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The Other Basenji

Basenji Talk
  • Every day Jake and I go for a hike in the Pacific Spirit Park in Vancouver. I've gotten to know a few regulars and for months now I've been hearing stories about the "other basenji" in the park. With over 30 miles of trails and countless twists and turns, I figured the odds of ever meeting the dog were pretty low. Well, today was our lucky day because when we came around a bend, there was a large group of dogs milling about with a little red and white basenji right in the middle of things. I had never seen another basenji before so I was super excited! When the owner saw us he laughed and said "That must be Jake! I've heard a lot about him". It didn't take long for our basenjis to find each other and, after a careful sniff, a spirited game of tag broke out.

    We spent about 15-20 minutes together and it was so cool to see them get along. Their mannerisms were so similar…from their playfulness and sense of pride, to the fact that both of them completely ignored us, it was a nice reminder that I'm not the only one crazy enough to own a basenji. ;)

  • How very kewl! You should set up play dates! :)

  • Finding another basenji to play with is like finding a pearl in an oyster, an unexpected wonderful surprise! So glad you finally connected.

  • I read your blog and find it kind of confusing and ….. your comment about "messing with ..." hmmmmmmm....

    Anyhow, yes, it is so cool when you come across another basenji, because they totally understand each other and how they want to play. We were fortunate once to have another basenji play chase with Kipawa at a dog park. I just don't think there are many basenjis in the Lower Mainland. :(

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    Looks can be so deceiving- here is an article of a woman who adopted a rescue dog in N.J. Dog looks like a basenji - even her vet thought it might be basenji. She did an Embark DNA test - no basenji. Turned out the dog was a mixture of Mountain Cur, Rat Terrier, Beagle, and Boston Terrier. link text
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    Where I am it costs about $2K+ for a dog from a breeder for just about any breed. Goldens may be less because the litters are so large. That may seem like a lot, but, as Debra mentions, dogs cost money to care for. After vet bills and boarding fees and food, it matters little what the dog cost to acquire. Leaving true puppy mills out of the discussion, given the costs of being a responsible breeder -- testing, vet bills, feeding -- and how much work breeding is, I can't imagine anyone doing it for the money. That leads to two problems for people looking for dogs. One is that since breeding isn't really lucrative, there aren't a ton of breeders, which means the supply of pups is low. Second is that most Basenji breeders want to place their pups in the best possible homes -- remember they aren't doing it for the money -- which means they're looking for people who have had Basenjis before. Something of a Catch-22.
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    Oh Barklessdog, you are a brave person. I must now stand with you in insane-solidarity and admit I bought it too. It is awful but when you get the line "we couldn't say goodbye so we took him home" part, you know you got to help support the woman. lol
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    @Thana: she does have basenji characteristics then apart from her colours and looks.- i also think she must have some basenji blood! She is lovely and lucky no matter what! adorable little face:))))) Having read about the characteristics I think she does. The lady with the basenji that we met also commented on some of the things she was doing as "very basenji" (eg. standing on her back legs so she could see what was going on). Has a lovely wrinkly forehead too. Got very frustrated with me earlier and did her funny bark, more of a wierd howl really. She is def one of a kind. Its a shame we have to have her spayed (not that I could ever justify letting her have a litter).
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    lol usually when you breed a bigger dog to a smaller dog the Male is the tiny one. Its just dangerous to do it the other way around. As far as DNA breed testing I would go for it if I could. But i am just interested in those kinds of tests. We offer them at our clinic but i haven't ever seen results for them.
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    ooohhh…so true!!! Good observation!