Basenji Puppy Pen

L'Ox is on the small side. He is only about 16.5 inches at the withers. He may gain a little more height and will probably continue to fill out for next couple of years but he will always be a small male.

@nkjvcjs: If you go before nationals you will get to meet BCOSW's rescues too. -Nicole Yep, we are going within this month. I'll give the rescue dogs and extra squeeze!

What food are you feeding? The quality, calories, fat content etc is critical. 4 cups of cheap food may have less calories than 1/2 cup of quality. I feed puppies 3x a day til they are 6 mos old, particularly smaller breeds. Until they hit about 20 pounds, it is harder for them to regulate blood sugar levels with 2x a day feeding. I know many who do feed only twice, but I just like to know they can utilize the food and can maintain stable blood levels. I won't bore you with research, but a good article in general: http://www.vetmed.vt.edu/vth/sa/clin/cp_handouts/Nutrition_Growing_Puppy.pdf All that said, if your pup is neither fat or thin, is healthy, then you are probably fine. If you see problems, evaluate. But you can never go wrong with top quality food. As for puppy or adult food… I switch at 6 mos over to adult. Many stay on puppy food til a year.

Sophie is really cute and Thanks for the replies. I THINK we have decided on going with the name Amirah. Prairieland's Arabian Princess as her registered name. Amirah means princess in arabic. :) I appreciate all the help with the names. and if we decide a different route i will repost it. Thanks again!!

I guess I came by the Basenji by way of my first dog, a Shiba, another purported "ancient breed." The two breeds sound, look, and behave similarly, so I'd always kept my eye out for Basenjis. I realized that I had a neighbor growing up in the '80s in Michigan who had a Basenji. Not that I knew this breed back then, but it was impressed on my childhood mind that that's just what dogs were supposed to look like. (Actually, there were a lot of purebred dogs on the block I lived during those few years – I distinctly remember the basenji, which I think lived with a Scottish terrier, then there was an ill-tempered mini schnauzer, a pair of Doberman sentry dogs with vicious barks [which scared the crap out of me], my best friend's Samoyed [which I also loved, even though she was always running away]…) I didn't really get to meet any Basenjis until I moved out here to northern California. Found that our Shiba, who tends to dislike certain dogs by breed (he is always snarling at Huskies and Boxers, for example), would greet every basenji he saw with a full wagging tail and curious sniffs. So they made the shortlist of breeds we were considering when we decided a couple years ago that we wanted to adopt a second dog. It took until about two months ago to find "the one", and she happened to be a Basenji. So that is how I found my way to the breed. And to this forum. =)

Really nice to hear that he is coming out of his shell..good work, keep it up.

Just noticed the last post was 2007 so Im sure he has a name by now!!! jaja

Please tell Debbie we are still waiting for the major win pic for Zaharah, these Florida photographers are slower than dirt. Nothing like the Ashbey brothers! I just love my girl, and can't wait for her to finish! Janice

One of the reasons that I rotate the food is that then you really do not have to change slowly or at least that is what I find. I change every three months to a different food going between Wellness, California Natural, EVO, Fromms, etc… you get the picture. That way they are used to constant change (also adding in veggies and fruits both raw and steamed along with yams, etc). If I am on the road and need food for the B's then I never have to worry that I will not be able to find what I am feeding them at present... as they are used to change...

Sisco, Skylar, Shadow, Sidka, Snoopy, Scooby, Shylo. Max, Marvin, Meeko, Marty, Mud, Melvin. Dewie, Lewie, Stewie, Tewie, Chewie. Casper, Cadence, Comet, Cobie, cwaker, Corezon, Carson, Camden. idk. lol I hope i have helped…they arent the best but you never know. Some people like what other people dont. :) I knkow how you feel though, I am trying to name my little female red white basenji but so far have not foudn the perfect name! Well, Good luck!

Thanks for the ring times Karen!

Welcome to the forum circlemama, i understand how you feel about taking the Pup away from family because we felt exactly the same a few weeks ago. Before we picked Malaika up i kept thinking about it but knew in the back of my mind that this was the order of things, after all the breeder wasn't going to keep all the pups so staying in her canine family wasn't an option. Before we left the breeders house we told Malaika's mum we would look after her, and yes i know she didn't understand the words but i needed to say it anyway ;) Once home she oly took a few days to settle and now it's like she's always been here. Like you we considered two Pups but i'm so glad we didn't get two at once. It is a full time job looking after Malaika and having a Pup in the house again was a huge change. We do plan to get another Basenji in the future.

Thanks, Yes I ve been feeding him with regular feeding times and leaving the food for 20 min than removing. He always eats better at night than in the morning. We dont get any of the brands of food that I read about here. We get the more comercial brands , like Eukanuba, Science Diet and Royal Canin. Ive been feeding Science Diet, but I prefer Royal Canin, thinking of switching but later on. Thanks for the info

Please read my reply on your other post!

My vet, 20 yrs ago didnt' know about fanconi, but did work to learn about it. If you like your vet and think they are "trainable" get them some info from the net. If it doesn't help your dog, it might help a dog in the future.

@Kipawa: I would guess the more the better, but which tests would you consider an ABSOLUTE necessity, and which could a new puppy purchaser let slide - any? I'm picky, and since researching I would want Fanconi, IPSID, Progressive Retinal Atrophy, Hemolytic Anemia, Hip Dysplasia, Thyroid and PPM. I'm getting all of these questions from reading and from the links on this forum - thanks to those who have provided all of this great information. Hemolytic Anemia is pretty much gone from the breed, so in looking at the parents, as long as either they or their sires/dams have been DNA Clear, you would not have to worry about HA, as it is a recessive gene and since this is a direct test, offspring are clear by parentage. PPM would be determined with the same eye exam as PRA. There is no test for IPSID, that is where the knowledge of the dogs by the breeder is so important along with Progressive Retinal Atrophy, again there is no test and it is late onset, sometimes as late as over 10yrs or as early as 3yrs. Again important for the breeder to know the background. Hip Dysplasia, you again need to look at the sire/dam, offspring/siblings and their test results. So, I would agree, at minimum, DNA for Fanconi, Current CERF Exam, OFA for hips and the more in the pedigree that has been OFA'ed for hips the better.

Magnum has no problem with cat food. In fact, I think he prefers it to his own food. I'm of the opinion, though, that there's too much protein in it for dogs and ingredients that cats need and dogs don't, so we do our best to keep him away from it. Easy to say, harder to do. Just out of curiosity, it seems to be a puppy thing to feed cereal, yes? I don't think I'd ever feed it to an adult dog as it seems to be valueless nutritionally and, at best, a filler, at least according to my research, and JMO, of course. Maybe as a reward or treat?

I want my basenji to have an African name, so I searched African names via Google. Most of the sites tell you what African language the name is from and what the name means. It was an enjoyable process!

I recently started calling Cody "Cartman" (from "South Park") when he has that attitude of "I do what I want, I do what I want. Whateva!"

@Lenora: We can't keep brussel sprouts in stock at our house. She likes the little nasty bitter ones that would make people gag. She's never met a veggie or bean she didn't like but why brussel sprouts???? Cat poop is a delicacy to them, so go figure. :rolleyes: