Lady & Tamu
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When my second Basenji, Lady, was seven years old, I got puppy fever. The result was bringing home a seven week old female pup, Tamu. Lady was less than impressed by her new companion, and the first couple of days her response to the new arrival was to growl and walk away, stiff legged. By day three, however, she decided to experiment and tentatively initiated play with the pup. I was fascinated to watch them together, as Lady proved to be a perfect substitute mother. She was appropriately gentle with the pup, even though she didn't yet fully accept her. Time brought them closer together, and they ended up being inseparable friends for life. Here are a few pictures from those early days. (I apologize for the quality. Cheap camera + scanned photos doesn't do the best job!)
Here are the two of them just after Tamu came home to us.
Tamu picked up leash walking quickly, with the example set for her.
Getting along happened fairly quickly.
I love this shot…..note Lady's closed eye on the "attack" side!
I was amazed by the patience Lady showed towards puppy antics.
Puppies can certainly try the patience of an older dog.
Sometimes Tamu was content with her own bone, although most of the time she wanted Lady's.
A tired pup after play.
A year later, on the dock. Lady is loose, Tamu is tied as a precaution.
And much, much later. Lady was showing her age, Tamu in her prime. They always slept together.
Tamu liked to be in the back. If she couldn't get there, on top would suffice!
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Once the initial novelty wore off, they got along amazingly well. Lady at first didn't like the idea of a new "friend". It was interesting, because although she could easily have attacked Tamu and chased her off, she would actually leave if Tamu approached her dish when she was eating. Lady would growl, then walk away. I think puppies have some immunity when they are young. Instinct probably prevents the older dog from harming them (not in all cases, I hasten to add!) Horses also seem to have a lot of tolerance for youngsters.
A couple more pictures, when Tamu was older….
And here's Lady cleaning "her" dog.
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I love these! We don't get to see enough pictures of your Bs. =)
While it's great to have dogs that instantly get along, I do also appreciate the quiet, slow, continuous rewards of two dogs that eventually grow into each other. I would really like to have a multiple Basenji household someday.
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I think the lovely thing is when the older dog reaches old age but has the company and affection and caring of their younger companion dog payback for her looking after and putting up with puppy drama, what lovely memories these photos have for you. Basenjis do look to age gracefully, how sweet they look.
Jolanda and Kaiser
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Thank you for sharing all those. Wonderful pictures. Makes for a happy morning start!
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Love the pic of the two curly tails looking out the window! They seem so happy together. Wonderful pix. Thanks for sharing them!
