@wizard:

Oh yes I agree about the end of life issue - and I thought it was a good idea to include those questions about helping to decide. It's a really tough decision I know.
re: the bison – a previous mutt I had used to hang around the neighbor's horses and tease them by nipping (nothing serious) at their heels. Finally one horse had enough and kicked him (not very hard - no damage). My dog never ever teased any of the horses again. I think most dogs would naturally make that kind of learning association -- big animal hurt me, leave big animal alone.

EXACTLY! Big animal hurt me, leave big animal alone…..that is perfect!

I'm so glad to have this kind of dialogue about the book....I read it and really felt the need to discuss. THANK YOU!!!

Rudolph has a read nose!

Sometimes the best medicine is to be around those you love. Hopefully being with her family will help her continue to heal. Thanks for the update….keep us posted.

(Sending healing thoughts to Annie)

That would be OJ when he was young…. at his age now, he really doesn't have the teeth for it any more... but he was the king of tags rippers... and he was the only one, the girls had no interest at all...

We generally prefer the company of our basenjis to humans! We do enjoy our dog park friends that we see every evening, and the "Sunday basenji group" that also meets weekly, love all the dogs and humans in that group. But I have to pry my husband out of the house to visit "regular" friends, he would much rather stay home with the kids…and truth be told, so would I!

Anne in Tampa

Hi there.
At the moment I have a little girl. I'm considering getting her a brother or sister. There's no doubt I would go for another Basenji. Problem is, I don't want a new dog to teach her bad habits. My girl doesn' t know she can jump the back fence. She doesn't dig holes in the back lawn, only in the garden beds, which I 'm pretty sure she's running out of room to bury her treats. And she can be pretty smart when she wants to.
Do I risk bringing a puppy into the family and my girl picking up bad puppy habits?

We have one of those spray heads on our shower that you can take off and use by hand. I get the water nice and warm, and even though Samantha isn't excited to jump in the tub, she's so good to just stand there and relax while I lather her up with doggie shampoo and rinse her off. I used to have to wrestle with my other B's to get them clean! I guess the old German saying: "All good things come in threes" is really true!

@sharronhurlbut:

My boy freezes in his tracks when she does it to him!
Always makes me laugh.

Hahaha… that sounds like Charlie when Zaire hits him. He stopped being terrified of her noisesso now she has tried whining, screaming, and one quick bark at him. He never backs down now, untill she starts smacking him on the nose. then he doesn't know what to do and just lays down. 😃

Thanks MacPack, I love Piper's half collar too, I've had a couple people ask me how white she was going to turn because the first time they saw her they only saw her black side and when they saw her again they saw the other side and thought she must be turning more white.

And anyone that wants to send your dogs down here feel free, I'm sure Piper would love some playmates.:D

Well I had my first Consultation last night with one of the dog sitters. I really liked her.

She works part time as a vet tech and part time as a dog sitter.
I liked that she has a vet tech degree, and is comfortable with canine first aid/CPR. I would hope that all dog sitters are trained in this, but now I know to ask about it in the future.

She walked in and was so surprised to see a Basenji in Oregon (She is originaly from Florida). We had a great hour long consultation. I reallt think she may be the one I go with, but as this is my first time needing a pet sitter I will go through the other two consultations before making up my mind.

@sharronhurlbut:

My basenji girl always shows me up.
When I am walking the dogs, folks come over and say "oh, are those the barkless dogs?"
My girl ALWAYS gives one of her warning BARKS when they say this.
Laugh.
I tell the folks yes, they are barkless, except for my girl!
So, then discussion starts, and I explain how they are not MUTE.
But my girl gets me everytime!

That's so funny considering we have the opposite experience. Manny baroooos like crazy at home but when we're in public and we want him to do it, he doesnt. Go figure. They have a mind of their own.

And it really bothers me that people still list Basenjis as "no bark" without also noting they are NOT mute, along with the "no" shed (wrong!!), ….

Elsie is the same way. She is really mean to the other dogs in the neighborhood and we have many dogs around. I had to teach the dog owners that although Elsie is really cute she is not really nice. I found that it takes Elsie eight or nine times meeting a new dog before she lets them into her pack…..We have since been told by our trainer to come back to group classes to help with her aggression towards dogs that she doesn't know.
Lynne (elsie's mom)

We have actually been really lucky in this regard. Our backyard is enclosed by a picket fence reinforced with chicken wire around the bottom. It was here when we moved in last year. Cyrus has never tried to dig or climb out of the fence at all. We are actually hoping to replace our fencing with vinyl this year, so it will be even more secure. Cyrus does not have access to the outdoors when we are not home, however. He is too clever for his own good, and we worry about what he would do if left to his own devices!

Yes, Sharron, geese can be terribly mean-especially Canada Geese! We had one when I was a child (it broke it's wing) and it was a guard bird-much better tha a dog. That's why a lot of farmer's have geese-and a few of them, they are a kind of 'watch dog'!

Ahh. Seko thank you - that slipped right out of my brain! 🙂

I completely agree. Its best to make sure he is fully focused on the lure. The muzzle was what worried me though…it was his first time wearing it and he did not seem to mind it. The lure was far more important 🙂
Thanks for the info...I'll get them registered soon.

I think it was Mirtillo that there was a video of playing with coke bottles…Jack got one down off the counter the other day and I started to let him keep it.....but then I thought better. I don't want him to think that if he gets something off of the counter I will let him keep it. Plus, there are lots of bottles I would rather he not get into (Finlandia, Jack Daniels, Jameson's). I think I will start letting him play with those (empty plastic bottles). They are the cheapest toy ever!

Duke- I'm really embarrassed that I got you and Phoenix mixed up- really sorry....things are going well, though, hanks for asking. Jack hasn't been able to come down lately because we have been sanding and painting, and we didn't want for him to a) breathe in nasty fumes and sawdust and things that are bad or b) get a lovely little noseprint in the middle of a freshly painted wall! LOL! Moving day is May 24th. Jack is going to stay at a friend's house, to avoid the trauma of him having to see us move all of his things out of the apartment.

Congo gets free rein if we are outside of civilization (at least 5 to 10 miles) and he does very well unless he sees another animal. I live in the desert so we can usually keep an eye on him for long distances. I use an elk cow call to call him back. I use that rather than a whistle because the place where I take him has lots of dog owners with whistles.

Well, it started when I was out with my 22yr. old son at the mall. He said, "Hey, Mom lets look at the dogs in the petstore ", I replied, "I don't have time besides your Dad has too many ideas what a dog has to be like for us to get one", I'll never find a dog like he wants". That was 3 yrs. ago this Jan., and I had never heard of a Basenji. I called DH about 3 times the night I found Sahara to persuade him we needed this dog, but she was very expensive so it took some work talking him into me buying her. She is owned by my son, me and my husband, she lives with my husband and I. She is the best dog I have ever owned, and I have had many through my lifetime. I would never get another dog from a pet store (didn't know about puppy mills)but I would have not known of this breed if I hadn't stopped and looked that night. My husband loves this dog so very much, he buys her whatever she wants or needs. I love her also, she is my joy and I can't stand to be from her for very long, we just got back from a trip and it was so hard missing her. My son said that she didn't eat very good while we were gone and was very destructive in the house. Guess she missed us as well!