OH, they're great dogs, at least the ones I knew. When we dog-sat for DB's first basset, it was imperative that we have a vacuum cleaner and hairdryer on hand, as boy-o loved nothing more than a good vacuuming off, followed by a bath with "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific" shampoo (does anyone else remember that stuff??), then a blow-dry. AFTER a good shake, of course, so as to wet down EVERYTHING close by. And he still smelled like a hound, lol. He would not wear a harness, and his neck was so much bigger than his head that he could ditch a collar in a shake. Bassets have such a low center of gravity that it's really hard to make them move if they don't want to, and to stop them, if they do. And they are BIG dogs, they just have really short legs, so it's easy for forget how big they are. Until they want to be carried.