New Member Introduction

[Michael]

Hello everyone. I have enjoyed reading all the threads the past couple of days and we just wanted to say hello and introduce ourselves. We are Michael and Gwen Mollette and we own Bubba's Bassets. We are located in Ashland, KY. I am a high school teacher and my wife is an RN. We bought our first basset for our son, David (aka "Bubba") and we were hooked the minute "Boss came into our lives. We have several bassets now and love each and every one of them. Here are our newest "Bubba's Babies". We are very proud of these two and look forward to watching these little angels grow up.

[Bassetpup]

What adorable puppies! I love them. I bet you are enjoying the puppy breath. Ahhh...puppies.....the best part is that when they grow up they are still cute and smooshy and wonderful.

Welcome to Basset Friends and we hope you continue to post pictures so that we can see your other hounds. Please feel free to share any stories or ask any questions. I am so happy to see so many new Basset lovers here.

[Michael]

We love showing off our hounds! Here is a picture of our male "Hambone". He's going to make his show debut later this month. We think he'll finish soon. We hope he's the first of many champions for us here at Bubba's Bassets

[3HoundMom]

Your hounds are gorgeous! I just love the puppies!

Dawn

[Southern Bassets]

Oh my god they are wonderful!
I want BOTH Puppies AND I'll take Hambone too!
What a hansom basset he is!
Thanks NOW I want another puppy? My wife is not going to be to happy with you! haha..

Thanks for joining up with us.
I went sniffing around your website and enoyed it very much!

Keep Posting!

[Michael]

This is "Belle". Her mother is a champion and her dad just needs 2 more points to finish his championship. We hope she follows in their footsteps.

[Bassetpup]

Wow, they are gorgeous! Good luck in the show ring..I am trying to get there myself.

Betty

[Michael]

Have you posted pictures of your dogs on here? If so, where? We'd love to see them.

[Bassetpup]

I don't have my show hound yet...I am learning as much as possible and am hoping that by the end of April I can contact the breeder that I have selected and tell her I will be ready when there is a male show pup available. I have three more shows in April to go to, STILL haven't found a sponsor for BHCA and am attending the next meeting of the Local Kennel club a the beginning of April.

I am always looking for advice (just ask Harry..lol) and welcome ANY tips you might have to get started. My sweet Lillian isn't a show quality pup unfortunately but she is my sweetheart so I don't care.

I need to post an updated picture of her soon so I can show her off..LOL.

[Michael]

We are just starting out ourselves. It's taken us about a year to get to this point. I hope we are successful in this endevour. I hate to break it to you, but you need 2 sponsors to get in the BHCA and then you still may not make it. We have our first sponsor and are trying to convince another breeder to sponsor us. Gwen and I think we are going to have to finish hambone before they will sponsor us. Our problem has been that we still want to breed our dogs...most show poeple feel this is a crime, but our feelings on the matter is that not everyone can afford to buy a puppy from show people. We like to believe we provide the same quality as show people at a more affordable price. We both know the joys of owning basset hounds and I feel that anyone who wants to should have the right to share the joys of being owned by a basset. How do the rest of you feel about this?

[Southern Bassets]

That's exactly why this message board was built bubbasbasset.
I've ran into such problems on all the other boards and have even been banned for life from CyberHound that I wanted to build a Basset Community where responsible breeders and rescue workers who know the difference can all have a place to visit?

There are just times and people who need a good healthy puppy?

I love the people who work rescue and admire them so much for spending their time helping out hounds..
It's just some of them on the other boards are really a bit crazy? For lack of better words.

Thanks for asking!

[Michael]

I feel that many show people (not all) try to make it an elitist club and they feel that they are the only ones who should be allowed to breed. I would also like to point out that many of the big breeders breed for show puppies, but not every puppy is show quality...do they donate the puppy to a deserving family? No...they sale them as pets for ungodly prices and limited registration.

I understand the drive to protect ones bloodline, we sale our puppies with limited registration because we we feel we have the beginnings of something unique and we all know there are breeders out there who shouldn't be breeding at all; that's why we do it. However it's not my place to tell you or anyone else what to do with your bassets.
Sounds like this has turned into a new thread....sorry

[Bassetpup]

I also agree. As I see the number of bassets coming into shelters and rescues I realize that there are a lot of bad breeders out there that need to be stopped. I am willing to put as much time into helping as I possibly can. I even want to open my home to a rescue basset to help them find a home and maybe eventually to add a family member that way.

However, when you have someone who is responsible, loving and caring and is careful to look out for the best possible health and condition of their parents and pups, and will gladly take back any pup at any time, for any reason, they don't deserve to be flamed.

Personally, I will not breed. Even if I had excellent examples of the breed that had been shown to their championship and beyond. Not even if I had done all of the testing that is necessary to determine if your hound is healthy enough not to pass on undesirable genetic traits. Lillian is being spayed at the end of April so that if we do bring in a show pup (male) I wouldn't have to worry about them reproducing.

The reason is that I don't feel that I have the expertise or the stamina for that. There is too much heartbreak in losing a pup or a mommy as well of lots of work and worry about your pups going to a new home. I would never be able to give any of them up because I would worry that they wouldn't be cared for and loved to my standards.

However, that is a personal choice. I would hope that this board is open to ALL opinions but please don't personally attack anyone. We are here to share stories and help each other, not to single someone out for doing something that you personally don't agree with. If you have an opinion, feel free to post it generally and debate it to your heart's content. That is how many of us learn. But please keep all personal attacks to yourself.

As far as the BHCA..EEK!!! Well, I will just put that on the back burner for now..LOL.

[Michael]

I'm sorry if I came across as attacking people...that wasn't my intention. I respect your decision not to breed and commend you for it. You're right when you say breeding is hard hork, but we find it very rewarding when we see our puppies in the arms of a small child or see them become a loving companion to an elderly person who would normally spend their days alone...that's why we do it.

[Bassetpup]

No WAY! I didn't think you were doing that at all! I was supporting you wholeheartedly. I just wanted to put a general post out there for anyone else reading this thread in regaurds to flaming others.