"Lucy"

Lucy Woebegone Big Paws

When we first got Lucy we had no idea where to put her. She was only five weeks old (which is too young for a puppy to be away from its mother). We decided that the kitchen was the best place for her so we blocked off the entry of the kitchen with some big boxes and kept her in there.

She was also allowed to be out in our dog run with our supervision.

Obviously the sofa was Lucy’s  favorite spot once she was allowed to be out of the kitchen. It became her security.

She loved Pam's slippers.

When Lucy wasn't on the sofa she was often on this chair or a bed.

This picture clearly shows Lucy’s wide front and how badly she was knuckled over in both front legs. Her right front was more severe than the left. This is a disqualifying fault in the AKC Basset hound Standard. Lucy is an excellent example of very poor breeding. Unfortunately I see many like her when we attend the Basset Hound Picnic and similar events each year.

Lucy, Chili and Sam together.  On the left they are waiting by the door to the garage from our dog run and on the right we were celebrating Sam’s first birthday. In the beginning we’d celebrate every birthday with a cake. It got to be too expensive plus Pam and I gained too much weight.

One day we had a friend over to install an alarm system after our house had been burglarized. This is where I found Lucy. She’s hiding among the stuffed animals on our guest room bed.

Our experience with Lucy was a great lesson for us. It taught us to again look at the temperament of our bassets as well as their structure. By having one with such a poor structure for a basset hound we have a much better understanding of how important the structure is for a basset hound and what it should be. Her knuckled over condition is not uncommon among poorly bred bassets. It’s a product of the dwarfism of the breed and something breeders have been trying to avoid since the very beginning of the breed.

We lost Lucy to stomach cancer when she was nine.

This website was created and is maintained by Don Bullock.

He can be reached at basithd@yahoo.com

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