December 10, 2015

By Don Bullock

THE PURPOSE OF THE BHCSC:

A.THE PURPOSE OF THIS CLUB SHALL BE TO ENCOURAGE AND PROMOTE THE OWNERSHIP AND BREEDING OF PURE-BRED BASSET HOUNDS; AND TO DO ALL POSSIBLE TO BRING THEIR NATURAL QUALITIES TO PERFECTION BY WORKING FOR THE CONTINUING IMPROVEMENT OF THE BREED.

B.TO DO ALL IN ITS POWER TO PROTECT AND ADVANCE THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE BREED BY EXAMPLE AND EDUCATION; BY ENCOURAGING SPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT AT DOG SHOWS AND TRIALS; BY COOPERATING WITH SHOW HOLDING ORGANIZATIONS; AND BY OFFERING PRIZES.

If breeders like those who are members of the BHCSC, other local basset hound clubs and the Basset Hound Club of America didn’t continue producing litters our breed as we know and love it would soon disappear. 

Obviously the breeding of fine examples of our breed is paramount to the existence of basset hounds. If we don’t breed examples that come as close as possible to the breed Standard then no one, including the breeders, will have the opportunity to actually own one. All of us who love bassets would be stuck with those produced by puppy mills and back yard breeders. The health issues and poor structure issues in our breed would be greatly magnified and soon take over the breed.

The only way to improve the breed is to try to breed better basset hounds. The measurement for that improvement is the AKC Standard for Basset Hounds. It is a written description of the perfect basset hound and was the subject of my last blog. To read more about the Standard refer back to that blog and the AKC Standard for Basset Hounds.

The next section of the BHCSC Purpose Statement is very important. This is where all club members can get involved, not just breeders and owners of show dogs. In recent years the AKC has made it easier for all basset hound owners to get involved with their dogs.

Our club is responsible for doing all we can to set an example for the breed. The quality of basset hounds we own, show and especially the ones we choose to breed should show others how it should be done. No, that doesn’t mean we can’t own a rescue dog, foster or get involved with rescue efforts. What it does say is that we and our AKC registered basset hounds should be excellent examples for others. Our club also has the responsibility to do as much as we can to educate people about our breed. Many people in our society today, even with access to the Internet and mass media, still have no idea that there is a written Standard for the breed that ALL breeders should be following. It’s our job to let people know about it. Something that amazes me is that  people will watch a dog show on television like the Westminster Dog Show and still think of them as beauty contests. Part of our job as a club is to let people know that this isn’t true. Dog shows were developed more than a century ago to help breeders evaluate their breeding stock. They are similar in nature to other livestock shows in that the dogs should be judged against what is though of as a perfect specimen as described in the AKC Standard.

Another important purpose of our club is to promote dogs shows, trials and other events. Encouraging sportsman like behavior at them is also important. Here basset hound people seem to do well. Most of us encourage each other and cheer for the winners especially when someone finishes the AKC Championship on one of their bassets. Can we do more? Sure, there is always room for improvement. Being a good sportsman should be a big part of what we do. Our club also holds some events. Currently our club only holds shows and matches in conformation and field trials for those who want to see how their dog performs tasks they were bred to do. We recently revived our efforts at obedience events at our shows and in 2015 added AKC Rally© to the BHCSC Specialty Shows. There are other events that we could be involved in if there is enough interest. In recent years AKC has added other performance events, such agility and lure coursing ability that basset hound owners can get involved in. Some of these events do not require an AKC registered basset hound to enter. Tracking is currently offered by some performance clubs in Southern California. If we had enough people interested in any of these activities we could go back to offering more events or at least helping our members to locate clubs that have events fpor our breed.

Some I’m sure have no idea where cooperating with show holding organizations fits in. To many this may be a strange purpose. I can assure you that it isn’t. In the past the BHCSC sponsored basset hound competition held by other clubs. This is called a “supported entry.” The BHCSC would provide a trophies to a club for offering competition for basset hounds and perhaps pay a small monetary fee. As a result the winners at those shows would receive the trophies and the exhibitors of the basset hounds in the show would get a few dollars off of their entry fee. Why this practice disappeared I’m not quite sure. Perhaps it was due to the show giving clubs, but it is an area we can try to revive if the club decided to.

Supporting other clubs is also part of where the offering prizes comes in. Our club  offer the trophies or prizes for their shows. The offering of prizes also reefers to our own BHCSC events. This is one place where our club does more than most local basset hound clubs. At our shows and other events we provide excellent prizes to the winners. Some people actually enter our shows partly because of the opportunity to compete for those prizes. We also have excellent trophies that are given to winners at our shows. By AKC rules these trophies are challenge trophies not perpetual trophies that are around forever. AKC requires that a person can retire one of the challenge trophies by winning it three times. Once retired these trophies can either be donated back to the club or kept by the person who retires them. Often if a person retires a trophy they offer a new trophy in its place the next year. Another prize offered by the BHCSC is our medallions. Every member who's basset qualifies for a Championship or other title gets a medallion to signify that accomplisment.

According to our purpose that is what our club is all about. We exist to protect and preserve the basset hound breed as a fine example of a pure bred dog. Our efforts are aimed at accomplishing our purpose as a club and as individuals and rewarding owners and breeders for their efforts. 

I encourage our members and anyone else who loves basset hounds to become more involved with the BHCSC and its purpose. The AKC events mentioned above are ones that people can get their whole families involved in. There is even Junior Showmanship competition for the kids. Those of us who are very active in the club enjoy the chances we have to be with our dogs and compete with others who love the breed as well. If basset hounds are going to continue to survive we need more people to become involved and to be a part of the club.