We want to know everything about dogs. Everything! But there are countless breeds of dog out there, and each one is a unique animal with its own history. That's why every week, we shine a spotlight on a different breed. This week, learn some fun facts about basset hounds.
Image: madaboutgreys via Getty Images
THE NAME "BASSET" MEANS "LOW"
The French word "bas," meaning "low," is where the word "basset" comes from. The suffix -et in French translates to "rather" or "very," emphasizing how low this breed is to the ground. Breeders intended the short-legged basset hounds to be smaller and lower than typical hounds because their short stature makes them more effective hunting companions when pursuing small game like rabbits.
Image: Corey Hochachka / Design Pics via Getty Images
BASSET HOUNDS ARE TECHNICALLY DWARVES
All basset hounds have achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism in humans and sometimes dogs, that's characterized by genetically abnormal bone and cartilage growth. For most dog breeds, achondroplasia is considered a defect. In basset hounds, the trait is essential and defining.
RELATED: Dog Haircuts Gone Really Wrong
Image: Mark Sauerwein via Getty Images
BASSET HOUNDS WERE BRED TO HUNT IN PACKS
Basset hounds were designed not only to hunt small game, but to do it in packs. Through teamwork, basset hounds hunting together in a pack can more easily drive a rabbit or other prey out from cover. This breeding instills a highly social personality in even non-hunting basset hounds. Bassets love to be around people, children, dogs and other animals.
Image: The Washington Post via Getty Images
MODERN BASSET HOUNDS ARE DIFFERENT FROM EARLY BASSETS
Dogs described as "bassets" date back at least to the 16th century, when "low" hounds gained popularity as hunting companions, particularly in France. But basset breeding was not strictly codified, and underwent many changes over time. It wasn't until the late 19th and early 20th centuries that breeders crossed bassets with bloodhounds to increase the small dog's size, incidentally adding the bloodhound's typically droopy jowliness to the basset countenance.
Pictured: 19th-century color engraving of a basset hound. Photographed from the book title "Oeuvres Completes de Buffon," published in France in 1830-1832.
Image: David Bukach via Getty Images
BASSET HOUNDS' FLOPPY EARS HELP THEIR SCENT TRAILING
Although they are adorable, a basset hound's floppy ears also serve a practical purpose. Bassets have one of the best senses of smell of all breeds (second only to bloodhounds), and their ears have a lot to do with it. When a basset hound tracks its prey, its ears sweep the scent up toward the dog's nose. The loose skin at the basset hound's throat, aka the dewlap, also helps trap the scent to amplify the dog's already powerful olfactory ability.
RELATED: 10 Animals With Great Hearing
Image: Edwin Megargee via Getty Images
TIME MAGAZINE POPULARIZED BASSET HOUNDS IN AMERICA
Already popular in France and the U.K., basset hound's experienced slower acceptance among American dog lovers in the 20th century's early decades. But the breed enjoyed a significant bump in public awareness and popularity when Time magazine feature a basset hound puppy on its Feb. 27, 1928, cover to accompany an article about the Westminster dog show.
Image via Time
ELVIS PRESLEY'S "HOUND DOG" WAS A BASSET HOUND
Leiber and Stoller's song "Hound Dog" is not about an actual dog at all, of course. But when Elvis recorded the song in 1956, he performed a version that changed the lyrics significantly, so it didn't seem like such a stretch when, performing on "The Steve Allen Show," he sang the song to a basset hound wearing a top hat. Elvis later called this "the most ridiculous performance of my entire career."
Image: NBC via Getty Images
marilyn-monroe-arthur-miller-basset-hound
MARILYN MONROE OWNED A BASSET HOUND
Marilyn Monroe owned lots of pets throughout her life, including a Chihuahua named Josepha and a poodle named Maf. One of Monroe's most well-known canines was Hugo, a basset hound who belonged to Monroe and Arthur Miller during their marriage. The dog even appeared in several photos with the couple. When Miller and Monroe split up in 1961, Miller kept Hugo. Monroe died 19 months later.
RELATED: Rescued Magpie Joins Family
Image: Mondadori via Getty Images
BASSET HOUNDS ARE CORPORATE MASCOTS
One of the most iconic basset hounds in pop culture is the logo for Hush Puppies shoes. Early in the brand's development, a salesman learned that hush puppies, the fried cornball, were named so because hunters fed them to their hounds to keep them quiet. The salesmen connected that etymology and the idiom of "barking dogs" to mean tired, aching feet. The shoes, originally called Lasers, were renamed Hush Puppies.
Image via Associated Press
BASSET HOUNDS ARE TELEVISION STARS
Basset hounds have been frequent character actors in TV and movies. A basset hound was a major character in the '50s NBC sitcom "The People's Choice," and Lassie's friend Pokey was a basset. On "Columbo," the titular detective owned a basset hound named Dog. The bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane from "The Dukes of Hazzard" had a basset hound named Flash. Other TV bassets have appeared on "Coach," "Judging Amy" and "That's So Raven."
Pictured: American actor James Best (as Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane) looks unnerved as he holds his dog, Flash (played by Sandy, a Basset Hound). in a publicity still from the television series "The Dukes of Hazzard," 1982.
Image: CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images
