The Field Trial Advisory Council (FTAC) serves to advise the basset hound parent club Basset Hound Club of America (BHCA) on all matters dealing with the basset hound as a field dog. As a field dog, the basset hound was intended to give chase by tracking rabbit or hare scent--the ideal target game--in wild conditions.

Recognizing those attributes which optimize the conditions for hunting rabbits and hare, FTAC sets the standards of evaluation of field hounds in conjunction with the BHCA, AKC, and related breeds involved in scent-based rabbit and hare hunting.