Fritter Six Week Evaluation

 We woke this morning to people choosing their puppies. Then came Becky Perron  trying to keep us honest by insisting we not forget one, which we had. Fritter got lost in the six hours marathon of writing I did yesterday. Sorry to those who were waiting.

Our little Rocketdog Kennel has had some very good litters. The one currently living in our tiny home one of the best we have had. Grizelda Laffee Taffee (AKC) and ClarkeBar Grizwold (AKC) have produced two litters. (Since we only breed a female three times it gives us pause knowing that Taffee is still so young.)  The first litter was a complete surprise in every respect. They were very special in every respect as well. The quality of those pups was very good and those we have contact with today have proven themselves to possess every trait we hoped for. The current litter promised the same. With three notable exceptions (Eclair, Sprinkles, and our own Rocky Rhoades) there were no flaws we could find. 

Fritter, a male now weighing 8.2 pounds, is one of the exceptional pups in this litter. When whelped, the first breath he took in came out unexpectedly as a cry. He has since shown us that he is paying close attention to everything, and every one, coming into what he has decided is his world. At two weeks old he heard me sneaking through the puppy room and I heard a small furry beast growl, then bark loudly. I turned to find Fritter sitting at attention in the middle of his siblings, protecting them from the unknown. Fritter (the fretter) is a watch dog Basset Hound. 

We use a Six Point System for Evaluating our puppies, and it is a good idea to have read this as I go about looking Fritter over for flaws and strengths. In this evaluation we are combining the American Kennel Club Standards, parsed down to only five general areas, with our own feelings about how pretty the puppy is. Fritter is one very pretty puppy. 

Fritter' head is spectacular. From his highly domed head hangs the best ears of all the puppies. In most Bassets we can see a change in color coming in the ears, most go brown or red over time. Occasionally we don't see the change and with Fritter is seem possible that he will keep his black as night ears. These extraordinary ears are extreme in length and setting. They sit a the back of his skull and hang to his knees at six weeks old. His mother has such great ears and Fritter might just have been so lucky as she. Fritter also has a great snout. Perfectly formed for his age and from which hang beautiful fews which will give his face more character as he grows to maturity. His jaw set is perfect as well. This puppy is perfect in respect to his head shape, which is covered in very symmetrical silky soft fur which has a red glow to it. A lovely little boy.

His body shape is quite good. His foreleg bones are perfectly sized, his paws give a hint of a slightly smaller dog, his foreleg stance is absolutely perfect too. He stands like a champion when viewed from the front and from the front his body tapers smoothly to his wonderfully formed rear end. Fritter has stance, the ability to display aggression and strength while simply standing still. Stance might be a good indicator of properly set hop joints. Since Basset Hounds are genetic dwarves, bone health is always an issue. Fritter' stance is extraordinarily good, as is the entire puppy. Fritter gets all five of the points for form.

Fritter is special, just ask him and he'll tell you so.  His perfect little frame is covered mostly in large patches of black and white and from looking at him in the sunshine we see no brown fur emerging as he grows. These color changes are common in Bassets and no changes in color are uncommon. We cannot guarantee that he will not change as he grows, but think of the possibilities. His mother had this sort of coat and she is beautiful. (All Bassets are beautiful, but some stand out.) The pictures don't lie. Whether he is shown or not, there may be a grand champion in Fritter.

Dunkin Six Week Evaluations

 There have been two litters produced by Grizelda Laffee Taffee (AKC) and ClarkeBar Grizwold (AKC), there will only be three. We hope to make them wait a few years before proceeding to the third, but these two are sneaky and sly. These two litters were surprises, but both were also the best we've seen. This litter is no exception, all of their puppies are exceptional.

Dunkin was the first born of this letter, and perhaps the best of the males. At 7.9 pounds he is not the biggest. But even at that weight he is by far the stoutest of the lot. Perhaps the best looking too. Dunkin's got personality, but not too much. He's a solid boy, not given to being pushed around by bigger puppies, not given to pushing puppies around. He's much, but not too much in his muchness. And he is beautiful.

