Basset Hound History history

Basset Hounds are an aristocratic breed of French lineage, a descendant of the St. Hubert's Hound, a dog similar to the present-day Bloodhound. Friars of St. Hubert's Abbey in medieval France desired a shorter-legged dog, capable of following a scent under brush in thick forests, as hunting was a classic sport of the time. Both Bassets and St. Hubert's Hounds were bred to trail, not kill, their game. Bassets were originally used to hunt rabbits and hare. The first application of the word "Basset" to a breed of dog can be traced to an illustrated text on hunting written by Fouilloux in 1585.

Early French Bassets closely resembled the Basset Art�sien Normand, which is still a breed today though it is not recognized outside of France. Because many short-legged dogs from this time were called basset and record-keeping from this time was sparse, it is difficult to speculate which of these breeds have bloodlines in common with today's Basset Hounds. It is commonly believed that Marquis de Lafayette brought Basset Hounds to the United States as a gift to George Washington.

In 1863 the Basset Hound reached international fame at the Paris Dog Show. At that time there were two common Bassets, those with a rough coat (Basset Griffon) and those with smooth (Basset Fran�ais). The dogs were further classified by the length of their legs. The two popular Basset breeders at this time were M. Lane and the Count Le Couteulx.

In 1866, Lord Galway imported a pair of Le Couteulx Bassets to England, but it was not until 1874 that Basset Hounds were widely introduced there by Sir Everett Millais. The Kennel Club accepted the breed in 1882 and the English Basset Hound Club was formed in 1884. The American Kennel Club first recognized Basset Hounds as a breed in 1885. In 1935, the Basset Hound Club of America was organized in the United States. The current American breed standard was adopted in 1964.

Complete List
Afghan Hound	Airdale Terrier	African Wild Dog	Akita Inu	American Akita
Alaskan Malamute	American Cocker Spaniel	American Eskimo Dog	American Foxhound	American Staffordshire Terrier
American Water Spaniel	Anatolian Shepherd	Appenzeller Sennenhunde	Argentine Dogo	Australian Cattle Dog
Australian Shepherd	Australian Terrier	Azawakh	Basenji	Basset Hound
Beagle	Bearded Collie	Beauceron	Bedlington Terrier	Belgian Sheperd Dog (Laekenois)
Belgian Sheperd Dog (Malinois)	Belgian Sheepdog	Belgian Sheperd Dog (Tervuren)	Bergamasco	Bernese Mountain Dog
Bichon Frise	Black and Tan Coonhound	Black Russian Terrier	Bloodhound	Bluetick Coonhound
Border Collie	Border Terrier	Borzoi	Boston Terrier	Bouvier des Flandres
Boxer	Boykin Spaniel	Bracco Italiano	Briard	Brussels Griffon
Bulldog	Bullmastiff	Bull Terrier	Cairn Terrier	Canaan Dog
Cane Corso	Cardigan Welsh Corgi	Catahoula Leopard Dog	Caucasian Mountain Dog	Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Cesky Terrier	Chesapeake Bay Retriever	Chihuahua	Chinese Crested Dog	Chinese Shar-Pei
Chinook	Chow Chow	Clumber Spaniel	Collie	Coton de Tulear
Curly Coated Retriever	Czechoslovakian Wolfdog	Dachshund	Dalmatian	Dandie Dinmont Terrier
Doberman Pinscher	English Bulldog	English Cocker Spaniel	English Fox Hound	English Setter
English Springer Spaniel	English Toy Spaniel	Field Spaniel	Finnish Spitz	Flat Coated Retriever
French Bulldog	German Pinscher	German Shepherd Dog	German Shorthaired Pointer	German Wirehaired Pointer
Giant Schnauzer	Glen of Imaal Terrier	Golden Retriever	Gordon Setter	Great Dane
Greater Swiss Mountain Dog	Great Pyrenees	Greyhound	Harrier	Havanese
Ibizan Hound	Irish Setter	Irish Terrier	Irish Water Spaniel	Irish Wolfhound
Italian Greyhound	Japanese Chin	Kerry Blue Terrier	Komondor	Kuvasz
Labrador Retriever	Lagotto Romagnolo	Lakeland Terrier	Lancashire Heeler	Leonberger
Lhasa Apso	L�wchen	Maltese	Manchester Terrier	Mastiff
Miniature Bull Terrier	Miniature Pinscher	Mudi	Neapolitan Mastiff	Newfoundland
Norfolk Terrier	Norwegian Buhund	Norwegian Elkhound	Norwegian Lundehund	Norwich Terrier
Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever	Old English Sheepdog	Otterhound	Papillon	Parson Russell Terrier
Pekingese	Pembroke Welsh Corgi	Perro de Presa Canario	Peruvian Inca Orchid	Petit Basset Griffon Vend�en
Pharaoh Hound	Plott Hound	Pointer	Polish Lowland Sheepdog	Pomeranian
Poodle	Portuguese Podengo	Portuguese Water Dog	Pudelpointer	Pug
Puli	Pumi	Pyrenean Shepherd	Rafeiro do Alentejo	Rat Terrier
Redbone Coonhound	Rhodesian Ridgeback	Rottweiler	Saint Bernard	Saluki
Samoyed	Schipperke	Scottish Deerhound	Scottish Terrier	Sealyham Terrier
Shetland Sheepdog	Shiba Inu	Shih Tzu	Siberian Husky	Silky Terrier
Skye Terrier	Sloughi	Smooth Fox Terrier	Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier	Spinone Italiano
Stabyhoun	Staffordshire Bull Terrier	Standard Schnauzer	Sussex Spaniel	Swedish Vallhund
Thai Ridgeback	Tibetan Mastiff	Tibetan Spaniel	Tibetan Terrier	Tosa
Toy Fox Terrier	Treeing Tennessee Brindle	Treeing Walker Coonhound	Vizsla	Weimaraner
Welsh Springer Spaniel	Welsh Terrier	West Highland White Terrier	Whippet	Wire Fox Terrier
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon	Xoloitzcuintli	Yorkshire Terrier