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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1988-07-13, Page 3THE HURON EXPOSITOR, JULY 13, 1988 — 3A Egmondville champion dog breeder shows basset hounds BY NEIL CORBETT The only difference between Dorothy Bassett's name and the name of the breed of dog she raises is an extra "t" on the end of her name. She raises the long eared, long bodied, short legged hounds of Hush Puppies fame -basset hounds. Mrs. Bassett says it wasn't the similari- ty in their names that attracted her to the basset hound, it was a love of the breed itself. And since she got her first dog in 1967 she has been involved with running a kennel of show dogs. But when Mrs. Bassett obtained her first basset she was neutral to the idea. Her husband Ken had seen a basset puppy, and being used to always having a hound dog around when he was a child he decided he wanted one. At first the Bassetts decided to wait to get a dog because they were both working and wouldn't have much time to spend with it, but a man from the humane society convinced them bassets are very adaptable dogs -ideal for busy people- and they ended up getting a puppy. "It's true, bassets are very adaptable," says Mrs. Bassett. "They like the heat and they like snow, they like to lie around and they like to go for a run." But in spite of their good nature, Mrs. Bassett says these long hounds make ex- cellent watchdogs. They have keen ears and noses that rate among the best in the dog world, and they sound off with their deep bugling barks when they sense an in- truder. Mrs. Bassett says they can hear the phone ring from outside and will start barking if there's noone in the house to answer it. But, if the phone rings and Mrs. Bassett is inside where she can hear it herself they keep quiet. Mr. and Mrs. Bassett read a lot of books about their new hound, and eventually became involved in dog shows. When Mr. Bassett died 15 years ago Mrs. Bassett of- fered to sell all their dogs to a man from Saskatchewan who had expressed an interest. "But he was wise," says Mrs. Bassett, "and he told me the best thing to do would be to carry on with life as usual." Mrs. Bassett did carry on with the plans she and her husband had made for the JUDD IS RECOGNIZED as the best puppy in group and places second in group at a dog show sponsored by the Forest City Kennel Club in London in 1979. Judd had to beat out all but one of the dogs in the "hound" group to claim the award, and he was narrowly beaten out for first place by an afghan. Submitted photo. DOROTHY BASSETT AND TWEETIE sit on the steps of their home in Egmondville. Mrs. Bassett has been raising basset hounds and showing them for 21 years. Corbett photo. IN THE RING, Katie (right) checks out the judge, even if she isn't lookingat her. Cham- pion dogs from the U.S. were at the show in Blyth to get their Canadian championships, and Katie was entered more to support the show than to take home a prize. Katie is already a Canadian champion. Corbett photo. GETTING READY FOR SHOW TIME at the dog show in Blyth, Mrs. Bassett gives Katie's coat a last once-over before they get in the ring. Corbett photo. THE BASSETT TROPHY COLLECTION - They only give out ribbons at dog shows to- day, but a few years ago they gave trophies and Mrs. Bassett has her share to her credit' for 21 years of showing basset hounds. She also has a lot of ribbons, and a number of champion dogs. Corbett photo. McKillop council settles drain construction issue The council of McKillop Township reach- take place on concession roads two and ed a settlement with ratepayers Harold and three, and concession roads four and five Naomi Pryce over the issue of construction from Lot 31 to Lot 35. The only other tender on the Reid, Smillie, Winthrop South, for the work was from Machan Construction Buchanan and McCallum -Winthrop Limited of Monkton for$109,230. , municipal drain. The road voucher was approved for pay. Construction on the drain was tendered to ment in the amount of $52,036.55. Calcium R. Nicholson Construction Company chloride was applied to the roads for dust Limited for $68,876.29. This is 20 per cent constrol, costing an additional $33,030.56. lower than the estimate of $86,450. But Mr. The general voucher amounted to Pryce launched an appeal based on conflict $101,783.70 including $6,618.79 for the of interest, crops damaged by equipment servicing the drain, and being assessed -unfairly in his opinion- for soil erosion work on Lot 23 and the west half of Lot 22. Mr. Pryce's appeal would have had to be heard by the Ontario Drainage Tribunal and may have delayed the construction by up to six