Bassett Hounds Smell A Lot
Bassett Hounds smell in two very different ways. By that I mean they CAN smell, as in, they have great sense of smell and also I mean they DO smell, as in, they are odorous.
First they have the ability to smell because they were breed to be excellent hunting companions. The breed has a prize winning way of using their outstanding sense of smell while in the field hunting. Their gigantic ears were developed to capture the smells and channel them, “wave them” or “fan them” toward the nose. They sort of capture the scents and provide the dog another opportunity to decipher the smell. Many people don’t realize that the folds of their skin also help to capture the scents and hold them a little longer to give the breed another advantage over other dogs. In fact the only dogs that are better than Bassett Hounds are the Blood Hounds.
Because of this ability they have also have a chance to catch what is termed a “cold” scent that many other dogs would miss and to do so from a far greater distance. Bassett Hounds have been used as hunting dogs since they were first developed by the French in the 16th century. Their ability in the field can be both a blessing and a curse as they do have a tendency to wander so have to be carefully monitored if not leashed or in a fenced area.
This ability to smell also can affect their behavior in other ways especially if you are trying to train them or just get their attention. They are greatly influenced by the aromas in the air and will most times ignore you if attention has been attached to a scent. In fact they will at times just pretend you don’t exist sometimes to their own peril. An owner has to understand this is great entertainment to them and also what they were breed for. They love to go for walks and partake of all the interesting aromas of the world.
The other way that this breed smells is in the way that they can be very odorous if not properly cared for. The truth is sometimes Bassett Hounds smell bad, there is no escaping it. It is recommended that they be bathed at least once a week in the months that they are kept indoors. It is said that they are kept outdoors for a reason although many have adapted to indoor living by the careful attention from their owners.
A Bassett Hounds coat will get oily if left without a bath for too long and this is most noticeable in the older males. They also tend to smell like a dog more quickly than many breeds and keep that dog smell even after a bath. One way to help with this is to use doggy wipes in between baths. These are similar to baby wipes and help to extend the fresh smell or at least keep the odor away longer. Some theorize that diet plays a roll but with no substantial evidence either way one would have to rely on common sense, keen observation and experience to determine if this is true for your dog.
One thing is for sure no matter how good they are at using their noses, how much they misbehave or how bad they may smell at times, there are a group of us that are for ever attached to these lovable Bassett Hounds with all their distinctive traits.
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I didn’t know that! Thanks for the interesting info about Bassett Hounds sense of smell.
The more you look at the Bassett Hound breed and how they were bread over a very long time for a very specific purpose of hunting it is truly amazing how well this was accomplished and the patience it must have taken to do so. If you look hard sometimes you can even find bassett hounds pictures as the dogs were being molded into what they are today. Thanks for the comment Mark.
Lavender will work for the “smell”..Plus cleaning
the ears weekly..It works for “Chester”
I have heard that Basset Hounds smell is like a freshly opened bag of corn chips. So I sniffed my Bassie Girls, Bella and Sophie, and by using a little imagination they did smell like corn chips (Sophie more then Bella). I happen to like the hound smell, but some people don’t. You are either a hound person or your not.
Also, the Basset is second only to the Blood Hound for their scenting ability!
Gosh yes, they do indeed smell bad, I have a year old Basset and it was the one thing I was not prepared for. If you can’t cope with a doggie smell it’s certainly not the breed for you.
I have been trying to control Sadie’s body odour for some time, I thought bathing weekly would dry out her skin, thanks for the info, will bath her more often and try the lavender as well. Have her on a strict diet to see if allergy may be contributing to the problem , but I guess it is just another “bassett ” thing to get used to . The “corn chip” smell is right on the money. I called it a salty sweaty smell and is worst between the toes and under the “pits”
Great website. I have a bassett/aussie shephard mix. His body is all bassett except for the ears and his long hair. His name is Blue and he’s a rescue doggie. We love him lots. Now, back to the smell. LOL OMG, I don’t think there is a word in the English language to describe his smell at times. I wish it was corn chips. LOL Oh well. We love his smell, his snoring, his farting and his hiccups. I would love to hear from others about their dogs. Bonnie
Thank you for this article. I had a very nice Basset hound for 14 years and he lived outside when I finally realized I could not get the stink off of him. I did not realize that it was a breed trait. Gus. He was a great dog and I miss him.
@ Bonnie
I think we all fall in love with the obnoxious habits of these adorable dogs. Thanks for sharing about your Blue.
@sandra
Yes these are things we as Bassett Hound owners we have to get used to. I hope the hints presented in the post will be helpful to you. I would be very interested in hearing if the lavender helped at all. I have found it helps on some dogs and on others it does not seem to help at all.
@ Becki
Couldn’t agree with you more. You have to love them or you are in for a not so pleasant experience.
