Eastbound and down - loaded up and truckin' ...
We're gonna do what they say can't be done ...
We've got a long way to go ...
And a short time to get there ...
I'm eastbound - just watch ol' Bandit run ...
The reason you inherited a Basset Hound is because they’re hounds. They use their long ears while chasing to ‘scoop’ up scents for their nose to interpret.
Their job is to track, and they were bred to short legs to get them through the bushes and thickets.
Like Beagles, they will track whatever scent they waft, and will be gone, and those that find them on their property (fish guts, deer parts, dead squirrels) will call the vet # on their collar.
Adopt a runaway, expect to chase a runaway. And I love Bassets.
Good luck, with a tall strong fence.
No. I do not think so.
I own a basset. They are hounds, they follow their nose. This nose tends to track scents much better than their legs can carry them. Then, they nap. When they wake up. Well, they don’t really remember where they are.
They are generally great dogs, it does not shock me at all that it went right to you. They are very very friendly.
Take care of him, but keep looking for his owner. Sadly for you, they will likely turn up. They could be a ways away from where you found him.
Just be ready for the chance that you will have to give him back.
You write that he was in the middle of a busy road, and wearing a sweater, so that leads me to believe he was well cared for and that he either escaped, got lost or like you have to conclude, was dropped off for some unknown reason.
Sounds to me like you have a wonderful friend for life!!!
God bless and keep you both.
Bassets are the clowns of the dog world, full of love and comedy. My family had Bassets for forty years and there is no sound I like more than their baying. You would think they would be slow with those short legs but don’t underestimate them. We had one that was an escape artist, he would take off for night time strolls and then knock at the front door at two in the morning asking to be forgiven and let back in.
Maybe he is the (bassett) hound of the baskervilles! LOL!
Post a pic of your new doggie!
Someone dropped him off from a car.
You were the first friendly face after that.
Give him some scritches and head pats for us.
“I’m bragging on such a good dog I found”
And he is saying to his internet friends “I’m bragging on such a good human I found”
Just keep him and enjoy.
They are wonderful hounds, and truly hilarious. But never forget that you have a hunting hound. There is no training and no logic or love or inducement that is going to stop him from pursuing a rabbit that crosses your property. An electric fence is not going to stop him—most hounds will just grit their teeth and go through the electric fence because they think the shock isn’t as important as chasing down that fascinating squirrel or something. Put up a regular fence and make sure it’s secure so that someday he doesn’t un off and get picked up by somebody else.
He doesn’t sound abandoned but it sounds like you’ve done everything you can to find his owner. You must be meant for each other.
Eastbound and down - loaded up and truckin' ...
We're gonna do what they say can't be done ...
We've got a long way to go ...
And a short time to get there ...
I'm eastbound - just watch ol' Bandit run ...
A healthy, expensive, well cared for, sweater wearing dog, just abandoned? I don’t think so.
Someone responsible enough and cares about the dog enough to put a sweater on it is not going to just kick in out of the car in the middle of a city somewhere. Maybe ran away/lost but not abandoned.
2 1/2 weeks is kind of late for this, but did you check the local papers or put in an ad yourself in lost/found or pets? Those are usually free.
It sounds like you got a GREAT dog. It obviously belonged to somebody hence the sweater. However, it sounds like you’ve done everything you can do to find the dog’s owner, and there is nothing more that can be done. I found my dog wearing a collar years ago, but the SPCA said no one had called looking for her. We drove around the park where we found her, and people said she was just running around. She too jumped right in the car and has been a good dog. She’s an old girl now and has had two recent strokes, one just two days ago, but I love her and hope the Lord lends her to me a while longer. Good luck with your dog.
I had a basset hound named Biscuit. I loved that dog. He had two different color eyes. I had to hold his ears up when he ate so they would stay clean. Hounds do tend to stray because they are scent dogs.
Two things to add: see if there’s a local Basset rescue league in your area and give them a call. They may have been contacted by the original owner.
Second, someone mentioned checking newspaper classifieds, but also check out some of the Internet lost dog sites. Findtoto is one, but there are others. Google to find them, especially ones that may be in the area.
I know the lost dog thing from both sides of the equation. Had a Lab St Bernard mix as a kid who broke a leash being walked as a thunderstorm rolled in. Three days of agony and heartbreak until we found her, courtesy of the person whose yard she had wandered and collapsed into muddy and exhausted, some 15 miles away.
My current dog is a Beagle who was picked up off the street in Charlottesville muddy and starving, by a Beagle rescue league. Wonderful family dog, probably the sweetest and most tolerant disposition of all the other dogs (Labs and Lab mixes) that have blessed my life. She was clearly someone elses dog first, but whether she was abandoned or simply went off on a scent we’ll never know. What I do know is that in the five years or so we’ve had her she’s managed to get loose three times, taking off single mindedly after scents and a real pain to run down. She can move a heck of a lot faster on her four little legs than I can on my longer two.
We have a fenced in quarter acre back yard, but have chipmunks, squirrels, cats, racoons, possums and even a rather exhuberant high jumping deer that make it through, or over, the perimeter. Everytime she goes out it’s a half hour rapidly running around with her nose to the ground oblivious to everthing else around her. So it wouldn’t surprise me if she did run off from a caring owner and made it too far away to be found. But we know the rescue league did good due diligence in trying to find them before giving her to us, and we’re very glad and fortunate to have her.
The owner, for whatever reason, has not responded to your attempts to find him. It would be likely that, had you brought the dog to the shelter, it would have been euthanized.
Whether deliberate or not, the owner has abandoned the dog allowing you to take ownership of it. I would think that, assuming the previous owner was a dog lover, he would have preferred somebody took it in if he wasn’t able to find it.
Yes, you should take steps to ensure it can’t wonder and always keep it on a leash.
Cute doggie!! The only thing I have to add is that I’ve been told that bassets are big diggers (though yours does look more like a basset-beagle mix). Might want to check that out. If so, your sturdy fence will need to go *down* into the ground as well as reaching skyward. Mr. Basset might have escaped from his original owner by going *under* the fence.
I rescued a Basset Hound, and I miss him to this day. They got on a scent and follow it wherever it leads, and then forget how to get back home.
They may not look it, but they are fast when they want to be.
I would be heartbroken if mine had gotten out of the yard and never came home, and he tried, oh how he tried.
Mine was named Basil, Kin of the Couch. Good luck!
Sounds like he came from heaven! Stop looking and keep him.
I took in a Walker Hound under very similar circumstances. She really, really didn’t want to get out of the car, panic stricken. Didn’t let me out of her sight for weeks, didn’t want to get back into a car for months but loves to go now. Does he do this?
Somebody doted on that dog, loved him dearly, and if he was abandoned it was a very painful thing. Stupid, though with all the no-kill shelters and animal fostering groups around.
I’d say keep looking for a while, guard your heart in case you do encounter his original owner. If you don’t, you’ve done a good deed and already have been rewarded with what sounds like a fantastic companion.