His arrival prompted us to start our search for a partner for Sly, KIM. We figured because Sly is Sylvester Stallone, we'll call his female companion Kim Bassinger. Sharon Stone, the baby. The base line of Cob's Bassets, you can't put a good dog down. Kudos to Crownacres, too bad they stopped breeding Bassets and shifted to a more lucrative higher-selling-priced breeds. As for Cob, we never had intention of going deeper into the breed. We just wanted to keep Sly happy. In Sly's eyes, in and out of the ring he watches out for me constantly, how grateful he is for the rescue and now that he is gone ... he still watches over his beloved master, forever thankful.

SLY registered as CROWNACRES' CASANOVA came to our kennel unannounced. Although he was mentioned and we were willing to take him in, he just appeared in our kennel unexpectedly. His previous caretaker did not want him anymore and wanted to give him away. Our friend who Sly was offered to, refuse for his own reasons and dropped the poor dog off at Cob. We did not even know poor Sly has been in our kennel for a day already. When we looked at him, he had the most sorrowful eyes we had ever seen. Very typical of a Basset, you would say. Sly has nails like that of a witch. He was so thin that you could count the number of ribs. And when our staff gave him a bath and all the works, he had this habit of snapping. After a year or so, Sly is not just a Philippine Champion but a Grand Champion as well. We would like to think that he was  the Top Basset Hound in the country during his time. Irregardless, he was the most sought after stud and has produced CoB's first Baby Puppy Basset In the Hound Group.

MULTI-BEST PHILIPPINE BRED IN GROUP, PHILIPPINE GRAND CHAMPION CROWN ACRES CASANOVA

The Basset Hound Nobody Wanted

ReCOHllections   

            Who would have thought that Sly would be one of CoB's incredible success story? I never imagined of owning a Basset Hound. Ten years ago, a friend of mine was migrating for Australia and wanted to leave a pair of her bassets with me and I declined. I don't know why I gladly accepted when Sly was offered. I know nothing about the breed except for the fact that they're popularly known as the hush puppies. Up until now, I haven't really paid attention to its breed standard. Sly must be a good representative of the breed or he wouldn't have finished his Philippine Grand Championships through group placements. He also has won Best Philippine Born not just once but a number of times. Credit goes to the breeder. It's an achievement and such shouldn't go to waste.

PCCI defines a dog breeder as anyone who breeds dogs. Who cares if one breeds a monorchid stud to a dysplastic bitch? Unlike AKC and probably other countries' registry as well, PCCI does not have a provision where it says that a puppy is not eligible for registration. And unlike other dog clubs, it does not also take stand on any Breeder's Code of Ethics. Likewise, it also does not have any Bred-By-Exhibitor Class. At first, the Philippine Born class was called the Philippine Bred. No matter what phrase used, there's a discrepancy. Philippine Born should mean the ones born in Philippine grounds. How does one consider those conceived somewhere else and born in the Philippines? Philippine Bred can mean bred by a Filipino where the breeder  resides in the Philippines. It can also mean that the mating took place on Philippine grounds. All these stem back to the Filipino' colonial mentality. Anything imported and not locally made is better. So where does the improvement of breeds come in?

Sly came to my life unexpectedly. He certainly has earned his keep in my mind and my heart. He serves me well and the sorrow in his eyes is long forgotten replaced by a grateful twinkle in his eyes. In the ring, he constantly scents for my presence. And when he's in the Cob Farm and I come to visit, he's the first one to announce my arrival even if I'm still a hundred meters away. He is ever so thankful that I have come to his rescue. And indeed, the feeling is mutual. He too comes to my rescue against breeders who are just in the dog world for the money.