Whats wrong with a Bue Basset ???

[shea4]

OK we have three Bassets we have worked very hard to train them for feild trial because most people are breeding for comformation now and not what they were breed to do not to many people breed for hunts any more when it comes to bassets and i love seeing these dogs do what they were breed to do they are seen as clumbsy and slow but the truth is when they are doing their job in a field they are very graceful and can move with more speed than you think . Any way last year we had a litter and we had a blue , white and tan basset and NO HE DOES NOT HAVE BLUE EYES and we had herd many bad things about this color that it was a defect and they were going to have any health problem you could think of and

Quote:[ is not an accepted hound color for bassets and is not desirable. This color has been linked with hair loss and a poor, thin coat. Similarly, a blue-eyed basset is not considered desirable by the Basset Hound Club of America.] End Quote

But hear is a Quote from AKC [ Any recognized hound color is acceptable and the distribution of color and markings is of no importance .
Disqualifications are
Height of more than 15 inches at the highest point of the shoulder blade.
Knuckled over front legs.
Distinctly long coat.
Approved January 14, 1964] End Quote


These are just some of the things we have herd also we have been told that it is a genetic defect. well we have had our dogs checked for a number of things before we ever bred them well here is the list of the tests we did and nothing showed up to say my dogs have defective genetics.
Gonioscopy
Von Willebrands factor testing
Thyroid testing
Thrombopathia Platelet aggregation study
Radiographs - (OFA)
these are the things I was told that they needed to be testing for so I did and then when I have a color that was not expected they tell me there is something wrong with my dogs well don't get me wrong I love the look of a basset but would much rather see them in a field doing what they were breed to do they are not couch potatoes they love the CHASE any way I am still being told that there must be something wrong with my baby and I just don't see it we had him checked for intestinal disorders and found nothing his hair and coat is wonderful it feels just like his mom and dad who are both from very good bloodlines but not comformation the BHCA told me that it was an old bloodline and it was feild trial and that was were the blue came from but yet no one has an answer as to why he is considered to be inferior quality he looks and acts just like any other basset we have. To tell you the truth we kept him because he was the one showing the most promise at a very good age and he has turned out to be a wonderful tracker. and if they are such bad examples of the breed why can you still find them in the stud books and there has been several champions that are BLUE and are still on the stud books

Quote[ In American studbooks we can still find numerous "blue bassets." Although these "blue bassets" were bred out of the breed, there are many bassets today who are predominantly black and white with heavy ticking and tan markings above the eyes] End quote

okay so the way I see it is old bloodline more likely to have a blue one I may be wrong here but I am so confused on this subject that I needed to vent a little . My vet says he is in great health and can find none of this wrong with him that they say should be wrong with him so can anyone tell me other than color why a blue basset is considered INFERIOR? And also why I can not do the things with him that I am aloud to do with my others when it comes to breed clubs Or excuse me I can bring him but
QUOTE[ HE will not place in anything because he is not of proper color ] WELL AKC does not have a problem with it so how can these clubs ? sorry for venting about it for so long but if you can help me figure this out I couldn't thank you enough :yikes:

 

[SisMorphine]

Maybe it's like a blue APBT. The color would show up randomly in game bred lines and it wouldn't be an issue, but now people specifically breed for the color blue, which makes the dogs very sickly. So perhaps in general a blue Basset is considered the same . . . even though sometimes you can get one even when you weren't planning on it, and it's healthy and fantastic.

I saw screw the people who think he's inferior. Trial him, title him, and prove them wrong in any venue that you choose. Prove that the color of his fur means nothing!!

 

[oc_spirit]

From my understanding from talking with a variety of dog enthusiasts from various breeds, sometimes a recessive gene such as blue will pop up when dogs are inbred and line bred too much. After all, blue is really simply a diluted black. This is what links blue to health defects. Breeding too close together produces health defects and breeding too close together produces the recessive genes hence the connection. HOWEVER a recessive gene CAN come out without breeding too close but I guess since people associate the blue with the close breeding they simpoly assume that any blue will be inferior.

Also in some breeds that blue is not common, when blue does show up there is speculation of an outcrossing to a Neo back in the lines. Of course, I doubt this is the case with the Basset Hound but I thought I would bring it up anyways since the topic is blue dogs

In the end, I would research his lines very carefully and if you find that there isn''t much close breeding, health test him, see how he does in the field, and go from there.

 

[FoxyWench]

Dilute Alopecia (hairloss) is very common in blue dogs, and dilutes in general can bring with them alot of general health problems that make hairloss seem trivial.
i think the breed clubs are just trying to keep thier breed as healthy and protected as possible, if you know a gene will cause health issues you dont want to breed that coulour into your lines...why purposely create dogs that might have health problems all because their from dilute lines.
of course akc is a little more lax because there more interested in how the dog looks as compared to the standard whereas a breed club is particularly interested in the general vigour of their breed and its survival (i hope that makes sense)

its also a problem when you double up on dilutes, one shouldnt breed a blue to another blue for the added risk of health issues (just like breeding a merle to a merle)
i would personally avoid breeding form lines with blue in, especially because your focusing on working lines over confirmational lines, you want the support of your breed club, (akc honestly doesnt care whether your dogs specifically bred to work, if it doesnt fit the standard perfectly (which most confirmationaly correct dogs couldnt do thier origional jobs) they dont want to realy know) the support of your breed club is what your going to need) since they prefer not to have blue in the lines, this doesnt mean you cannot hunt and trian blues, just that its undesirable trait in breeding.
id perosnally avoid breeding dogs known to carry blue and any blue pups should of course be sold on a spay/neuter contract to avoid the potential risks.

as i said, i think there just trying to keep their lines as free from any potential genetic probelms as possible.

