Hi!!! I thought I was missed as I joined several months ago. My dog is a first generation American bred by Cathy Baron of New Jersey. I call my still extremely puppy like Basenji 'Antigone' after the Protagonist in the Greek Play by Sophocles. Antigone refused to negotiate and neither does my dog! We 'argue' all the time like when she starts chewing my shoes to get my attention. It works! I saw her when she was three days old and she is a Tri Color and had a little pink nose. She shrieked all the way home and we were so exhausted from the stress that I put her in bed with me and we both fell asleep. She still sleeps with me, despite objections of my husband, but he knows that the bond she has with me is going a long way to keep her in remission. She had a carcinoma of the small intestine and I was prepared for her to pass. She stared that cancer down like only these dogs can do as if to say 'I decide, NOT you!'
She still races up and down the stairs and she was very depressed last year because my 18 year old cat whom assisted her with the house and wardrobe destruction passed, as did my 8 year old Wolf. He had a brain tumor and that caused him to have seizures, the Vets could not get them under control and he did of a heart attack. These were the same Vets who did Tiggy's surgery. She has been attacked by larger dogs 4 times in her life and since then she thinks all Canines must die. She is very aggressive and she has a 'Napolean Complex' because she does not care how big the dog is, she still wants to attack it.
She was raised with our first Wolf, and I am told that the Wolf is the closest relation to the Basenji. She adores Wolves and she has always played with them and they always engaged in 'mutual grooming.' I know the gal I got her from and she gave my my choice. I chose Antigone because she was the only Tri in the litter and the only female. I know the breed is an Endangered Species, after having her and seeing what a destructive little dog she was, I chose not to breed her. I could NEVER part with her puppies and I don't think my bank account was large enough to deal with 6 Basenjis! I will rescue the next one because I know how they are and how to deal with them. My dog 'packed' with older dogs at the farm where I kept my rescue horses. She modeled her behavior after theirs and she caught on quick. These dogs are so stubborn I know they are given up because people are not ready to have their house eaten! They don't respond well to the usual training methods which I was told by the Breeder. I knew in advance what to do, and the only time she ever stayed in a crate was when we would go on long trips to Vermont to visit my in-laws. They no longer live there and she rides in the back seat with me!
To help keep her in remission I feed her Purina One Mature Dog kibble and Pet Guard Vegetarian canned food. She gets the canned food because she too has a seizure disorder and she takes 3.4 mg of Phenobarbatol every day. I sneak it into a fork full of the canned food. I adore her and cannot imagine my life without her. She looks silly modeling that goofy dog bed, she was about a year old and I took her into Manhattan, I worked there anyway and she came to work with me too, and as soon as the Photographer said 'Meow' he got the shot and that was it. Forbes FYI got lots of calls about my dog, what kind, where to get them, etc. They got sick of talking about the dog because the dog got more attention than the $14,500.00 bed!
Tiggy is her same self and she fusses over me all the time. She is sweet and curious about other people but if she does not like somebody she sits with her back turned against them and does not allow them to touch her. She is a great judge of character and she did not like a guy who gave me an estimate for a new HVAC! She sat with her back towards him and the guy asked after he gave me this insane estimate 'Why is she doing that?' I said 'She dislikes you.' He did not know what to think and he said he would call me the next day and I told him not to bother.
What is the most expensive thing YOUR dog has ever destroyed? My list is so long I stopped adding!!! How do you deal with the house destruction? Are pairs better than one? Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!
Tiggy and her Mom