Tag Archives: Bassett Hound

Good morning everyone!

This is Mandy, a cross between a Bassett Hound and a Siberian Husky.  She is, we believe, unique.  However, at least 17 times since I started this blog someone has found my blog through search engines with queries such as “Bassett Hound/Husky mix.”  Today’s post is for the unnamed people out there who are making such an unusual search.  I only ask one thing in return – please, please put me out of my misery and tell me why you are searching this term!  The suspense is killing me.

But I digress – We usually put the Bassett Hound first when we describe Mandy  because of the shape of her body, which is the distinctive low, looooooong, basset hound shape.

Her long body is set upon four very short legs, the front two of which are pigeon-toed.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of Mandy in what I call her “pageant pose” which is where she is standing up straight facing you head on, one pigeon-toed foot slightly in front of the other, but she is quite lady-like when she does that.

Her Siberian Husky heritage shows up in her coloring, and her fur.  She has the grey, white and black fur that some Siberian Huskies have.  She also has the softest fur of any dog I have ever petted.  Another Husky feature is her eyes:  she has one blue eye and one brown eye.  Kayla got the best picture of Mandy’s eyes we have so far.

If you look very carefully at her brown eye, you will see that there is a small patch of blue on the left side of the eye.

We acquired Mandy from the Humane Society in a nearby city.  I have told this story in another post (See, The Day Mandy Came Home), but to make a long story short, I was sent with Kayla to get a labrador retriever or golden retriever mix, but Mandy was who I came home with.  She entered our family by way of leading me on three separate chases, with me wearing my Sunday best and heels, inlcuding one exciting chase across a crowded parking lot, before we ever got her home.

She is sweet-tempered and harmless to everyone except possibly Darwin, her erstwhile partner in crime, when he tries to eat her food.  She is incredibly independent and stubborn.  I always attributed that to the Bassett Hound in her, until I learned yesterday that Siberian Huskies are stubborn and independent unless training starts with them at any early age, so she has a double dose.  She also possesses an almost indescribable joie de vivre, an irrepressible joy in just being alive and around us that keeps you smiling (unless you just discovered that she is chewing something important, like your new shoes).

Mandy was found by the Humane Society in a dumpster at McDonald’s, foraging for food, and because of that background, we have to keep a close watch on counters, food and trash cans at all times.  She and Darwin between them have scored raw pork chops, cooked steak, bread, ravioli and many other things off of counters and from trashcans.

She can run like a bat out of h  greased lightn very, very fast.  She escaped twice from our house before she decided she was going to stick with us as her new pack, and once she gets a full head of steam up, she is gone.  I have never seen a dog run so fast.  That speed comes from the Husky side, I guess.  I have never heard of Bassett Hounds doing a lot of running, but I may be wrong.

Because of her independent streak, she really doesn’t care too much what you think of her; therefore one of the nicknames that she has earned is “Bad Dog.”  If you catch Mandy chewing something and take it away and tell her “bad dog,” she looks at you steadily, as if to say, “That is an interesting point of view, but I’d rather have the handkerchief back, please.”

Those are some of the characteristics of our Bassett Hound/Husky mix.  Please, if you have one of your own, tell us about him or her.  I would be interested to know if there are any others out there and what they are like.  And for heaven’s sake, if you come across this post in response to a search you are making about Bassett Hound/Husky mixes, please leave a comment and let me know why you are interested!  My curiosity will be forever indebted to you.

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy