The Basset Hound, also sometimes called the “Hush Puppy”, is a British breed that descends from the French Stag Hound. It is a short and heavy set dog breed that only grows to be about 15 inches tall. Their weight should range between 40 and 60 pounds. They have a short dense coat that comes in white, tan, yellow, and black. Spots and masking are also common.
The Basset Hound is a loving, happy-go-lucky dog that makes a great family pet. They also respond well to other animals. The only thing you have to watch out for is male aggression towards other male dogs. In addition to making a great family pet they also work well as a watch dog.
To care for this breed you will need to brush their coat on a semi-regular basis. You will need to pay more attention to their ears. Because they have long floppy ears you will need to make sure that they stay clean. Some of the health issues that you will need to keep your eyes open for include obesity, spine problems, leg problems, ear infections, bloating, and skin infections. If you have a female Basset Hound who is going to have puppies you should plan for them to be delivered by cesarean section.
Do you want a cute and short dog with an impeccable nose?
The Basset Hound, the “Hush Puppies” breed, is an adorable and well-behaved dog that will melt your heart with its appearance and demeanor. It is also a breed of amazing ability for tracking scents.
Bassett Hound Origin
The Basset hound is very old breed of dog. They were originally developed in France to assist in hunting slow trailing game animals such as rabbits and hares. They are perfect as trail hunters because their slow quiet movements won’t easily scare game.
Their popularity was at its peak during the reign of Emperor Napoleon. The true fame of the Basset Hound began in 1863, when it was presented at the Paris Dog Show.
They got their name from the French word “bas” meaning “low” in reference to their low set appearance.
Bassett Hound Appearance and Abilities
Basset hounds are very low to the ground. They have short legs. Proportionally, they have heavier bones as compared to other dogs.
Their short build can be deceiving. They are actually long dogs and able to reach counter and table tops to reach food. However, their short limbs and heavy bones make them poor swimmers.
Their skin is extremely loose and falls in folds on their heads. They have long velvety ears that fall way below their noses. They have a naturally sad expression on their faces even when they are happy.
They have short and smooth coats and are accepted in many recognizable colors. There are no rules concerning about coat color and color distribution.
Basset hounds have impeccable sense of smell. Their scent keenness is at par with that of the Bloodhound. They are able to pick up scent from very far and can track its origin with tremendous resolve.
Temperament and Tendencies of the Bassett Hound
Naturally, Basset hounds are well-mannered and loving dogs. They are never vicious or aggressive as fairly suggested by their melancholic faces. They are very patient and friendly with children.
They are very vocal breeds. They tend to howl or bark if they want something or warn their owners about something. They can whine by murmuring a sound to get attention from their masters. It may sound like they are speaking sometimes.
Bassett Hound Training and Care
Basset hounds will prefer someone to lead them with natural authority. Most dogs battle for the alpha role but Basset Hounds actually prefer it if they are led by gentle consistency.
They respond well with to positive reinforcement. Train them by praising good behavior. Stubborn and wise creatures they are, they will not follow commands if they believe that there is some reward to go with it.
Bassets are rather difficult to train because they are easily distracted by their acute sense of smell. Training them needs persistence and must be done in an area with less distraction from scents.
Always monitor their feedings because overweight Basset hounds have low life spans. Too much weight will put grave pressure on their legs and spine. Vigorous exercise is not necessary but you should give Basset Hounds their daily dose of walks and soft play.
Grooming them is relatively easy. Occasional baths and brushes are adequate and shampoo only when necessary. Always clean their ears and clip their toe nails. Their nails, when not clip are sharp and can scratch you. Basset hounds also shedding constantly so make sure to brush them frequently.
46 Responses to “How to Train a Basset Hound”
How do you get a Basset Hound to go to the toilet outside? she is 7 months now and goes for a walk every day but will only go in the garden and the house if left for an hour or 2. hope you can help!!!
Check out our section on house training- https://www.dogbehavioronline.com/house-training-puppy/
My Basset is at least 3 years old (shelter dog, so I’m not sure of her exact age) and still has accidents indoors, especially if there is a change in her environment or she doesn’t like the weather outside. I crate her when traveling to strange places and I have to leave her alone in a hotel or someone’s house, and that helps a lot, because she does have the fundamentals of housetraining down and doesn’t want to make a mess in her own small space. The downside of that is that she howls when left alone in the crate, but it’s better than a mess on my host’s floor! My sense is that you have to be a lot more patient with this breed, but you can get mostly there.
Have you gotten a satisfactory answer? I have 2 bassets both are about 2 years old separated by just 12 weeks. In my opinion cute as buttons. The youngest would not go outside if there was anything more than a light sprinkle! The other would not go to the bathroom if it was raining. He did not like the rain pounding all over him and getting him wet. He was too mad to think about going to the bathroom.
I came up with this crazy idea. My husband good naturedly grumbled at me for wasting money,then laughed at dogs because they looked comical, but my baby’s went outside and went to the bathroom in their bright yellow rain coats. I hope this helps with the weather issue. It works like a charm. I did have to cut one down (one of my boy’s has legs that are very short).
Basset hate crates., hate being left alone, worship their owners, and are extremely social. The problems may just be made worse from being lonely. Bassets need owners that have a lot if time to spend with them. Not so much the alone bit but the confinement of the crate will not go down well with an already nervous basset
Not correct. A nervous Basset can do great with a crate. Crates are a wonderful tool when used properly.
My Basset is now 14 months and she only ‘got’ house training a month ago - I thought I’d failed as an owner! Just keep praising when your dog gets it right and you’ll get there. It takes some of them a long time to figure it out!
my basset is two mouth old and she knows hot to go up and down the stairs and she does not need a leash
Please don’t let your basset go around without a leash. They don’t think a out you when they pick up a new scent, all they want to. Do is follow their nose. It may seem like they will stay beside you forever, but they won’t. Besides that, it’s often dangerous/illegal to have a dog off lead
They will go if they need to. If they go outside for 2 hours don’t do any thing then come in and go then that is different. If they are at the stage of weeing everywhere in the house you need to be on guard. Had this problem with all seven of our bassets. If they are that bad you need to put them in the garden every half hour with a gentle good girl as they go out. Then you need to constantly watch them and the second they start to go down in to the weeing position you over the top praise them in a soft but exited voice. On the other side when you see the usual behavior that you know they will be about to wee inside you watch from a distance and get ready to tell them off the second that end starts to lower to the ground. A firm no is plenty. The instant they stop you do the good girl thing again. Pick them up and straight in the garden. If they finish the wee first then no good girl. You only praise if they stop or never started because you got in so quick! It will come together very quick. If your dog is totally against using the garden, almost scared to do so then assuming you have other animals then just praising them for sniffing the wee of another pet can be a great first step. You won’t like this one but if your basset is really unsure of what to do and you have no other pets to lead by example you could use your own wee! They will mark over that in a second believe me. You are their leader more so than other breed s and they see you doing it they want to follow. Easier for a man but a woman could utilise a cup! Yes this is marking as opposed to going toilet but it will build the foundations and a first step in! Obviously immense praise when they do.
my basset is now 5-6 month. i still have problems to them him how to pee and pup on the right place. even always in the morning I take him out, he won’t pee outside and suddenly while we’re arrive at home, he’ll.
I’ve been teach him to do it on the right place but it still doesn’t work. hope u can help. thank you
I have a 7 month old boy basset named Bandit. I was lucky on so many levels. He was so simple to crate train. Now he only sleeps in it at night and only had accidents in the house the first week we had him and they were only a few. I don’t even close his door anymore. He can do all the simple basic commands like sit, lay, rollover, back up, speak and things like that. I have always took him out on a leash until lately. I have been trying to let him roam on our property on his own some to see how he would do. I made him familiar with the land with many leash walks. My only problem now is that I can’t get him to come back to me when I call him. He will just stand in the distance and look at me like I am crazy no matter what kind of treats I am holding. He wants to come back whenever he is good and ready. I guess I should be thankful he always does come back and barks at the door to let me know he is finished playing, but sometimes this can be a hassle. How can I get him to come to me if bribery and praise has no significance to him during his play/adventure time? Love this little stubborn guy. Thanks so much.
