Hey all,
Nothing makes me happier than taking our girl to a dog park and watching her run with around with other dogs. She generally likes to hang back, and then zip through a pack of dogs. By her 3rd or 4th pass she usually has 10 dogs that will join in her fun.
Are there any other B owners in the Pickering, Ajax, Whitby area of Toronto? Would love to arrange a morning trip to greenwood park and watch them run the B500 around other dogs.
Hope to hear from you soon
Hi there, fellow Ontarian!
I just spotted your request for playmates for your girl. I'm a little too far East of Toronto to bring my crew for playdates, Forum members Kmac & eeeefarm are in your area. Pretty sure Kmac would be interested, as she just adopted a B mix…
I'm a sometimes coordinator/foster/transport person for BRAT (fortunately not too much rescue activity in Canada) so if I'm ever heading out your way with the boys in tow, I'll let you know!
Hi there, fellow Ontarian!
I just spotted your request for playmates for your girl. I'm a little too far East of Toronto to bring my crew for playdates, Forum members Kmac & eeeefarm are in your area. Pretty sure Kmac would be interested, as she just adopted a B mix…I'm a sometimes coordinator/foster/transport person for BRAT (fortunately not too much rescue activity in Canada) so if I'm ever heading out your way with the boys in tow, I'll let you know!
I think KMac would be definitely be interested, and hopefully she spots this thread. Unfortunately I don't do off leash parks. Perry is somewhat dog aggressive and it just wouldn't be a good idea for him. Be happy to meet for coffee and Basenji talk sometime, however. 
I am 4 months pregnant and have a 21 month old daughter and we have a houseful of stuff.
There are actually quite a few B owners in the TO area. Just not on this list. And most of them won't go to dog parks anymore after a few undesirable incidents. Generally, most of us meet up at the racing meets in spring and summer.
I would be interested in attending one of those sometime. I'd sure love to watch, although I have my doubts about bringing Perry. He'd probably love to course, but whether he preferred to chase the "rabbit" or another hound, that would be the question! BTW, where can I find a good muzzle for racing if I ever decide to give it a shot?
We would definitely lend you one to see if this is something you would want to do. We order them through our host where we race our dogs and, unfortunately, the place she gets them is behind in making them. We have quite a few on order. You would be surprised at which dogs will race and which won't. I thought for sure my two girls would, but not a chance. They boys, that I thought would never, ever run, love it. Johnny is racing very, very well for such a little boy and is closing in on the bigger guys after only three races. You should be able to find more info on racing on the CARA site. http://cararacing.tripod.com/ We race at Princeton on Laurie Soutar's farm. Any info you need, e-mail me privately and I will let you know as much as I can.
Arlene, are unregistered B's allowed to compete??? When I lived in the GTA–admittedly many years ago--rescues couldn't, except thru NAMBR. I've got a BRAT boy who'd smoke the competition. Unfortunately, he's timid (one of the SD mill dogs from a few years back) and liable to keep running if he's spooked : I
Gypsy has loved the lure ever since she arrived here in California, I guess she inherited it from her daddy Cole. She isn't very fast but does enjoy it.
You can get a lunge whip with fur for training puppies or dogs who have never seen the lure before from Fur For Lures, http://www.facebook.com/FursForLures?v=info
My guy loves to run, but has of course never seen a lure. Crows are his favourite thing to chase, although in his opinion they don't play fair. If he sees them on the ground he is off like a shot, and chases after they are airborne until they really start to distance him. One did a loop back over the hayfield last year, which is when I got my video of him that I captured my avatar still from.
With CARA racing, I believe the rules state that mixed breeds and non-sighthound breeds can be entered in Non Regular races that are held by the host club. I know we have raced some pretty strange breeds. Last year we had poodles (not good at it) Am Eskimo's and what they are calling Mini Aussie's. So yes, we do try out other breeds at times. We generally hold practices when we can, either before or after the meets. We are pretty informal. We also generally have pot-luck so this tells you how informal we are. We race in a field that is contained for the most part (fencing with a gate) and most people generally know not to chase the dogs. You get the odd one person. We also have people who get Basenji's and their attitudes towards each other so we are alert on how to judge them as well. We had one person who judged a couple of years ago who wanted to disqualify on everything since 1) she didn't like Basenji's (although she complimented me on my temperments, she said all Basenji's she knew were nasty, but mine were never nasty and didn't snarl) and 2) she is no longer with us since she doesn't like that we allow long-haired whippets to race (whippets are her breed).
Lisa, I don't know if your Mom told you, but I used to, from the time they were very little, used to use a cat's fishing toy to play with them. I do have a 7ft buggy whip that I tie the rabbit's fur (or hot dog smelling bag) on and use it outside with them when it is warmer. Rose will probably race too, I tried her last year when it was warmer. We don't have very many meets, maybe three or four last year because of weather, scheduling, conflicts, etc. But we try to get out as often as we can, all things considered.
eeeefarm-if you go to a farm and feed store (like Minor's Bros) or a tack shop you should be able to find a buggy whip. Like I said, I started with a simple cat's fishing toy. It's something to try, and if you'd like to come to a meet, either keep an eye on the CARA site and Laurie will be updating it as soon as she knows when bookings start. Laurie is also starting a UKC Chapter here, (I believe this is just something that she is working on right now) so I'm sure she is going to be extra busy this year, or keep reminding me to let you know when we are meeting up.
I've got horses, so I have an old lunge whip kicking around. My barn cats used to love to chase the end of it….....a problem if you are trying to lunge a horse and don't want the cat to get stepped on. I may try tying something to that, but I'll wait for spring. Pretty cold here now! I'm guessing Perry might be more interested in chasing the other hounds than the lure, but one never knows.....
Some don't get it right away. They start by following/chasing the other b's and then it sort of kick's in. Sometimes you can just see the light bulb click on. When I didn't have fur to start with, I literally grabbed a hot dog and rubbed it all over a plastic bag and then tied it to the end of the whip. I don't know if I have any video or pics of the lure or not. I will check and see if I can post a pic of what they are chasing. The rabbit fur tends to get a little ripped up.
You can see the bags in front of the dogs. This is why I use white, plastic bags.
I've seen videos of lure coursing. I am sure he would go after the lure if he saw it moving in the field. However, since he is dog aggressive, he just might find another hound a more salient choice! One of his close relatives I believe was a good courser until he started zeroing in on the other competitors.
However, I have not had Perry with other Basenjis or indeed sighthounds since I have owned him. Perhaps he only dislikes dogs that he doesn't relate to…....it's not an issue I have worked on, since we seldom have occasion to be around other dogs. And when he sees them at the vet he has other things on his mind!
You don't really know unless you try. First we try them alone to see if they are interested in the lure at all. Then we progress from there, or they might not be interested at all. Once they are focused on the lure, usually the aggressiveness does not manifest itself until they all stop moving. We also have people all around in case something happens. We have two dogs who absolutely hate each other and are always in competition. But, they do not show aggresive behaviour on the field while running. Only after the lure stops, and we usually grab then before anything can happen. We also have muzzles on as well, so incidents are typically minor.
Was it Chili who Perry is related to?
Was it Chili who Perry is related to?
I don't know Chili, but in any case that wasn't the name. I would have to look back to five year old emails to find it, probably. In any case, Perry isn't from Ontario…...he hails from Cleveland! Both my boys came from the States. My girls were all Canadian bred, however.
