Forward - As the Basset Hound Front is one of the breed's most misunderstood parts, I am presenting here, with permission, an article written by Joan Scholz, whom many of you may know. Joan was a long time Basset Hound breeder and is now an AKC approved judge for all Hound and Toy breeds, plus others. I had planned to write an article on the Basset front myself for this presentation, but being basically a lazy person, decided to ask Joan for permission to use hers, which is one of the better articles I have read on this subject, and I have read many.

Although this article was written more for breeders, I feel judges can also gain from reading it.

The common cry among basseteers is that poor judging, indifferent breeding, and a gross lack of knowledge prevails, especially in regards to fronts.

Any endeavor, in order to be highly successful, mist have a clear-cut set of guidelines. In choosing to take a hard look at the Basset Standard regarding forequarters to discover the reason for confusion to judges and breeders, I found the section on forequarters to be somewhat like a bikini - what it shows is of interest, but what it doesn't show is vital. For instance, the standard says, "The shoulders are well laid back and powerful. Steepness in shoulder, fiddle fronts, and elbows that are out are serious faults. Knuckling over of the front legs in a disqualification." What the standard doesn't say is how the front should be made to avoid the presence of those faults, which would be vital information to judges and breeders alike.

The entire shoulder assembly should be far enough back on the dog so that the front leg, when viewed from the side and when perpendicular to the body, covers the very deepest point of the chest, thereby putting the support of the leg under the heaviest part. When the shoulder assembly is too far forward a clever handler can position the legs and feet to be convincing when set up. But, the jig is up when he moves the dog, whose chest will seem to disappear and flatten between the two oncoming legs. In fact, in extreme cases of forward shoulder placement, the chest will seem to sink back in between the moving legs. Unless the heaviest part of the Basset - the deepest part of the chest - is being supported in the crooks of powerful, heavy-boned forelegs, the shoulder placement is incorrect, and this tremendous weight is therefore being suspended from, as opposed to being supported by, these legs, which will in time give in under the strain and become unsound. Hark the remark, "You never know with a Basset. It can fall apart in front as late as two years old." An improperly built front, or improper weight distribution of which you were unaware, finally did him in.

Assume our Basset has his shoulders back far enough on his body so that the front leg, when perpendicular to the body, covers the deepest point of the chest. His shoulder placement is correct. On to correct shoulder angulation and assembly. The points that should be made are these: 1) The shoulder blade and upper arm must be of approximately equal length. 2) The shoulder blade and upper arm must meet to form a right angle. 3) The elbow must be set in a vertical line below the withers, closely hugging the body.

The first thing that comes to mind after rereading the above paragraph is that I'd guess a healthy proportion of readers don't really know what or where the upper arm is. It is not the upper part of the foreleg under the elbow, as you may think. The upper arm of a dog is just where the upper arm of a human is - above the elbow. It's the bone that goes from the elbow to meet the blade bone at the shoulder.

So, if you have the shoulder the proper distance back on the body, and if you have a blade bone almost equal to an upper arm in length which meet to form a right angle, and if you have a tight elbow below the withers in a vertical line, you have what the Standard doesn't say makes up the proper front of a Basset as far as the shoulder assembly is concerned.

If however, you have a shoulder set too far forward on the body, a blade bone and upper arm of unequal length and/or not meeting in a 90 degree angle, or an elbow set too far forward or back to be in a vertical line with the withers, you have a Basset that will have any of the faults described in the standard, depending on which or how many of the faults in assembly your hound possesses.

If you have just hoisted your Basset to the grooming table and have set him up, measured and checked angles and vertical lines, and are convinced he's correct in shoulder placement and assembly, don't start blowing your horn yet! You have checked your hound from only one side.

The tricky Basset quite often measures just fine on one side while the other side has a shorter upper arm, which will eventually cause a knuckling of one leg. Make sure both sides are equal. Then, blow your horn!

While your Basset is still up there on the table, check to see that "the chest is deep and full with prominent sternum showing clearly in front of the legs" as the standard states, and that his chest is not so narrow that it causes the wrists to touch and cause too much turn-out (fiddle front), nor so broad it interferes with free forward movement.

And, that he sets on short powerful legs supported by massive, tough, strong feet, inclined equally a bit outward, so that when viewed from the front the outermost point of the foot and the outermost point of the shoulder meet in a vertical line. Regardless of not-so-current fads and fancies for feet that point exactly forward, such a dog is not only incorrect according to the standard (which is extremely clear on this point), but is not properly balanced.

If your dog checks out on the points mentioned above, he has the ideal Basset front and he surely is a rare bird. Why is a good front so rare? Look to our guidelines - the Standard. Are they clear enough, descriptive enough, precise enough? Does anyone read them?