We use a six point system for evaluating our puppies. You can read about the whole thing by clicking here. This is a quazi-objective system which combines all of the Standards of the American Kennel Club, with one point for aesthetics. 

Dunkin's head shape is flawless. His well domed head carries a broad snout, great ears and ear setting, and a solid jaw set covered by good sized fews. His body tapers from extra heavy foreleg bones atop huge paws, smoothly back to a wasp waist and on to heavily muscled hips. His stance is naturally great, but hard to photograph. Stance is one good indicator of future hip problems, Dunkin doesn't seem to have that problem. There is simply nothing wrong about this puppy. A joy to hold onto and not too much chance of hurting him at play. 

Aesthetically he is well formed and covered in symmetrical fur of mostly black and white. At the time of this writing he is not showing much tendency towards color change, but this still might happen. Those areas of Dunkin which show brown today show a golden brown. DUnkin might develop into a dog that does well at the show, but training will be necessary to bring this out for the win.

I don't often say this: Dunkin should be bred. He is too good. His parents were great and their parents were very good. Anything he sires will carry at least half of him and there isn't enough of him in the world.

Sugar Six Week Evaluation

 ClarkeBar Grizwold (AKC) and Grizelda Laffee Taffe (AKC) conspired to give us one of our best litters to date. Three of the eight pups were of the smaller form that we are pursuing as we try to find a stable thirteen inch Basset Hound. Sugar is a medium size for this litter at 7.4 pounds, everyone whose met her has fallen for her instantly. She is already taken by the Anderson Family as their forever puppy and her new name will be Lelu.

Our Six Point Evaluation combines the American Kennel Clubs Standards (reduced to just five points) and one point given for beauty. Beauty is subjecting, so to keep things even we consider form, line, and symmetry, above all else. Click Here to read the page about our Evaluations.

Sugar has a lot going for her. She is fearless, a fighter, and somehow sweet as sweet potatoes. If there is a scrap in the kennel room, Sugar is likely as not to be in there somewhere. She is a pile of furry fun and loves to be loved too. Personality is a big thing when picking a pet. But we must talk about form for a paragraph or two. 

Sugar is a wonderful example of the American Basset Hound. Her lineage gives her solid European looks and traits, her smaller size will likely lead to a healthier life. We expect she will eventually become a forty pound Basset Hound, about half the size of her European Cousins. 

Her head shape and fur are flawless. Her skull is well domed and those ears are absolutely fantastic;. large, well shaped, and perfectly set at the back of her skull. Her snout is wide and tapered to the front, her jaw set is excellent, but will be covered by the fews of glory. Skin folding on Sugar' head is really the best I've seen and the coloring is very symmetrically laid out. Today she might look a bit angry, in time this will turn to a look of deep sadness. But Sugar will never be sad unless treated pooly. Not likely to happen . . . This will be a great Basset Hound.

Sugar's foreleg bones are massive considering her smaller weight, and they top paws a bit too large for such a small dog. She has a wide sternum which will probably become a very deep chest what smoothly tapers back to her waist. Her hips are mighty and her rear leg stance is very good.

Stance, the way a dog stands when only standing, is important in Basset Hounds. A good stance maintains the balance of stress on the dwarf bones which often wear unevenly. Stance is perhaps the best indicator for long termed hip health. Sugar has great stance.

Aesthetically there is nothing wrong about her. She is a lovely looking girl with a great personality. She will fit into her new family very well and we wish her the best. 

Sugar might be bred, hopefully to a good male, but she is os the sort not likely to be too picky about the male's genetics, she brings the good all of her own accord. Six of Six points, a perfect Basset Hound puppy. With training she might go far. Without training, lock the gate or she may go too far.

Sprinkles Six Week Evaluation

 The litter than Grizelda Laffee Taffe (AKC and ClarkeBar Grizwold (AKC) gave us was wonderfully diverse and of the highest quality generally. We are trying to breed a smaller Basset Hound by pairing smaller Basset Hounds together in our breeding program. But finding a stable smaller Basset Hound takes time. In this litter we received three smaller formed Basset babies and five of the more standard size (a bit smaller).