months. The township would lose the in- expensive tender if the delay was too long, and were hoping to settle the matter and get on with planned construction. Mr. Pryce requested additional compen- sation for damages, and withdrew his ap- peal when he was compensated $500. The 1988 requisition in the township has in- creased significantly in 1988 compared to 1987. Payment to the County of Huron is up 15.6 per cent over last year; The Huron County Board of Education requires 36.3 per cent more for elementary schools and 47.5 per cent more for secondary schools; and the Huron -Perth Roman Catholic Separate School Board is asking 51.4 per cent more for elementary and 49.8 per cent for secondary. A road reconstruction tender was ac- cepted from George Radford Construction Waste management master plans are of Blyth for $105,750. The reconstruction will designed to help municipalities reduce Seaforth District Community Centre, $8,375.14 for use of the Walton waste disposal site from January to June of 1988, and the rest of the voucher was for tile drainage loans. Additionally the insurance premium for township this year is $6,645. The mill rate has been set for the township, and there will be no increase over last year in the amount to be raised for general municipal purposes. Fire department extinguishes verandah, grass The Seaforth fire department was called spread or do significant damage. to the home of Tony Arts on 107 North Main Another fire earlier in the week occurred Street Friday at 9:30 p.m. �- Mr. Arts had been removing paint from the verandah on his home when it caught fire. He was trying to put it out himself when the police happened by and assisted, and the fire department was called in. After only about half an hour the fire department got the fire out before it could Huron waste plan rank Wong's property in Tuckersmith Township. An incinerator pail was being us- ed to burn refuse, but some of the burning garbage got away and started some grass on fire. The fire department responded and again had the fire out damage o d result. Under before quarterareal acreof grass was burned. eligible for funding The County of Huron is eligible for a pro- vincial grant of 50 per cent for their Waste Management Master Plan, Environment Minister Jim Bradley and Jack Riddell, MPP for Huron announced recently. The grant will be based on 50 per cent of $361,762 of approved costs for consultant fees, a project co-ordinator; and a con- tingency fund. waste production through measures such as source separation of waste, energy from ' waste, recycling and resource recovery. The aim is to minimize the use of landfill through a review of these types of options for waste management. "I am delighted to note the county's in- itiative in tackling the issue of waste management in the long term, and that the province is able to offer this type of finan- cial assistance toi help the County to meet its goals," said Riddell. dogs, and within days one of her bitches gave birth to 10 puppies. Another dog "Diet", a puppy whohad eight points on his championship, was shown in Hamilton. It was Mrs. Bassett's first time handing the dpg but he finished with four points and became a champion. So in no time Mrs. Bassett was immersed in basset hounds and she has been ever since. Mrs. Bassett has eight bassets -some for showing, some for breeding, and a couple are pets who have retired from showing. Of these eight five are Canadian cham- pions -meaning they have earned 10 points in the show ring. A dog gets one point for beating another dog in the show ring, and can get more points for winning over in- creasing numbers of dogs. Of the remain- ing three dogs one is still a puppy and will be shown soon and working toward his championship. Another grew up to be too timid, to be shown, and the third has a foot 'which turns outward and isn't able to be successfully shown. ' Mrs. Bassett has had several other suc- cessful dogs before these ones. One dog, Judd, was a particularly fine animal. Judd is a veteran of 10 years now, and eye surgery has kept him out of recent dog shows. "He was a georgeous dog. When he was born I held him in my hand and I thought 'oh boy, look at that one'." Judd took his share of prizes in shows, but at one show he got a scare which may have held him back. There was a favored dog in the ring, and when the judge gave him first prize hundreds of people clapped and hollered. The noise rang in Judd's ears and he was given a good scare, he even tried to run out of the ring. After that, whenever crowds would clap at shows Judd's tail would go down and so would his chances of winning. Judd's brother, Bayley, who