, funny, loyal (if there was no food involved), LOUD they all loved to Bay they are hound after all. Never the greatest watch dog, and the Biggest babies ever. Other than Alfie’s mouth cancer the only other health problem we ever had was a Hematoma in the ears. Which is when the blood vessels in their long ears rupture. I was young and it was in the 80’s but the cost to fix those when they happened back then was about $500-800. Ours got them when they would shake their heads too hard, or if the cats/ dogs got too ruff playing with them. They are a great breed and as puppies they’re pretty fun too. Our neighbors had one before we moved. His name was Smedley Whiplash… man was he a ball of energy! Having never had a Basset puppy around it was great to see that, because all our Bassets had been then VERY laid-back older ones.



Thanks for letting me ramble about my Bassets and I hope it helps. Here is a great link for further reading. They really are a great breed. http://www.basset-bhca.org/Finding/Discover1.htm