Preliminary Lafora Genetic Testing Results

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Guest Blog from Rosemary Ryan, ChairpersonBHCA Health & Research Committee
Lafora tests ordered during the Fall 2022 promotion are still arriving at the PawPrint/Neogen lab, but enough have been run to report interim results. Out of 1300+ tests ordered, the lab has received and processed 1042 tests. Of those, 365 (35%) dogs were carriers with one copy of the mutation, 105 (10%) were genetically affected (two copies of the mutation), and 572 (55%) tested clear. ******Lafora is an inherited neurological condition caused by a simple recessive gene. Signs usually appear between 5-7 years of age. To be affected, a dog must have inherited the mutation from BOTH its sire and dam. A carrier will not develop disease but must be bred to a mate that...

Genetic Testing is Available for a Newly Discovered Disease in Basset Hounds

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

By Don Bullock, BHCSC Webmaster and former club President

We have a serious disease, Lefora, that has recently been brought to the our attention that affects all basset hound breeders, owners and those seeking to get a puppy. It’s something that all basset hound lovers should know about as well. Fortunately Lefora something we can test for.
Rudi Smits, a well known basset hound breeder and  veterinarian at Veterinary Clinic Den Heuvel in Nuland, Netherlands broke the news about Lefora in basset hounds on Facebook sometime in 2021. I’ve searched but can’t find the Facebook post where Rudi reported the test results on one of his bassets. Since then many breeders and the Basset Hound Club of America have been diligently working on getting...

Why Are Dog Shows are Only for Pure Bred Dogs?

Friday, September 27, 2019

On June 28, 1859 
— a bright summer day in the United Kingdom -- a committee of local hunters held the world's first official dog show in the town of Newcastle upon Tyne.



By Don Bullock

I get asked this question often. The people who ask are genuinely wondering why they don’t see shows for rescue dogs or mixed breeds. Some of the questions came about because of a TV show where they had a “dog show" for “rescue” dogs. Those who ask don’t understand the reason for dog shows and think they are like beauty contests and that the dogs have to be trained to perform. Dog shows are judged on the conformation of the dogs in relation to the ideal dog of their specific breed - the breed Standard. These are actual written standards...

My Adventure with Bassets

Monday, September 18, 2017

by Linda Lee Ott

My first encounter with the basset hound breed was when I was twelve years old. We were living in La Mirada at the time. My dad decided he wanted a basset hound. Apparently he researched the breed and brought home a beautiful tricolored basset named Barney. I had no idea at the time where my dad got him.
Barney was a huge part of my life and lived to be fourteen  years old. I loved the long ears, short legs and wrinkles. Barney was like my shadow. He followed me everywhere. When I was old enough to drive, my younger sister and I used to sneak him into the drive-in movie by bribing him with dog cookies. He would watch the cartoon with us then fall asleep but if we made any noise with a food or candy wrapper he popped...

GRETEL, MY FIRST BASSET HOUND

Friday, August 4, 2017

GRETEL, MY FIRST BASSET HOUND 
By Kay Haggard 
After having Dachshunds for 15 years, I was introduced to bassets by my husband, Harrison, who had always had a basset. Twenty-three years ago when we were looking for a puppy to be a companion to my 10 year old male Dachshund named Porsche, Harrison said he wanted a “real dog,” one whose bark and howl was melodious and not yappy. In my search for a basset puppy, I met Pam Heine who had a litter. We were invited to her home to be screened and interviewed and while we were there, we played with her beautiful puppies. 
When Pam’s puppies were 3 months old, we were selected to have a beautiful red/white female puppy that we named Gretel. Pam was hoping we would give her a special show name...

Sponge Feeding Puppies

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Gingham Becomes Pixie
by Don Bullock
An inspiring story about how the runt of the litter becomes an AKC Champion and how sponge feeding was the key to her survival.
At the June, 2017 BHCSC meeting it was decided that we should publish some tips and stories from club members about experiences they have had with their bassets. It was hoped that these stories and tips would help and encourage others. While the initial concept was to publish these in our newsletter, Basset Tales, it was also decided that they could eventually be published to the website as well. I had been working on a video that I thought might fit into this theme. Since a video can’t be published in the newsletter I decided to publish it on the BHCSC website. This page...

Basset Hounds Invade the 44th Annual Daytime Emmy Award Show

Monday, May 8, 2017

By Don Bullock, BHCSC Past President, Webmaster & Rescue Chairman

Fifty basset hounds were on stage on April 30, 2017 at the Daytime Emmy Awards Show held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The hounds came from Daphneyland plus a few from the Basset Hound Club of Southern California. This was the first time the academy allowed dogs on stage and was a history making event. The shows Producers Michael Levitt and Dimitra Molassi knew they needed a professional rescue to represent this first ever rescue venue, and reached out to Dawn Smith of Daphneyland. Michael Levitt a fan of basset hounds and Daphneyland plus he’s deeply involved in rescue efforts himself.
Our club was well represented by Maria Bivins, Linda Ott with two of Maria’s...

You May Soon Lose Your Right to Buy a Dog of Your Choice

Thursday, April 13, 2017

By Don Bullock

The animal rights activists are at work trying to take away your right to purchase a dog or other pets of your choosing  That is their goal. While they hide behind what seem to be efforts to protect animals if you check into the agenda for these organizations you’ll find that they are against ALL domesticated animals. Some don’t even like wild animals if you do a thorough check behind those who organized these groups.

All across the United States and even other countries there is a organized effort to keep people from buying pets. Right now their goal is to prevent any retail stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits whit plans to expand that list in the future. In California, for example, a law (AB 485) is being...

How Don and Pam of Woebgon Bassets Got Started Showing

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

By Don Bullock

In recent years I've seen many articles about showing dogs, but nowhere do I see one where someone tells newcomers how they become involved in the sport. While the information and ideas I include in this article don't explain what to do they chronicle how my wife, Pam, and I got involved in the sport of dogs. Perhaps my comments on our experiences as we got into showing and eventually breeding will help someone else.
The most important factor for anyone is selecting a breed. You have to look for a breed that you are totally infatuated with. It's a breed that you can't seem to stop looking at and one that gives you a lot of enjoyment. The breed you choose should also be one that you can keep in your home and yard as...

The Wonders of the Internet

Thursday, March 9, 2017

By Don Bullock

I’ve been working with “personal microcomputers" since the early days. My first experience was with a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I “Personal Computer” (shown here) that I had to either program myself using the keyboard or load programs from a cassette recorder. In addition to the Radio Shack computers I’ve worked with just about all the early versions of computers including punch cards on a "mainframe."
My first experience with the Internet was doing research for my Master’s Thesis. To conduct the research using the Internet I had to submit some search words to the universitiy's librarian and hope that I’d get something back. In those days only the colleges and universities plus the government had any access to the Internet...

The blog is titled "On the Hunt" because originally basset hounds and their predecessors were bred to hunt. I hope people will visit our website to hunt for information on Basset Hounds and while they are here they will learn from this blog feature as well.


I have invited all our officers, board members and committee chairs to provide material for this blog. As Webmaster I will also be adding to it. Check back here often for new blogs.


The Frequency of entries will depend on what is happening and if someone sends me a blog entry. The blog posts will be listed below by date with the newest one first.

Webmaster's First Dogs

This is a blog entry that is posted elsewhere on the website. It tells how your BHCSC webmaster, Don Bullock, and his wife, Pam, became involved with basset hounds. Here's the LINK. It will appear in a separate browser window.