The Basset Hound Owner's Surival Guide (Your Happy Healthy Pet Guides) [Hardcover]

Diane Morgan (Author)

Book Description

Series: Your Happy Healthy Pet Guides | Publication Date: March 4, 1998

The Basset Hound Owner's Survival Guide will delight every Basset Hound aficionado with its light-hearted look at this quirky breed of dog. Filled with charming stories, photos and drawings of Bassets, this book also provides the reader with Basset care essentials and a history of the breed. A must-have for every lover of the inscrutable Basset.
A Howell Dog Book of Distinction

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Basset Hound Owner's Survival Guide will delight every Basset Hound aficionado with its light-hearted look at this quirky breed of dog. Filled with charming stories, photos and drawings of Bassets, this book also provides the reader with Basset care essentials and a history of the breed. A must-have for every lover of the inscrutable Basset.
A Howell Dog Book of Distinction

About the Author

Diane Morgan lives in Western Maryland where she shares 5 acres with four Bassets, two Setters, two cats,a pond of goldfish and two human beings, John and Web. Diane and her friends serve as foster parents for homeless Bassets. When not working with animal rescue, she teaches philosophy and literature at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Diane is the author of Understanding Your Horse's Lameness, and several magazine articles about dogs, horses, pigs and Tennessee Williams. She has also won prizes for a number of her poems, none of which were about Basset Hounds. About the Artist Pam Posey-Tanzey has been an illustrator for 13 years. In 1997 she received five nominations for Best Illustration by the Dog Writers Association of America and won two Maxwell Awards. Pam lives in Oceanside, California with her husband Tim and their two Bassets, Gracie and Duncan. Seven year old Gracie has her own comic strip, a Companion Dog title and is a therapy dog. One year old Duncan has taken obedience classes since he was a baby. Now studying to be a handsome dog, he is always happy and enjoys tearing up paper.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Howell Book House (March 4, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876050186
• ISBN-13: 978-0876050187
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #621,946 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun but not frivilous, a wealth of Basset Hound information., March 10, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Basset Hound Owner's Surival Guide (Your Happy Healthy Pet Guides) (Hardcover)

This book is a delightful look inside the intimate relationships that many people develop with their Basset Hounds. At first glance it seems light in content but a thorough reading will yield a wealth of information about these great drooling clowns.

As a Basset Hound owner myself, it is difficult to judge the attraction of this book to those poor souls who do not share their lives with a Hound. Everyone with a Basset should read it. It captures the magic, the messes and the mysteries of life with a Basset Hound. Everyone considering adding a Basset to their lives should read it. It is this group that stands to benefit most.

As a first time Basset Hound (and dog) owner several years ago, it was learn as you go. Sure there were Basset books out there, many with valuable information. They explained in detail how things were supposed to go (by the book). Diane's book adds reality through the use of short stories and anecdotes by Basset Hound owners who participate in a couple of on-line forums.

Typical is the accurate comment by Amanda Sherwin under the heading, "Do Bassets Make Good Watch Dogs?" She says, "Bassets are fine watch dogs. You can tell the time by them. Especially meal time." Almost every page has a similar paragraph that illustrates and illuminates breed peculiarities. Under the heading, "Do Bassets Enjoy Sex?," MS Morgan sums up life with bassets perfectly by saying, "Not if they have to get off the couch to participate."

If you are owned by a Basset Hound you must have this book. It will explain to your longsuffering friends why you find joy in your Hound. If you are considering a Basset as a pet, reading The Basset Hound Owner's Survival Guide should be mandatory. As a volunteer with Basset Hound Rescue of Southern California, I believe that ignorance of the breed is the primary reason they show up abandoned in animal shelters. Read this book before you adopt a Basset. Involve the whole family as it is funny and very suitable for reading aloud to children.

The Basset Hound Owner's Survival Guide will tickle your fancy while stealthily teaching you all about Basset Hounds that you need to know. It had to be a labor of love because the love shines through the whole book.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amusing and helpful, not unlike the basset hound itself, November 30, 1999

By 

MickeyM "Mickey M" (Mpls, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Basset Hound Owner's Surival Guide (Your Happy Healthy Pet Guides) (Hardcover)

For anyone who has ever loved a basset hound, and especially for anyone considering being owned by a basset hound, this is an essential read.

For all it's humour, it is also a book that cautions people that although basset hounds are cute and funny, they are also difficult and complex dogs - not your average well-behaved lab, in other words. Not a dog for the easily grossed-out (think drool flings), for the impatient (think laying down in the middle of a walk) or for those who demand obedience (what are you kidding?)

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and Informative, June 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Basset Hound Owner's Surival Guide (Your Happy Healthy Pet Guides) (Hardcover)

Having read a number of other Basset Hound how-to books, I expected more of the same dry education you usually find. However, I soon found myself laughing at descriptions of MY Basset Hound. Diane has a way of telling the bald truth with such humor that I have read this book twice for the sheer enjoyment of it and for a deeper knowledge of my basset. She has climbed right into the basset mind and is right on the money in her conclusions about basset behavior. It makes you realize what a unique and funny animal you live with. If you own a Basset Hound, this is an essential handbook. She inserts many comments and experiences from other basset owners as well as pictures and the wonderful illustrations of Pam Tanzey. Not only can you learn a lot about the Basset Hound from this book, but you will be immensely entertained as well. She covers not only the physical health of the hound, but the mental health and development as well. For me, this put her head and shoulders above the competition. Her hands-on knowledge and biting wit will keep you turning the pages rapidly, then going back to relish it again. It will either make you want to run right out and get a basset, or sure that you never want to own one. She's right - Bassets aren't for everybody, but this book is great reading for all.