There are a variety of ways. We employ a lot of long line training with a leash that is 20-50 feet long. We use the leash to communicate the training principle at longer distances. With tons of repetition we move to being off leash. You tried to skip a step. You tried having off leash reliability before teaching the principle on leash. We show our on leash to off leash training with our foundation obedience program-
https://www.dogbehavioronline.com/foundation-obedience-p/
For our more advanced geared clients we train with e-collars to gain a high level of off leash control-
https://www.dogbehavioronline.com/advanced-ecollar-obedience-p/
Thank you for your advice. I wanted to share something I just recently discovered about Bandit that may work with other basset hounds as well. My son has an elementary school music recorder. You know the little $6.00 flute like instruments kids get to play with in third grade.. For some reason Bandit is attracted to the sound of the thing and will stop anything he is doing and come running when he hears it. Hey, works great for me since I can’t whistle lol. I should have worked more with the leash training, but when I discovered how well this worked it was just too easy to do it this way. He is so funny. When he gets close to me when I am playing the thing he twists his head from left to right repeatedly until the sound stops. For a few bucks I thought this would be a good thing to try for any basset hound with a stubborn attitude when it come to returning to you.
I’ve had basset hounds for many years and house training is difficult but you need to be persistent. Reward good behaviour & punish bad. Punishments should be removing toys & no play. I found leaving them outside after accidents helped and small treats to reward works.
Buy a good scent remover too and avoid “pine” scented cleaning liquids as the smell can confuse the basset.
Good luck!
This is bad advice. Locking your dog out, taking away toys, and not playing are not punishments for eliminating in the house. The dog is not able to connect a lack of play with the fact that he pooped in the house 5 minutes ago…it’s impossible.
You do not punish dogs! You really think they understand that! Correct and praise! Take toys away really? How do you explain that process to your dog?!
I have a question about our rescue, Abbey. She is a basset-beagle mix (we believe), and is most likely at least 10 years old. Despite having other dogs, our cat has become her best friend and obsession. She tracks him CONSTANTLY inside and out. She is happy to sit next to him, but when he moves her sniffer kicks in. She yelps the entire time she follows him. I don’t want to punish her because there is a great chance she was trained to do this behavior before I found her. Is there any way to make the barking stop using positive reinforcement? We would appreciate it and so would my neighbors!
Why are you limiting your training to only ‘positive reinforcement’? Becoming dogmatic and only accepting one style of training drastically limits your ability to actually help your dog.
Well, we’ve tried yelling, but that seems to have no affect what so ever. What would you suggest? We are open to other ideas, thus the original post for help.
My point is that your original post for help indicated a closed mind set stating that you would only do something one way and you wouldn’t use correction.
My way would recommend using correction but you’ve already stated you don’t want that.
And, folks, yelling isn’t training.
R. Smithers; SInce you didn’t actually get a reply to your question, I thought I might give you my ideas. I am not a trainer, but I am a Basset Hound owner. Whenever Abbey starts to track the cat, or even starts to fixate on her, try blocking her. Maybe make a sound like “Hey” or “UH” and physically block her from following. Touching or tapping her to get her to re-focus on you. I’m guessing this will be a bit of a challenge. You might even have to do a little dance when Abbey simple tries to go around you. But be persistent. The idea would be to break her tracking focus and then wordlessly ask her to refocus on you. Keep yourself calm and stand tall. Walking her backwards if you need to, until she finally relaxes and her attention returns to you. Reward her with some affection or a toy. You will need to do this every time for awhile, probably. Basset’s are a little slower to train. Keep in mind that regardless of what anyone else trained her to do, YOU are her owner now. You need to ask her what you want from her. She will learn, eventually. Good luck, hope it helps.
