The Muzzle is deep, heavy, and free from snipiness. The Nose is darkly pigmented, preferably black, with large wide-open nostrils. A deep liver-colored nose conforming to the coloring of the head is permissible but not desirable.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

A deep square muzzle. A large, black nose. Permissible, but not desirable, is a liver nose if it conforms to the head color.

WHAT TO AVOID:

A weak, shallow, or snipy muzzle. Light colored noses on dark colored dogs. Spotted noses on any color dog. Small nostrils.

TEETH, LIPS, DEWLAP & NECK:

The Teeth are large, sound, and regular, meeting in either a scissors or an even bite. A bite either overshot or undershot is a serious fault. The Lips are darkly pigmented and are pendulous, falling squarely in front, and toward the back, in loose hanging flews. The Dewlap is very pronounced.

The Neck is powerful, of good length, and well arched.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

A scissors or even bite. Dark, pendulous lips ending in loose hanging flews. Pronounced dewlap. The flews should be deep, hanging down under the nose and coming over the bottom jaw, and continuing back, gradually deepening to blend with the loose skin under the neck to form the dewlap, the two pouches of skin on the neck.

A powerful, arched neck of sufficient length to allow the dog to drop his nose to the ground without breaking gait. Many Basset breeder judges formerly asked that a few steps be taken with the dog's nose dropped to the ground, although this is not done very much any more, perhaps due to the emphasis on keeping on time. However, it should be noted that it takes correct length of neck, plus a well- balanced body, to move true in this position, an important feature of Basset "type".

WHAT TO AVOID:

Any bite other than scissors or even. Overshot and undershot bites are serious faults. Although our standard neglects to mention it, a wry mouth should also be considered very undesirable. Tight lips and lack of flews and dewlap. A short, thick, heavy looking neck or overly long neck. A ewe neck or a dry neck.

THE EYES AND EARS:

The Eyes are soft, sad, and lightly sunken, showing a prominent haw, and in color are brown, dark brown preferred. A somewhat lighter-colored eye conforming to the general coloring of the dog is acceptable but not desirable. Very light or protruding eyes are faults.

The Ears are extremely long, low set, and when drawn forward, fold well over the end of the nose. They are velvety in texture, hanging in loose folds with the ends curling slightly inward. They are set far back on the head at the base of the skull and, in repose, appear to be set on the neck. A high set or flat ear is a serious fault.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

A soft, sad, slightly sunken dark brown eye showing a prominent haw. Ears set so they look like they are growing out of the side of the neck, that are long enough to well cover the nose when drawn forward.

Fine-textured ears that curl well inwards, and that hang like soft drapes. The end of the ear should be pointed rather than rounded.

WHAT TO AVOID:

Very light colored eyes; protruding and/or round eyes, which are faults. Eyes with no haw showing. Although some people contend that too much haw showing causes eye problems, which is probably true, lack of a prominent haw detracts from the true Basset expression.

Short ears. Flat or high-set ears, which are serious faults. Go back and see the 'head' in the illustrated standard.

The following photos were downloaded from a Basset rescue site, and were taken at a parade featuring rescued Bassets and to raise money for rescue.

The Ears are set too high and lie flat on the head. The dog on the left has a snipy muzzle with no underjaw. She is out at elbows and the feet are easty-westy, not just inclined slightly outwards
 
 
 

This Basset does have some very lovely things about her. Her ears are just about perfect with a very nice curl and set properly low. She has good proportion of muzzle to skull, and nice dark eyes and nose. The skull has a nice dome, although I would like to see a little more loose skin on the head. She has a good wraparound in front.