It Looks Like We Are Getting Another Hound, This Time Its A Little Hound.

[RATTER15]

Its a Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen, Whilst our little Shi-tzu Sammy is still doing therapy and home visits he is 13 and we are looking for another small breed that could possibly sit on laps or lay on a patience bed to take his place. We have spoken to the breeder but we need to go up and see the pups, We wont take on any pup for a few weeks after we have moved but all going well it is there waiting for us :-)

We've done a lot of research and this is the breed we settled on as being best for our purpose and will fit in well with our life style and our other animals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7CzLgd3GdU

[albaqwerty]

handsome doggies Ratter.

It's lovely to read of a loving dog-friendly couple who do research and can offer a good loving life to animals.

[B00]

Awwww, they're all kinds of cute!

How much bigger do they get?

[Tilly2]

Gorgeous!

[princerupe74]

Switherland Montravia Bassets are best - Google them

[Psybbo]

Aw they are lovely, note to self, do not let daughter see this

[supersuezy24]

Oh my God, they are absolutely adorable!!!
Enjoy :)

[tonyav]

They look great little dogs RATTER, I've had to watch this without the Mrs seeing it !.

[RATTER15]

Boo, this is one full grown winning Crufts this year.

princerupe74, I wouldnt touch a Switherland Montravia Bassets, they are far from any sort of natural, their bellies are almost dragging on the ground because there legs are so short, I really dobt like dogs that are so unnatural looking.

[divegirl]

Erm... have you actually met one?

I know three and these are in no way 'lap dogs' [they are not that small] and all of them are very high energy and high maintenance. They can not be let off lead as if they pick up a scent....bye bye!

Sorry but if I were looking for a breed to work as a therapy dog this would be near the bottom of my list.

Lisa x

[RATTER15]

Hi Lisa, we have thoroughly researched the breed and we are aware of their drive to follow a scent,we have spoken to various breeders about training and their suitability to do the work. We will have to keep our present dogs either on leads or confined to fields so that will make no difference to us and they will have the run of many securely fenced acres. Ok, the "lap" thing I agree with but we cant find any other dog that fits the bill and we have looked hard, the toy breeds are out as too much fussing and clipping and we want a smaller dog that will fun the farm with our hounds. So rest assured we have done our home work lol. Thanks for the heads up, the cute factor was a bit of a decider I must admit, it does also tick "nearly" all the boxes. Also at £1000 a pup we are making sure we got it right. We are going up to see the pups on Wednesday (700 mile round trip) but wont be getting one for a few weeks yet if we still decide to have one.

[RATTER15]

//will run* the farm with our hounds.//

[ladybirder]

Blimey Ratter, I know somebody who does the dog therapy thing with a little female mongrel rescue dog, cost £90.

[RATTER15]

ladybirder, "Animal Assisted Therapy" or "PAT" dog? both very different. I certainly agree that literally any dog has the potential to do animal assisted therapy but we are just being very specific about what we want from a dog, generally speaking you can only choose certain traits etc with pedigree dogs, we will possibly also want to show the dog and we just love hounds.

[ladybirder]

I can't remember Ratter, I've just been back through old emails to try and find out which it was but looks as if I didn't keep them. I do remember it took her and the mut quite a while to be accepted onto the scheme. Next time we speak I'll ask her as you've got me wondering now:-)

[RATTER15]

Ladybirder "I do remember it took her and the mut quite a while to be accepted onto the scheme." that sounds very much like "PAT" (Pets as Therapy) Nothing against them but very different to what we do.

[sandyRoe]

Great looking wee dogs. Are they all one litter?

[lankeela]

Ratter surprised you are going for a Grand, the Petits are a fair bit smaller. both can be rather noisy and very active. Why not consider a Lancashire Heeler - ideal therapy dog and a good ratter too. If it has to be a hound have you considered a Portuguese Podengo - very cute! Have you heard of Jilly's Jolly Jaunt - the Crufts winning PBGV is walking 130 miles for charity. Whatever you get it will have a great life by the sound of it.

[RATTER15]

Hi Lankeela, we were originally drawn to the petit but they are apparently more scatty and hyper than the grand and whilst they are smaller and looking at the breed standards there isnt a great deal of difference between the larger of the Petit and the smaller Grande. I must say I did look at the Heelers and the Portuguese Podengo but they do lack that "so cute" factor, as for ratting, well thats how I got my name! however im not sure a ratting dog is what my good lady is looking for, the thought would strike terror into her lol.

The breeder is a professional and qualified dog behaviourist and trainer and she has been talking over their training requirements to get them fit for duty, and she already has the hounds in training, she also says they are an ideal breed for the therapy work with the right training.

Sandy, the vid is not from the litter we are looking at, just a random vid from youtube to show the pups so people could see the type.

[lankeela]

Better not show Carakeel this! http://s304.photobucket.com/user/lankeela/media/Peatcatchingrat_zpse4d78830.jpg.html

[RATTER15]

Lol Lankeela, those flying rats are buggers!!

I wish I had taken photos of my ratting dogs, we often killed hundreds in a day at local chicken farms in the area, we used to go out ratting every other Sunday with ferrets and about half a dozen good Jack Russells.