Uhm uuuhh

I mainly think that the ep had potential that Gooseworx didn't use. Other than that, it wrapped up well-ish enough, so I'm not too mad.

But I think Ragatha, Pomni, Gangle, and Zooble deserve more background then what we were given with Jax.

With Jax, we know so much about: His home life, his family, full backstory basically. On the other side, the whole cast gets thrown under the bus (ref ref) with their backstories and lifes! (Except for the instagram scene but maybe more than that would be better???)

The series was looking good at the beginning but slowly turned towards Jax's favor.

Overall, I still hold the show and it's community dear to my heart, I just think the show could've ended better (Specifically ep 7+8+9)!!

what are they like? do you recommend them to people new to dogs? do they have really awful legs like Basset Hounds under the fluff?

I think they're great, but I have a soft spot for scent hounds in general.

I find the basset fauve de bretagne is fairly adaptable. They're quite happy to have couch potato days, but equally happy to go out on an all day hiking adventure. Most of the ones we've met are pretty laid back, but they are a hunting dog, and get vocal if they catch a scent. (Tess in particular is very good at singing when she smells a rabbit or kangaroo). Fauves can be a bit independent in personality, and can have a 'what's in it for me' attitude when asked to do things, though not nearly as much as other hound breeds I know, and they are still trainable and very responsive, with a tendency to be very food motivated. When it comes to socials, they aren't the most forthcoming dogs, and tend to be fairly polite/neutral to strangers. With people they know, they are very affectionate though!

They're also quite a small dog (Tess is around 12.5kg, and Henry around 13.5kg) and are very portable and pick-upable. A fact which I imagine delights me more than them, lol.

The grand basset griffon vendeen on the other hand is a bit bigger. Maple is a small gbgv at around 20kg, but her siblings are closer to 25kg-30kg. I don't have as much experience with gbgvs overall, so it's harder to tell what's just Maple vs what's the breed, however in general, they seem to have a lot more energy than the fauves, and less of an off switch. They're also very vocal. Maple is one of the loudest dogs I know, which is saying something considering I live in a house with Koda.

Gbgvs are your more stereotypical hound, a level up from fauves in my opinion. Maple is Very independent and does what she wants, and doesn't have as strong a food motivation. Plus she's been a lot slower to mature.

But on the other side of it, gbgvs are very social, from what I've seen of Maple and her siblings. They Love people and other dogs, and Maple thinks everyone is her best friend.

One thing to keep in mind with both breeds is that they're wire-haired, and ideally should be hand stripped. On this front, a typical fauve's coat is a lot easier to strip and maintain than the gbgv's.

It depends on what kind of dog you're after, but I think either breed would be fine for someone new to dogs as long as you were prepared to deal with their hound quirks. I might be biased, but based on my experience, the basset fauve de bretagne would probably make for an easier first time dog experience than the gbgv.

To answer your other question, both the fauves and the gbgvs have much better legs compared to Basset Hounds. The fluff makes it a bit harder to judge, but their legs are a lot more proportionate to their bodies than what you would see in a Basset Hound. This isn't a perfect comparison, but you can see how Tess has more leg to her than the basset hound on the left. She's still fairly short overall, but has a lot more ground clearance, and is more structurally sound. Tess is also the smallest dog we have, so both Henry and Maple have more leg than she does! Because of their better structure and proportion, the fauves and gbgvs aren't prone to disc and spinal conditions like basset hounds are.

This has mostly been about the basset squad so far, but if you're curious about the other two:

Lagotto romagnolo- I wouldn't recommend a lagotto to a first time dog owner, no offense Koda. The lines in Australia tend to have Issues, at least from our experience and what we've heard from the vets we've spoken to. The idea of a lagotto is great, since they're very smart, energetic, sweet and affectionate to their owner, and don't shed, but for some reason it is very common for the ones here to be not quite right, lol. They're prone to anxiety, noise sensitivity, resource guarding behviours, and so on. Depending on where you are in the world, you might have better lines who don't have these issues, but in our context, I'd only recommend one to somebody who has a quiet, predictable household, no kids, no other pets, and who knows a good behavioural vet. If you want a smart, trainable, affectionate, non shedding breed, a poodle is a nice alternative.

[Cut for rambly analysis.]

Peter: You know, I think I'm actively poisoning myself with soup right now and I've put more effort into fixing Harley’s trainwreck of a philanthropy essay than I have into self care and any of my own work

Wade: do you want me to come over and bring chimichangas?