Page 29 - ShowSight Presents The Basset Hound

and knowing that there are no rabbits in pionships under a variety of judges. Over a Specialty last November.
the shoulder is placed too far forward, the
Basset will probably have no neck and the
desired sternum will be hiding behind the
his ring at this moment, he would hold his head up proudly as he circles the ring instead of following his natural instinct to put his nose to the floor.
His tail is set on with a slight upward curve. I have been seeing the unfortu- nate reoccurrence of some sickle tails and flanged ribs lately which I hope the breed- ers will be quick to remedy.
JUDGING & THE STANDARD
There are two types of judges, the spe- cialist judge and the multibreed judge. Probably no judge can know every breed perfectly but I would hope that all judges would be intimately familiar with the stan- dard of the breeds they judge. They must keep up with all revised breed standards and know everything about the makeup of each breed they judge. I know that all judg- es look for each dog’s best qualities first, but I have put together a quick list of Basset faults and how the standard weighs them just to help with the decision (see Fig. 1).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In looking back for more than a half a century of breeding and exhibiting Basset Hounds, I have had the experience of handling many of my own Fort Merrill Bassets to their cham- pionships under a variety of judges. Over a
hundred Bassets carrying the Fort Merrill
prefix have finished their championships.
Some were campaigned under the expert
6/1/15 10:19 AM
whole shoulder assembly. Length of neck helps him to get his nose to the ground and also is a beautiful sight to see on any Basset.
Bassets should be approximately twice as long as tall. I hope that the length of body is due to a nice long, deep ribcage and not just from a long loin. The rib cage needs to be somewhat wide and deep and oval in shape to house his heart and lungs in order that he can do the job he was bred to do. A long loin will not hold up over time. Be thankful if he has a straight topline!
A Basset’s rear should not be slack but nice and round and about as wide as his shoulders with a good bend of stifle. Generally his hind legs appear to not be as heavy in bone as the front legs but it is mostly due to the fact that they don’t have as much loose skin as the front legs. In moving, his hind legs should have strong drive and be in perfect coordination with the front legs and move in a straight line with the front. In spite of his short legs, he must move in a free manner with the strength and determination of an ath- lete. When he enters the ring, I would hope that he would exhibit this quality and knowing that there are no rabbits in
Basset H-Urban-2.indd 2
hands of professional Basset Hound handlers Bryan Martin and Pat Willer. Several were ranked among the top hounds of the year. Ch Fort Merrill Great Gatsby (Bomber) won 78 group placements 24 of which were Group 1s. Then after winning 2 Best in Show all breeds in the USA, went on to Japan to become the top winning dog all breed in Japan in 2001. Ch Fort Merrill Lipz Stick (Stix) record has remained as top specialty winning bitch from 1992 until 2014 winning 3 all breed best in show with 93 group placements. These two Bassets were campaigned by Bryan Martin. Ch Fort Merrill Man In Black (Manny) was shown by Pat Willer and garnered 1 best in show with 25 group placements, nine of which were Group 1st. GCh Fort Merrill Topsfield Yahoo was also shown by Bryan Martin and won 2 Best in Show with 22 Group 1s. Yahoo was co-owned by Claudia Orlandi and Kitty Steidel for his show campaign. Currently the top Basset in my kennel is a son of Bomber by the name of GCh Fort Merrill Brunswick. He has been campaigned sparingly under the able hands of my friend and kennel manager Aaron Costilla who I am proud to say took Brunswick to Best of Breed at our National Specialty last November.
FIGURE 1: BASSET FAULTS & HOW THE STANDARD WEIGHS THEM
HEAD
FRONT
BODY
REAR
DISQUALIFYING FAULTS
SERIOUS FAULTS
• Knuckling over • Height over 15" at withers
• Distinctly long coat
• Overshot • Undershot • High set ear • Flat ear
• Steep shoulder
• Fiddle fronts
• Out at elbows
• Feet down in pasterns
• Cowhocks
• Bowed legs
• Steep, poorly angu- lated hindquarters
FAULTS
• Broad, flat skull • Dry head
• Tight skin
• Light eyes
• Protruding eyes
• Flat sidedness • Flanged ribs
• Sagging topline • Roached topline
PERMISSABLE, BUT NOT DESIRABLE
• A deep liver- colored nose
• A somewhat lighter colored eye conforming to the general coloring of the dog is acceptable but not desirable
SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2015 • 199
FIGURE 1: BASSET FAULTS &