It must be said that Sprinkles, nearly the smallest of the lot, has by far the largest personality. She is constantly on the go, uses her eyes better than any of the rest and will likely become a great hunter of small things, and is a joy for everyone who she meets. Before moving on to the evaluation you might want to read the page describing our Six Point Evaluation System. We use the American Kennel Club's criteria, scaled down into five basic points, and then add a point purely on beauty. Sprinkles has all of the beauty point going into this.

Her head shape is wonderful, if a little smaller in the snout than most of the others. When you get a smaller Basset, one must expect some features to be a bit smaller. Her form is very good with a well domed head, wonderful ears and ear setting, a good jaw set, and good coloring over all. She will eventually become a redheaded beauty.

She is much smaller than the other pups in many respects. But her foreleg bone thickness is good, if a bit scaled down. She does have a flanged rib bone, which is a fault, which keeps her from feeling smooth in form from front to back. This is a minor fault which will likely work itself out as she grows, but a fault none the less which might be a negative in what might otherwise a show quality dog. Sprinkles has a wonderful, but hard to photograph, rear quarters stance. 

Stance is perhaps a good indicator for long termed bone health in Bassets. The rear legs set behind the hips tends to keep the forelegs under weight which leads the dog into better physical condition. Sprinkles' stance is the source of her extraordinary speed and power. Lock the gate. She will be hard to catch.

Aesthetically, Sprinkles is absolutely beautiful. Her soft fur looks to be the sort which changes very little, so she might keep her wonderful coloring. She might just have what it takes to show up well against the pure Europeans what typically do better than the American Bassets. Train her well and she might be a best of contender.

The flanged rid reduces an otherwise perfect score by one half. Whether this flaw persists is for time to tell, but I am betting the thing will clear itself with time. Anyone who gets Sprinkles is going to have a ball whatever they decide to do with her.

Sprinkles might be bred, but care ought to be used to find a suitable male. Both of her parents come from the same kennel, but neither are closely related.

Éclair Six Week Evaluation

 With just a few exceptions, every puppy in the litter that Grizeld Laffee Taffee (AKC) and ClarkeBar Grizwold (AKC) gave us is perfect. This litter also gave us three of the smaller formed Basset Hounds we are looking for to begin breeding a stable smaller formed Basset Hound. The Standard Basset is fifteen inches at the shoulder, we hope some day to produce a thirteen inch variant which retains all the charm of the European styled Basset Hound. 

Eclair is  quite small when compared to the large Bassets in this litter. She weighs in at a healthy 7.7 pounds at six weeks, about a pound heavier than the two smallest pups, but two pound lighter than the largest of the group. And we think she is just about right. She has a lovely personality. She simply loves being heldm hugged, and talk to in a quiet voice. Eclair is a snuggler of the first order. 

Before moving on from here, you might want to familiarize yourself with the criteria we use in evaluating our puppies. Click Here for the Six Point Evaluation page. The American Kennel Club goves us our Standards for form, then we add one point for looks. With a puppy like Éclair, it is all about the looks. But first we look at form.

If it were not for the asymmetrical coloring in Eclair' face, she would have perfect features. Her soft domed head, extraordinary ears, funny nose and exaggerated fews all show us what the form ought to be. He facial structure is perfect in all but coloring, and it would be hard to dislike the coloring that is. Her soft eyes and huggable nature they contain will surely make someone fall in love.

For her smaller size, her foreleg bones are a nice thickness and her paws are nicely larger than her size requires. Her middle area is where the only formal flaw is found. Éclair has a flanged rib which currently keeps her from flowing smoothly from front to back. This is a serious flaw in the AKC Standard, but since she is still so young the whole thing might work itself out in the coming year ahead. Her hind quarters are perfect and she will doubtless have a wasp waist and athletics chest. At present, she is not of show quality.