I’m curious Ty Brown, have you ever owned a hound? Or more specifically a Basset Hound? Your article and comments lead me to wonder if you have any actual experience with living with these critters? I can assure you, as a person who has owned a number of dog breeds, including Basset Hounds, Bassets are unique. Here are a few of my personal opinions: I don’t think any Basset Hound is ever safe off-leash, unless it’s in a fenced enclosure or house. These dogs have a sense of smell more powerful than any training you can give them. If my Roxy smelled something interesting off leash, I might never see her again. (Which, by the way, is how we got her. She was a stray) Also, I don’t think Bassets are a good recommendation for a lot of families. Though they can be funny and friendly, they are also hard to house train, they tend to raid the kitchen counters and trash can, like to be lazy so you might have to “make” them exercise. They think they are lap dogs. They smell, drool, and shed constantly. Owning a Basset is a huge undertaking. They require more time and energy than a lot of families have to give to their pets. I do not recommend them to the unprepared. That said, they are also the most loving, funny and entertaining dogs you’ll ever own.
No, I’ve never owned a hound. I’ve trained numerous hounds but never owned one.
Having said that, the experiences you are describing are simply the experiences of not knowing how to train dogs…they aren’t indicative of what this breed is like.
I’ve reliably off leash trained plenty of hounds, Bassets included. And no dog that I’m training ‘tends’ to get in trash cans or kitchen counters. These are training issues that you didn’t know how to solve, not issues related to the breed.
Trust me, you don’t understand the counter issue until you’ve actually tried living with a basset. My basset is very well trained but you can’t put food on the table or counter without him taking it. So we’re careful about where we put our food. We tried everything to make him stop, and eventually just decided prevention is the key. If I sit next to the food, he’ll sniff but will immediately go away when I tell him no. But if that same food is sitting there with no one to guard it, he will take it. I fairly certain I know how to train a dog, mine is very well behaved. There is no black and white in dog training, as you said below, “dogs aren’t robots.” Basslets are sensitive. Punishing them can seriously damage your relationship. You can come back here and tell me I’m bad at training because my dog likes to steal food once you’ve lived with an adolescent Basset.
ANY dog will take food if left alone with it and not trained to not take it. This is not a Basset issue. Even if it were a basset issue that doesn’t mean that you couldn’t fix the problem with proper training steps. Just because you aren’t familiar with proper training steps doesn’t mean that a Basset is harder to train in this respect.
Ty brown obviously has NO clue about a basset hounds tendencies. I have a well trained basset, and lately have been having some food and trash snatching issues; along with occasional pottying inside. She is 3, and typically asks to potty, follows unleashed, and was all accomplished with consistent practice. they have a mind of their own, and im beginning to feel if i dont do what she wants when she wants it then im in trouble. It is totally untrue that all dogs will take food off of the counter. It doesn’t take too much reading from this fool to know he has no idea what he’s talking about.
You don’t have a well trained dog. You have a dog who gets in the trash, gets on the counters, and goes to the bathroom in the house. That is the exact opposite of well trained.
I don’t understand why all of you have such low standards for your dog. You know, if you train your dogs properly you don’t have to deal with dogs getting in the trash, on counters, and peeing in your house. And blaming it on the breed is simply letting yourselves off the hook for not knowing how to train dogs.
Actually, the issues are related to the breed. As a trainer, you should recognize the fact that a hound’s NOSE is what drives her. I’ve lived this so I know it to be true. I honestly don’t want to argue the point with you. From your comments to me, and to other people, I can see you are too arrogant to see any flaws in your approach. You are black and white in a world of gray. Open your mind to the possibility that you don’t know everything.