Mrs. Bassett sold as a puppy to a breeder for Alberta, was the top basset in Canada for two years and has won 14 Best in Show prizes. Best in Show means the dog has to beat out all the dogs of all other breeds at a dog show, and this usually goes to an afghan or some other regal breed of dog. So for a basset to win 14 of these, prizes is an accomplishment, and Bayley has judges looking at bassets. Aside from feeding and caring for the dogs there are a lot of chores involved and a lot of knowledge needed to raise and show dogs. Knowing about proper nutri- tion, especially for puppies and pregnant bitches, is one of the big things. Preparing a dog for a show involves cleaning their ears, cutting off all whiskers and eyebrows, rounding their tails, trimming toenails, combing, and trimming stray hairs on their low slung bellies, between the pads of their feed and on the underside of their tail. And there are tricks of the trade to try and catch the judge's eye, such as putting vaseline on their toenails to make them shiny. But contrary to belief there is not a lot of - money to be had from showing dogs. In fact there are more expenses in keeping dogs. "Everytime I go to the vet clinic they charge me $16 before I even get the car parked," says Mrs. Bassett. Then there is food, stud fees, entry fees, registration, and the list goes on. Some of this money is retrieved by selling puppies who will not be used for shows. "We're not in the business of raising puppies to sell, we're in the business of breeding a better dog and showing it," ex- plains the dog breeder. To this end, Mrs. Bassett line breeds her dogs to keep certain characteristics in them. So, she will breed a bitch back to its grandfather to preserve the' genes that give her animals certain characteristics -such as fine heads. It seems unlikely when you look at them, but bassets originated as hunting dogs. The monks of St. Hubert wanted to breed a dog they could hunt with but follow on foot rather than horseback, so they bred the short legged basset hound. They may not be built for speed, but Mrs. Bassett says it's surprising how fast they can run when they give chase. While there is a lot of work involved in showing bassets there a`re rewards as well. Canadian dog breeders are generally very friendly, and Mrs. Bassett enjoys visiting with them at the shows and finding out what's new in the basset world. And while it's a lot of work raising a litter, she says she loves watching the puppies play. COMMUNITY CALENDAR If you're organizing a non-profit event of interest to other Seaforlh area residents. phone the recreation office at 527.0882 or the Expositor at 527-0240, or mail the information to Communi- ty Calendar, The Huron Exoositor, Box 69. Seaforth, Ontario, NOK 1WO well in advance of the scheduled date Space for the Community Calendar is donated by The Huron Expositor. Wed., July 13 Mon., July 18 6:30 p.m. - Squirt Boys Game at Optimist 7:30 p.m. - Lawries vs. Turf Club 9:00 p.m. - Bears vs. Queens 9:30 p.m. - Titans at Oilers, Winthrop 6:30 - Mite Boys & Wingham, Winthrop 7:00 p.m. - Bantam Girls Game 7 p.m. • St. Cotumban Mosq. II vs. Lucan In St. Cotumban 7:30 p.m. - Ladies' Soccer at Optimist 6:30-7:30 - p.m. Minor Soccer at Optimist 7:30 p.m. - Bears vs. Walton 8 p.m. - Bantam Girls & Seaforth, Winthrop 9:00 p.m. - Lawries vs. Creamery/Mainstreet 9:30 p.m. - River Rats at Molesters, Winthrop Thurs., July 14 6:30 p.m. - Squirt Girls & Walton, Winthrop 7:00 p.m. - Bantam Girls Game 7:30 p.m. - Seahawks vs. Brewers 8 p.m. - Pee Wee Boys & Wroxeter, Winthrop 8:30 p.m. - Topnotch vs. Boilersmith 9:30 p.m. - Beachwood vs. Team Maul 9:30 p.m. Titans at Warriors, Winthrop Fri., July 15 6:30 p.m. - Mite Girls Game at Lions 6:30 p.m. - Seaforth at Jr. Mites, Winthrop 8 p.m. - Roadrunners & Cromarty, Winthrop Sun., July 17 11:00 a.m. - Donnybrook United Church is holding a rural life anniversary service. Guest Speaker: Murray Gaunt. Tues., July 19 7:00 p.m. - Men's Sic -Pitch at Optimist 7:00 p.m. • Ladies' Fastball at Lions 8 p.m. Masherettes vs. Cromarty, Winthrop Wed., July 20 6:30 p.m. - Mite Boys & Beigrave, Winthrop 7:00 p.m. - Bantam Girls Game 7:30 p.in. - Ladies' Soccer at Optimist 6:30-7:30 p.m. - Minor Soccer at Optimist 7:30 p.m. • Merner-Haugh vs. Bears 7 p.m. • St. Cotumban Mosq. II vs. Nairn II In St. Columban 8 p.m. - Bantam Girls & Belmore, Winthrop 9:00 p.m. - Lawries vs. Walton 9:30 p.m. - Warriors at Molesters, Winthrop EVERY NIGHT EXCEPT SATURDAYS 8:00-9:00 P.M. GOSPEL TENT MEETINGS on Highway 8, 11/2 miles west of Seafbrth No Collections "BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED." ACTS 16:31 6