I picked this photo especially for the expression. This is standard Nigel expression. His sense of humor is not the best. His sense of self is easily offended. He was always the "top" BAsset, if not by attitude then by sheer size. He is not huge, but is the biggest Basset we have had.
He was born here moments before or after Llewis to be honest, I do not remember. I think Llewis is actually older, by a few seconds, but Nigel believes he is, and tell me to argue with that face.
This is Nigel after Llewis has just told an hilarious Basset joke. You can see that Nigel enjoys laughter and is not paranoid enough to think all the dogs are laughing at him.
This is also Nigel. He is listening to the other dogs discuss Pet Insurance plans.
Before he went down in the rear Nigel did a few shows. I liked him because (I'm sorry) I liked his tail. It prevented me from looking at his front which, a breeder and very good friend told me once was the worst front she had seen in years. (Good friends do not tell you these things. They let you go on showing while the knowledgeable among them roll their eyes when they see his front.)
This is Conley on the left (I think) and Nigel on the right. If you compare, you can easily see that Nigel looks similar to a Mack Truck bearing down on you, while Conley appears to be a pick-up. I believe the term is "Loaded shoulders". Built like a semi, but mostly in front, Nigel was badly balanced. We quit the show ring and began tracking.
Tracking was something Nigel understood from the absolute beginning. I had tracked with Mitchell and he was GOOD. Nigel made him look dull. From the very first track it was obvious that this dog was born to do this. Any mistakes he made were mine. He got his TD but failed the TDX twice: once due to a sleet storm that soaked up both to the skin in an instant and afraid and lost, Nigel came back and sat on my feet and refused to track. The only smart one among us.
The second time, he breezed through and then did something he had never ever done before-- took a cross track. Shortly after that, he went down in the rear. This is a dog who could probably have gotten a VST without a lot of wear and tear.He already tracked across streets and drives and sidewalks. Lay a track and he could do it. I wonder if he dreams of tracking.
Somewhere
Someone
is
Cooking Food....
