It's official - Lana is 100% acclimated into our home. About time - it's been almost two years since we got her. She was 19 month old when we got her from a "breeder" in South California. Back then we did not know anything about basenjis… if we were getting one now, I would not do it. (We definitely lucked out with Lana, and we absolutely love her to death, so I guess it was meant to be.) I don't think she was abused there, but she definitely was underloved... she did not know how to greet people and how to express her love. I understand that being aloof to strangers is common feature of the B breed, but her aloofness was borderline obsessive. She woudn't come to us (it took her 6 weeks to let Shawn pet her for the first time). The woman we got her from said that she never comes over, never wags her tail, never says hi, never wants to be petted, etc. She does all of that just fine now! She comes over and rubs on us, and wags her tail, and talks to us, and cuddles with us, and does everything a "normal" dog is supposed to do, except one - she does not give kisses. In the two years we've had her, she kissed my mom twice, and Shawn maybe four or five times (we keep track of how many kisses she gave out, because it's such a rare thing). She never kisses me, my dad or any other members of our family. She greets people who come to our house, but is still very cautious of strangers, even when we go to dog park, she does not let people pet her. I think she finally learned to really love and be loved and likes being fussed over now. But I wonder if having other two non-B dogs (akita and boxer) had anything to do with turning her into a more "normal" dog. Any thoughts?
