Our bassets could do a different walk every day for around 2 weeks.  I wonder how many dogs have that much choice to their daily constitutional. Some dogs get a quick run around the back yard, others maybe a romp in the park.  Fortnum and Mason get to choose from a fine range of walks in the country – oh they don’t know how lucky they are.

It’s one of my daily pleasures to walk with my basset hounds and a good excuse to play hooky from chores or work. I’m unconvinced sometimes that Fortnum and Mason see it entirely as a pleasure though as getting them off the veranda often takes rather more effort than is natural in a dog.  You never see Fred Basset dropping anchor when there is walking to be done.

I’ve often wondered what goes through their mind.  They certainly wag their tails when the collars and leads come out but it’s not until they are up the drive and onto the lane they get into the swing of things.  The tell tale signs that a basset is having fun is that they will be moving in an animated way.  For a basset this means the nose is in over-drive, the tail is up and they break into at least a trot if not a run.

This is Fortnum swaggering – the basset version of a walk.  It’s not a fast pace but at least purposeful.  It pays to remember that a basset has short legs!

This is Mason not really having fun – he knows that there is walking to be done but it’s hard work and he’d rather by snoozing on the veranda.

To be fair to the little fella he was plowing his way up hill.  We have quite a few of those to climb on most of our walks. But how would you feel if your legs were only 6 inches long and were faced with this.

It must be like looking at a mountain from a basset hounds view.  But these dogs are built for stamina – they might not bound up them like a laborador might but they make their way steadily and very slowly.  There’s a lot of hanging around for them to catch up.

But never fear it’s not all up hill – after all what goes up, must come down!

You can tell the bassets are having fun – their tails are up and those ears are swinging along.

But not here.  Fortnum is hot, tired and just plain fed up.

He’s been told off for lingering too long and has had to catch up with Mason and I who are patiently waiting for him to swagger up.  He does this a great deal.  Come to think of it there are three speeds with Fortnum – stop and sniff, slow and swagger, fast and basset land speed sprint.

You see can see why basset walking is such a pleasure there is so much to see, do and watch.  And that’s just the bassets.  Now I have the added pleasure of walking my camera so I can record the delights of my bassets in the swing of things on their walks.

Just check out those ears!