Not one for picture taking, Éclair was difficult to get a good side view image. Her stance is marginal, but good. She must be exercised to maintain good hip health. Her smaller size might hold back the bone and hip problems many Bassets have in old age, but only good exercise will keep the weight off which is the primary cause of these troubles.

Not all of Taffee' pups were perfect, but the truth is that this puppy will doubtless become a constant companion and the love of someone's life. She might be bred providing a suitable male is found whose bone characteristics are heavier than her own (do not breed down in this important trait). Care ought to be used in deciding a male because both of her parents come from the same kennel, while sharing no direct lineage. For form Éclair loses one half point for flanged ribs, but she gets all of the beauty point, so five and a half points of the six. We have whole litters with no one pup of the lot this good. Not all of them need to be show dogs.

Long John Six Week Evaluation

 ClarkeBar Grizwold (AKC) and Grizelda Laffee Taffee have produced a wonderful litter of puppies. Three of these are of the smaller size our kennel is hoping to stabilize into a 13 inch breed of the Standard 15 inch Basset Hound. Long John is a very good example of the bigger puppy and a wonderfully kind and calm puppy.

Long John is by far the largest of this litter, weighing nine and a half pounds. Truth be told, he is big every place you want to look. It is a good idea to become familiar with our Six Point Evaluation to see what we are talking about in this evaluation. The American Kennel Club Standards are many, but we have boiled them down to just five points. We have added one point to bring some measure of aesthetic beauty into the evaluation. In this litter every puppy will receive this single beauty point and most will earn all five points for form, but this is not true in many of our other litters. With this litter any of the pups might eventually grow up into a show quality dog. But it is form we are discussing here.

When we look at Long John' head we see perfection that will probably grow into perfection. His highly domed head  is heavy in every area. His large snout supports enormous fews, covering a string jaw which is perfectly formed. The comically large ears hang perfectly at the back of his skull, appearing to hang from the neck. And his facial coloring, though changing for the red, is symmetrical and well defined. This will be a medium sized American Basset Hound with fully European head features.

Everything about this boy is big. Big feet, big bones, long back, and hefty hind quarters. His stance, perhaps the best measure for long termed bone health, is perfect and he stands wonderfully without coaxing. Long John easily earns all five points for form.

Looking at the image to the left you will see the perfect stance. Long John' weight is distributed optimally for carrying a large dog so close to the ground. He has not decided to use that enormous nose, but likely will turn scent hound without much work. 

Looks are important and Long John has the right stuff when it comes to a pretty puppy. His fur is nicely colored and, though much of his now black fur will likely turn red, we are betting the red fur we don't see will be very good and the margins well defined. Long John gets the pretty point too.

Six out of six is the way of Taffee' babies, rarely does she thrown anything less than perfect.

Jelly Six Week Evaluation

 Grizelda Laffee Taffee (AKC) and ClarkeBar Grizwold (AKC) have given us another fine litter of eight pups, three of which are of the smaller form our kennel wishes to stabilize. Having seen a few of their first litter grown up, this litter promises some wonderfully beautiful American styled Basset Hounds. 

Jelly has been a fun puppy since her ears opened a few weeks ago. Always on the go she loves to play, and play hard, but not all play is simply for fun. She is a healthy little girl, accent on the word little, at 6.10 pounds. This is a full three pounds behind her heaviest litter mates, she is the smallest of the litter but does not appear the smallest. Jelly may have potential to become a field dog since her nose is always to the ground and her choices of targets for play are not simply the nearest puppy. Jelly is not the dainty type. She is awfully fun to watch.

It is a good idea to become familiar with our Six Point Evaluation to see why we are asserting judgments about these puppies so early in life. We believe the traits of the parents, when added to the traits we find in the offspring, might give us a good idea of what lay ahead as these pups grow. 

As anyone with eyes can see quality in these pictures.  Jelly has the well domed head which features a very well formed snout and exceptional ears. Her perfect jaw set is well hidden by enormous hanging fews. The ears are close to perfect for length and situated so that they appear on the neck, rather than the head itself.  Were she to have a slightly better facial coloring she could be a champion at the higher levels of showing dogs. As she appears, she has a deep connection to the European bloodlines people love, while weighing eventually about half of what a good European Basset weighs.