 

[Laurelin]

Just a little clarification, linebreeding won't cause recessive alleles to magically pop up. They're there from the beginning. It just causes the allele to become more frequent in the population. Mutation rates happen a lot quicker in smaller populations and since relatives share some genes already this chance increases with close breedings. It just makes it more likely that you will get a homozygous recessive dog. If the recessive trait isn't being carried in your line, then it won't happen.

All it means is that blue is carried in your lines and you got a blue pup. It is recessive and therefore was 'hiding' in your lines. Both parents must have carried it to produce a blue pup.

I'd look at what is known about other issues that arise with dilutes. I'm not too familiar with them myself, but with linked genes etc some things could be more likely. I have heard that health issues happen, but I don't know the frequency.

I'd research and then decide from there.

 

[shea4]

Thank you all so much and I am still looking as deep in both of their pasts as I can and will keep looking until I find something .And I know AKC doesn't really care but I still think if its a reconized color and they meet breed standard why should anyone give a crap. We are keeping a very close eye on him to see if he starts to show any health problems and will have all of his health tests done within the year he has had some of them already . And I am just going to keep with the training and continue doing what we want for him . And I am not so worried about me doing it its just my six year old picked him from the get go and wants to beable to do feild trials with him so bad so I gues if it was just me it wouldn't bother me so bad but when they say things like that in front of him it gets me very mad because it upsets him I told him not to worry about everyone else because he loves him so much and thats all that matters.

 

[oc_spirit]

Good luck with things!! If possible I would love to se pictures!!!!! I have seen the ticked ones but never a blue one

 

[shea4]

pictures

Here ya go OC I also put some of my son and him here from day one they just had that special bond anyway here ya go .

just a few more!

 

[shea4]

My sons favorite pic of Blue

You can see here his eyes are not Blue and I was told by breed club that their eyes had to match their coat and his are kind of a dark tan so they match his coat the green in the middle is something to do with my camera

 

[Zoom]

If he's healthy, he's healthy. Compete with him, have a great time...I would just think really REALLY REALLY hard about breeding him, if that was ever your intention. I would say no, just because he does have an unacceptable coat color. It doesn't necessarily make him a "bad" dog or anything, but most breed standards were created before the AKC or at least before the AKC started it's profit-driven downhill slide. There's usually good basis behind the way they're written.

 

[shea4]

If he's healthy, he's healthy. Compete with him, have a great time...I would just think really REALLY REALLY hard about breeding him, if that was ever your intention. I would say no, just because he does have an unacceptable coat color. It doesn't necessarily make him a "bad" dog or anything, but most breed standards were created before the AKC or at least before the AKC started it's profit-driven downhill slide. There's usually good basis behind the way they're written.

Oh never any intention on breeding him :yikes: just going for feild trials with our son he has a nose that can sniff out anything LOL. I mean honestly I know he is not the best example of the breed all of his litter mates had tons more wrinkles but he has his dads nose for Rabbits some of them showed some intrest but not like him you can't take your eyes off him for a second and hes gone sniffin something out and he has a wonderful bark he hunts like they were bred to anyway no intention of breeding him.

 

[FoxyWench]

i see absolutly no problem with training him for feild, coat colour doesnt effect their nose or ability to do what there bred for, if youve no intentions ofbreeding, coat colour has NO say in how good of a dog he is!

i must say he is a GORGEOUS example of a good solid WORKING basset, you can see it in his legs (and the fact hes not overweight, unfortunatly a trait i see in all too many bassets) and it looks like him and your son have a wonderufll relationship, have fun with him!

 

[MafiaPrincess]

Your baby is beautiful! I'm not a huge fan of bassets because the only ones I ever meet have dragging bellies, but yours is so stunning, wow. What a lovey. Obviously I need to meet basset enthusiasts

 

[oc_spirit]

Hmmm now youve got me very curious about him! Any chance you could post a pic of him from the side standing? The reason I ask is because I''m wondering if there has been some inbreeding or linebreeding in his pedigree and a result was a throwback to what the Basset Hound once were as opposed to what show breeders and pet breeders have turned them into, today. Take a look at these paintings and photos of Bassets from back in the day, do you find he resembles their structure more?

This is Model, a dog used in the development of the Basset hound

This is a painting, the dog in the back is ""Fino de Paris"" who is a brother to Model, who was also used in the Development of the Basset Hound

A descendant of ""Fino De Paris"" though this bitch pulls more traits from another ancester named ""Termino."" This is Guinevere

 

[RD]

I don't have anything to add, but wanted to say I think your Blue boy is one of the best looking Bassets I've seen! He actually looks like a hound.

Since you don't plan on breeding him, I'll say that I absolutely LOVE that color. Never seen it before on a Basset but it is really pretty.

 

[~Jessie~]

^^^ I agree with RD... he is a gorgeous dog!

 

[wookie130]

Basset hounds are by far and large my favorite breed, for more reasons than I could ever go into on this thread.

I've read about the whole "blue basset" thing too being negative in terms of conformation and genetic problems.

Blue or not, I just love your beautiful blue basset...such lovely bright eyes...what a lovely dog! I say prove 'em wrong, and go for it!

 

[tessa_s212]

I don't have much of anything to add other than that I think your Basset is a gorgeous dog!

 

[Laurelin]

Oh wow, he's a gorgeous boy! I wouldn't worry at all if you're not breeding him and he shows no health problems. I'm sure he'll be fine for trialing and such.

 

[bubbatd]

Move onward and upward !!! Anxious to hear of his field work !!