My world of having a dog off leash trained is very black and white. You say that you can’t train off leash because of a dog’s nose…that it’s in the dog’s nature to use his nose to carry him off…etc.
I say, so what?
That’s what ALL training is. It’s about teaching the dog to ignore his natural impulses in favor of what we want as dog owners. Dogs naturally want to chew, pee in the house, run off, etc. Just because that is their nature doesn’t mean I’m going to accept it.
Arrogant? Quite possibly. I’ve yet to meet the dog I can’t off leash train in spite of people saying that it can’t be done.
I have a basset hound named Chloe, shes a year and 4months. Im having a little training problem she’ll listen to me somewhat when shes in the mood, thats doing the normal sit, stay, laydown, or rollover. But she will not listen to others at all. I would like her to be able to listen to others.. but other than that shes completely potty trained and such a loving dog to other dogs and people/children.
You need to remember that dogs aren’t robots. Just because you’ve trained her to understand certain commands why would she want to be obedient to others?
If you want her to listen to others then those people need to work with her as well.
My basset is almost 3, we love her to pieces, unfortunately she has been impossible to house train. Just when we think she’s got it, it happens again. Not often does a day go by that she doesn’t have an accident, we praise, we reward, we watch closely but it still happens. Sadly her stubbornness is taking a toll on the floors in our home and after almost 3 years i am fed up. We love her dearly, any suggestions would be appreciated.
If you watch closely how is she able to go in the house?
We just recently adopted a basset. He is 3 years old. He has a traumatic story. He was thrown from a car by his past owners and has been in foster care for awhile. During his time in foster care he was house trained, but spent most of his time outside. Even with all the trauma he is a big lovey dog. We love him dearly. Once I had to go back to work we put him in the kitchen and gated him off from the other rooms. Unfortunately when I got home he had broke thru the gate and destroyed my living room. He also went potty in the house about 4 times. Is this him rebelling? I feel my only other option is to kennel him while I’m at work. Any suggestions?
No, this isn’t rebellion. It’s simply an untrained, bored and/or anxious dog. Crating him properly will help get rid of that anxiety and teach him how to relax.
What do you suggest as a punishment for going to the bathroom in the house?
1- You need to catch the dog in the act. Nothing you can do after the fact.
2- Simply rush the dog outside with a leash correction, collar correction, etc.
Why is Ty Brown such an asshole when he replies to everyone?
Genius has it’s character flaws.
Lol this guy is awesome!! His narcissistic replies crack me up. I definitely wrote this!
I have an 18 month old basset, she loves getting into the trash. I’m lost on how to get her to stop. My male i broke him of getting into the trash, but this little girl is a handful. Any ideas, the more the better. I’ll try them all
It’s a combo of supervision and correcting when she gets in the trash. My experience is that when it’s trash, counters, etc. that what has happened is a dog who wasn’t ready for freedom in the house was given freedom in the house.
Hi a little help if possible I have 20 week old basset called copper ( my daughter the Disney addict) any way he has learnt basic things like lay down sit stay etc etc when I ask him to speak looks at me like I’m stupid any way house training is not going well he know what he is doing is wrong as he is looking at you the whole time he is doing it now for ty brown this is my first basset but I have had schipperkes and rotties and you can’t train a basset the way I trained them the rottie was easy you could leave a dinner on the side and he wouldn’t take it he would go out the room when kids were eating the basset I wouldn’t put my food down unattended for a min although he has learnt to leave kids alone he is in the bin at every opportunity we pick bin up now his recal is good but is never off a lead have one of the extending lead all though he has a shed full of toys he howls and whines when on his own we are starting to recognise when he is about to go toilet as he lifts is tail up and goes round in circles
My basset is about 7 months old and will not walk on a leash. He’s either pulling or just stoping dead and not wanting to move. we basically walk about 7 feet at a time and then stop. Is this common? Is it something he’ll grow out of?
This is highly common for dogs who aren’t trained. Your dog will not grow out of it. He can be trained out of it, however.