I have a basset that will be 2 in September. I have found one thing that does help with the smell. It is a spray that I got from the Dollar Store for $2. You can use it as often as you need to. I use it on Rambo every 2 to 3 days or so. It smells just like the spray they use at the vet. It’s called “Pawfume” dog grooming and finishing spray. It’s pretty good stuff. And it has conditioners in it so it doesn’t dry the skin out.
LOL that is so great. We adopted Daphne after a group in our area saved her from a kill shelter. She actually came with her papers- she is a purebred Basset and I thought she was beatufiul on sight- but the SMELL!!! As soon as we got her into the car, we noticed that she had un unbelievable stink, lol, oh good grief it was AWFUL. Daphne had been in several foster homes over about three months, and although I can’t imagine what she had been through, I can tell you grooming was NOT a part of it. We took her home, smell and all, and at first I didn’t want to give her a bath because I worried about her being too stressed to handle it. I finally relented and gave her a quick bath as I needed to try to lower the amount of odor, but I didn’t want to stress her out. We put up with the stinky as long as we could to let her acclimate to her new home, then brought her to PetSmart ($24.99) for a full head to toe (and anal glands) cleaning. However, even after we had the pros take a crack at it, she was still pretty potent. Ugh.
I did some breed research and learned a lot. I learned that Bassets excrete a special (smelly) oil around the head and ears so that smells can “stick” to it. Gross. Then, I learned that there are two types of Bassets- “dry face” (stinky) Bassets (NOT Daphne) and “wet face”- (or, you guessed it, “extra stinky”) Bassets (Daphne.) Now, I love Daphne, lol, but I also love a fresh house, and we had to do something to alleviate the smell because I can’t have the couches (and beds, and carpet, and people…) all smelling like what I can only describe as a plate of stale Fritos covered in Parmesan cheese that has sat in the sun for a month. SO.
In the end, Daphne takes A LOT of grooming. She is a “wet face” Basset, which can potentially lead to a lot of problems if not taken care of. Luckily for me, she is as sweet, loving and easy going a dog as ever was.
Every evening, we have to rub her neck and face folds really, really dry with her special towels (only special because no one else can use them after, lol). Then we wipe her carefully with mild baby wipes- all of her folds and creases need to be done. You would be surprised at the amount of dirt she picks up in a day! I am convinced all the grooming is a trade off for mopping because she is cleaning the floors with her wrinkles. After the baby wipes, she needs her ears carefully swabbed with cotton pads soaked in alcohol to keep out the mites, dust and yeast that thrive in the warmth and dampness. Also, being “wet faced” she gets lots of gross drool build up that has to be removed on the fronts of her ears. After that she needs a warm washcloth on her face to clean her eyes, because build up will lead to infections, which sucks for them, then she gets a quick brush. Finally we dust her up good with baby powder on her neck folds, leg folds, feet, and other wrinkly parts that build up moisture. This helps to avoid skin problems (and makes her smell like a baby, lol). She gets a bath every Saturday, and once a month we are set up for professional grooming to keep her nails, butt glands, teeth and skin in good order. This also helps ensure no undue baby powder build up. Every night, she sees me get her “groomies” out of the cabinet and just collapses on the floor to be pampered. She loves it. It’s ridiculous.
She is the best dog I have ever had in my life- my fat, short, wrinkly, stinky, snoring, stealing-food-off-the-counter-and-hiding-the-wrappers-under-the-couch-dog!! LOL
My wonderful baby, Bullit, has that ‘smelly’ problem if he doesn’t get his weekly bath so to keep the odor in check between baths I put baby powder under his legs, front and back, every night. He loves this and I can tell it makes him feel so special. He loves his baths so much that whenever he realizes that he is stinky, he will go jump in the tub where I bathe him and bark until I either do the bath or the baby powder. I bathe him with baby shampoo followed by a rinse with aloe vera gel. I know he’s spoiled but he lives inside and sleeps on the foot of my bed.
I recently adopted a 2-year old basset, whom I named Skylar. He came to me un-neutered and not potty-trained and boy, did he smell and shed and his ears were covered with drool and old food, as well as other unidentifyable muck. Good thing the boy loves his baths and daily brushing. After he was neutered, the potty-training didn’t take too long, but the smell remains even after his baths and daily freshen-ups with special sprays. I don’t mind the smell so much because I used to have an old dog that mixed with hound and had a similar strong smell. In a way, he reminds me of him because of that. What I didn’t know and wasn’t told by his former (quite neglectful) owners, was that he needs his anal glands expressed on a regular basis. I’m used to having larger dogs and they usually don’t need that done.
