The basset hound appears in the first film though not as frequently, I think Mamuro Oshii puts a basset hound in all of his films (at least the animated ones) the only real significance is he owns one.
He's the reason it had to be called "Mongolian Chop Squad" in the U.S.
Anyway it's a good show with a solid dub, especially with its shoestring budget.
I keep hearing JoJo's is getting poor ratings and if Toonami has to cancel it or just stop airing it with the end of Battle Tendency while a stagnant franchise like Dragon Ball continues to thrive in the premiere slot for the foreseeable future, then I feel pretty justified in losing interest in the block a while back.