Jelly has a very robust bone structure considering her smaller size. her foreleg bones appear to be thicker than she needs and fit nicely her larger than necessary feet. Her ribs flow from front to back perfectly and her rear leg stance is very good. Stance, the way a dog stands when simply standing still, is very strong and her weight sits slightly forward of her forelegs with her rear legs posed well back of her hips. Her stance foretells of a good healthy bone structure. Her walking gait is perfect, but Sugar seldom walks anywhere.

The American Kennel Club gives very little guidance on the more aesthetic qualities of Basset Hounds. This is likely because beauty is subjective, but not all aspects of beauty are strictly subjective. Symmetry, line, and form are all quasi objective areas to look for more value. When An AKC judge looks at a lineup of Bassets it would be hard discount "pretty. Jelly is very pretty indeed. Her coat is nearly perfect, the face could have more color to it and might still since Bassets change colors quite a bit as they grow. Jelly just might become a show stopper and gains the one point for aesthetics.

Six of six points is not uncommon for this pair or puppy parents. Jelly has all the right stuff and perhaps ought to be bred for her smaller size with a smaller than average male. Care should be exercised when choosing a male since both parents come from the same kennel, while not being of a close bloodline.

Sugar Six Week Evaluation

 Grizelda Laffee Taffee (AKC) and ClarkeBar Grizsold (AKC) produced a fine litter of eight puppies for the second time in two years.  

Sugar is a healthy 7.4 pounds at six weeks old.  Her personality is fearless and playful, sweet and mild tempered. She is completely weened, and in fine shape. But it is her form which decides her quality. Please take the time to familiarize yourself with the criteria we us to make these Six Point Evaluations.

Sugar seems to have it all when set against the AKC Standard.  She will likely not become a smaller formed Basset Hound we are after but this will almost certainly become a fine example of the American Basset Hound.

Sugar earns full marks for her head characteristics with her nearly comically long ears perfectly set back so that they appear against her neck. Her very well proportioned head is nicely domed, but not overly much. Her nose has a nice box shape which supports tremendous few that cover a perfect jaw set. 

Beginning at the fore quarters, Sugar seems to be quite heavily built with thick foreleg bones that end in very well proportioned feet. Her body seems to flow smoothly from front to back through her rib cage. Stance, the way a dog stands when simply standing still, is very strong and her weight sits slightly forward of her forelegs with her rear legs posed well back of her hips. If seen from above, the hips are well defined in a wasp shape which gives a good impression of an athletic build. Stance, particularly in the rear end, can often indicate how her hips will do on the longer term and Sugar seem well prepared for a long healthy life. 

Sugar moves through her world easily and has no clumsiness in her gait. Sugar receives five of the five American Kennel Club points and compares closely to the Standard. The American Kennel Club. The AKC Standard contains little guidance for appearance, but we do.

Sugar's skin wrinkles and folds show much of the European good looks her mother carries so well. Her fur is silky smooth, but it is really too early to tell how it will turn out in a few years. Sugar's coloring is a lovely tri-color which is at present evenly divided in black and white along the length of her body. We expect quite a bit of her black fur to eventually change to a rich sort of brown as well. She is  likely to keep much of her white fur as she grows, but we expect any new areas to be covered in brown but remaining fairly symmetrical.

Her head is becoming a caramel brown with red highlights. Sugar gets the full point for pretty. There simply is nothing wrong with her.

Because Sugar's parents carry no visible negative traits (and we have a previous litter to judge) it can be assumed that Sugar will not display negative traits either. She conforms to the AKC Standard very well and gains all five of the five AKC points. She is a lovely puppy and gets the one point for aesthetics as well.

Six of six points for a girl who will likely make a great family pet. She may be bred, but care should be exercised since both parents stem from the same kennel without being closely related.