Skylar is a high-maintenance dog who needs the saliva wiped off his ears and corners of his mouth several times a day. Anytime he drinks water, I stand behind him armed with a towel, because once he’s done, there’s a waterfall of drool coming from his mouth. His adorable huge feet reek to high heavens. Haven’t checked his pits yet (and don’t want to). Skyalr is still young and I hope he will be with me for a long, long time. I will put up with the smell and the extra work because his personality is so worth it.
Hello! I have Celeste – and i need your help. She is the best, well natured, super sweet, lovely and cute 1 yr old basset. we got this breed ’cause they are an “easy” breed with no grooming required…. or so the book said!
1. What is the difference between wet face and dry face bassets? how can i tell?
2. what do you do with the lavender? is it fresh? you spray the dog with it? feed it to her? LOL
my baby will kiss her and love on her – but then – the baby smells like Celeste…
UGH she produces the most potent gas, that sweet face “wasn’t me” look, and there are these wiffs of rotten parmesan covered fish – that i don’t know where they come from? bad breath? definitly not gas, those are terrible too…
about the glands – my vet said they can excrete them themselves… i would prefer to take her weekly rather than having the wiffs of fresh rotteness!!! Can these be operated on?
Oh Hound my hound… i appreciate everyone’s help on tips to keep our life together enjoyable not just clean and wipe after my sweet houuuund!
I was so moved to read your loving comments about your Bassetts. God bless you all for being able to love and appreciate these precious creatures despite their unique smell. Sounds to me like their marvelous personalities more than make up for the odor and thankfully it can be minimized with loving care.
Okay I clean my 14wk old basset hanks ears like 3x a week and they still smell like he’s making beer in there does anyone please have some advice for me? I can deal with the hound dog smell but this ear smell is horrible!
You r so right Melissa. We are giving him a bath now.He smells like Fritos and Parmesan cheese . Ugh we can’t stand it when our dog stinks up our couch. About 1 day later after we give him a bath he already stinks. His name is Dallas Zeus.Is there a special shampoo we can use? LOL!!!! Sometimes he likes baths. (Like I said sometimes.) Basset Hounds r so cute. You know if your dogs face is really wrinkly put them on top of u and make then look at u. It is the cutest things u will ever see in your life
I have a 14 yr old basset named Spartacus he is a 70 pounder and boy the smeold ll is horrible. He loves going to the groomers!!! I take him every two weeks and he knows which day is “his day” and is in a big rush to get out the door…however the ears remain a problem. Frequent trips to vet cleaning and still the smell is awful, however we have had him since he was 8 weeks (when they’re not stinky), we didn’t know about the breed, the smell, the shedding year round, but he is a big part of our family. Our 6 year old refers to him as her “brother” . AS far as temperment BEST dog I have ever owned but doubt another bassett is in my future im thinking a hairless cat…lol
From what I understand, Basset hounds can develop yesat infections between the folds of their skin and between the pads of their paws. Usually these yeast infections smell “salty”. The dogs might chew their paws, lick their skin folds, etc.
I’m fostering a B. hound that smells very “doggy” but does not smell salty like corn chips. I’m sure every hound has their own personal scent but just be aware that it is important to keep these folds and their paws dry. If you notice increased licking of the paws or skin folds then the hound may need a special cream prescribed by your vet to get rid of the yeast infection.
I have found, with our 2 year old basset (male) named Goober that he stinks worse after being outside for over an hour. Their skin oils and hair pick up the outdoors scent and hold on to it for a while. If you want to limit the bad stink:
1. keep their ears clean (in and out…meaning from the parts that drag on the floor and in the dog bowl, to the ear hole, to the inner ear). Clean the ear itself with the regual dog wash, the ear hole with a wet papertowel or rag (not soaking wet), and the inner ear with a vet approved ear cleaning solution you squirt in.
2. Brush their teeth atleast 3x a week.
3. When showering/bathing the dog:
a. Wash him down once with an antibacterial soap….a mild one.
b. Wash him down a second time with any anti-stink shampoo you can get at the petsmart that is mild…preferably one with enzymes to loosen their excess hair. And really scrub into the hair down to the skin with firm, but gentle strokes. Their hair carries a lot of oil and you have to scrub it all out.
c. Follow with a VERY light conditioner. Not something that will make them greasy. Just something to soothe the skin.
d. Rinse and re-rinse. You really have to make sure you get all the product, excess hair, and oil out of their coat. It is much thicker and holds much more stink producing oil than you’d think.
e. Dry them really well and air dry them in the house in an area where they won’t sweat. Don’t let him get cold or anything, but sweat makes them stink faster…same as a person.
If your Basset is smelly it is probably due alot to what they are eating. I had problems with my buddy’s odor and shedding while I was feeding dry/wet pedigree and Iams. I switched him to dry Wellness (a much healthier brand) and he is smooth, shiny and needs a bath only once a month now.