There’s an online petition doing the rounds started by some Italian breeders who reject the British Kennel Club’s tinkering with the basset hound breed standard.
The move comes about after the British Kennel Club introduced an amended breed standard earlier this year following the concerns raised by British documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed (basset hound at 0.48 seconds).
The documentary lambasted basset hound breeders for damaging the breed, claiming that contemporary bassets are far removed from the original bassets bread in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century.
Many basset breeders were offended by the un-nuanced approach Ms Jemima Harrison and her documentary team took and rejected her claims unequivocally.
The Basset Hound Club of Wales provided a cogent and clear retort to Ms Harrison and if you haven’t read their response yet, I encourage you to do so.
Where Does Kennel Björkwood Stand?
As far as I am concerned, it’s important that basset hound breeders look at the overall picture of the breed and react to hard facts and not just speculative soundbites pushed by the media. For example, Ms Harrison is heard to claim that nearly all bassets develop arthritis during the documentary. I would prefer to see statistical evidence of this, rather than purely believe a documentary.
Nevertheless, I do think that we as breeders of basset hounds collectively need to work together to ensure the health and future health of this most wonderful of breeds. That means working hard to tackle problems like skin problems, gastric torsion, back and elbow problems, etc, and ensuring that we do not weaken the gene pool.
I am diametrically opposed to inbreeding and believe that close line-breeding should be done with considerable caution. My brother-in-law works with genetics so I’ve had plenty of conversations about the dangers of reducing the gene pool of any given breed (or species!).
I am also against what we in Sweden call “matadoravel“. Using a stud dog repeatedly. When a stud dog is over-represented as the sire of pups in a country like Sweden where we have a relatively small population of bassets, there is the risk that the gene pool will be reduced.
We Must Work for the Good of the Breed
As the basset hound continues to come under scrutiny from vets, kennel clubs, judges and the general public, it is my sincere hope that basset hound kennels around the world actively work to maintain the health of this breed. I, nonetheless, do not believe in changing the breed standard as a knee-jerk reaction to the comments of a very one-sided documentary.
Changes need to come based on solid scientific evidence with breed clubs giving clear, sensible guidelines worked out with vets and other canine health specialists.
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I totally agree with you Jon, very well written indeed..
Donna
Thanks, Donna. Appreciate it.
Very well put , totally agree also.
And I hope you have already sold your pups. Based on photos they are really nice and healthy looking babies:)
All the best for You and Your Bassets.
Kiitos Taija !
I appreciate your comment. I hope that we all as breeders can really work together to make a difference and improve the breed.
As you and I know bassets are not as unhealthy as Pedigree Dogs Exposed claimed; however, it’s up to us all to show the general public how things really are and work to breed the healthiest hounds possible.
I hope to see you in the show ring in Sweden this year!
Väldigt bra skrivet, och jag håller med dig till fullo vad gäller inavel och matadoraveln.
Jag hoppas du kommer på rasträffen den 4:e och gör din röst hörd. Jag och syrran ska dit.
Ha det gott!
/Lina
Tack Lina, Jag uppskatar det.
Jag blir inte med på rasträffen tyvärr. Jag har 2 valpar kvar och Margrét är på kurs så jag måste stanna hemma.
Jag hoppas att du berättar för mig hur det gick!
Vi ses på Lilla Stockholm!
Jon,
I have two tri-colored bassets who will be three years old in April. Prior to that I had a lemon and white who lived to be 11 before having to be put down due to severe seizure disorder. Now my current hounds are starting to have seizures. My question to you is – are you aware of seizure disorder as something that it inherent in the basset breed? My vet says he is not aware of any such statistic but if not that, then why am I the owner of 3 bassets who have this problem?
I love my bassets. I love the breed. They have so much personality and love to share and they are so funny – they make me laugh a lot. I hate to see them suffer with these seizures. Any thoughts?
Hello Joanna,
I’m so sorry to hear about your woofs having problems.
To my knowledge, I only know of two bassets that have had epilepsy (one proved fatal) here in Sweden. It’s not something I would assume is typical of the breed.
I would look first and foremost at the lines your dogs have come from. Has the breeder knowingly bred a dog with epilepsy (or some other kind of seizures)?
After that I would look at environmental issues. Lead poisoning is a common cause of seizures. Heat stroke can also cause them.
As you’ve had three cases of this I would first look to rule out hereditary issues (talk to the breeders) and then look at the environment they’re in. There’s a good overview of canine seizures here.
Please let me know if you come to a conclusion as to the cause or if there’s any link.
Very best wishes,
Jon
I owned a basset about 7 years ago that had seizures. The vet tried to tell me the head shaking was due to ear mites. If you have seen this shake, you know that it, in no way, resembles the shake of an ear mite in the ear.
About 3 years later, I adopted another basset hound (from another part of the country) that did the exact same thing. I took him to another vet and was told that yes…they were seizures.
This week…I adopted a basset hound mix…and he is also having seizures.
@Natalie
I am really sorry to hear that. I would talk to my vet and if s/he isn’t much help, I would then try alternative help. Some vets are also homeopathic partitioners. I personally wouldn’t go to anyone who wasn’t a qualified vet in the first place, but I am very open to those vets who have a specialisation in homeopathy as well.
Good luck with your woof!
I enjoyed your article. I have 2 long-haired bassets, which I understand the kennel clubs very much discourage and have tried to breed out of basset hounds. I love mine. One (female) is 12 and the male is 13. My male has had 3 seizures since we got him (he was about 4), but the emergency vet and regular vet attributed them to “anxiety attacks.” Knock on wood, no more. We almost lost him on the last one, which has been over 3 years ago. No sign of seizures from the female.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks for stopping by Kathi. Keep those hounds safe !
Hi Jon
Having nothing better to do on a cold snowy afternoon, I was browsing and came across the comments here on epilepsy and the Basset. I just have to say yes, it is around in the breed (in the UK – can’t necessarily speak for the entire world). I have happily never had it in my lines (British-American-Canadian and then back to British). However, the last mating I did was to a sire who developed late-onset epilepsy, as did his mother (obviously after I’d done the mating!!). I immediately ended my line, spayed the bitch we kept from the litter without breeding from her, and refused studs on the male we’d also kept. Although to my knowledge (and although one might not hear the good, you usually hear the bad!) none of the puppies in this litter developed epilepsy (and certainly neither of the offspring I kept, both now sadly no longer with me, did) and I had no reason to think the puppies in this litter would suffer with this, in later life, I felt the buck had to stop somewhere. At least I wasn’t going to be responsible for passing this on.
It is however, true that epilepsy can be caused by a number of reasons apart from it being hereditary. There is some thought that suggests this could come down from the outcrossing done years ago, to Bloodhounds. Epilepsy is around in Bloodhounds.
As I initially came in here via the Petition against the KC revisions to the Breed Standard I would just like to say that the revisions were not as significant as might be seen – what has happened is an attempt to bring the breed back to where it was meant to be, via the original Breed Standard …. ie an unexaggerated hound who, without the excesses (Skin, extreme lowness to the ground being the main problems) that have crept into the breed in the UK, in recent years, is stilll able to do what it was always intended to do – hunt. It’s really only the wording that has been subtly altered. Now we need judges to judge to the Standard. Not to flash and flab!!
Apologies for the length of this!