July 10, 2021 More Good News.

 This afternoon we found our boy ClarkeBar Grizwold (AKC) and one of our two year old girls, Beatrix O'Honey (AKC) doing the puppy dance. We could only be happier if it had been The Cinnamon Bear doing the deed herself. We ought to have a litter on or near September 11th with delivery to new homes around November 13th.  . 

If you are ready to become a Basset Baby family you might want to join our Wait List. (An email widget is just to the left of this notice.)

The List is only used to notify people of news as it happens. There is no commitment or cost to join and joining the List is effectively the only way to secure a Reservation for choosing a puppy. We do things a bit differently to reduce the competition stress we found when buying puppies ourselves.

How this all happens is simple enough. We notify people on the Wait List once the puppies arrive and those interested in adopting a puppy will be given an equal opportunity to reserve a place in line for choosing a puppy on a first come, first to choose basis. The first person who makes a reservation, by answering the notice first and placing a $500.00 deposit (through Square.com), will choose their puppy first. The second person follows along, etcetera, until all the Reserved spots are all filled. There are usually many more people interested than we have puppies available, so time is of the essence. We maintain a list of alternates should one of the people fails to take some vital step in the process. Once the puppies are six weeks old and Six Week Evaluations are posted on-line, the first Reservation will choose, followed by the second, etcetera, until all of the puppies have been chosen.

There will be much more information given before Reservations are taken. And anyone interested in more information have time to ask questions. Join our Facebook Rocketdog group and ask anyone of our previous Basset parents anything you like. All people on the Wait List are invited to visit the Farm, the Parents, and the Puppies, prior to deciding anything at all. 

More to follow . . .

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.