• Well it was May 1975, and I was 21, having recently got out of the Marine Corp and it was my first semester in college. Our family had always had dogs. At this time we had no dogs. My Mother told me that her good friend Helen's niece's dog had puppies and there was one left and did I want a dog. I said have her come by. Helen stopped by with her niece and the dog, it was a Sunday. It was a dog I had never seen before and she said it was a female Basenji.
    Well it walked around the house sniffing everywhere. I went to pet it and it sort of growled at me. "Excuse me but I live here"! We all laughed. Anyway they tried giving it to a family before with young children. Bad experience for the dog as they treated it mean and the dog ended up hating kids all it's life.
    Anyway I took the dog and I found out what the real definition of escape artist is. If you look up escape artist in the dictionary there's a picture of a Basenji next to it. (-: Anyway I was a very physically active person and she and I took many a long hike, off leash at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. This cured the escaping problem. Nipper was a very tough Basenji and didn't take anything from any dog ever.
    I moved here and there over the years and took her with me. I had a very close call losing her when she was 8. When I moved in this house I'm in now on Halloween night in 1983, it was lightly raining and she got out of the yard (it had a picket fence around) when I went back to my old place to get more stuff. When I got back with more stuff my neighbor told me she got out and I freaked! She must of freaked out when I left her in this strange and new place. I drove the streets everywhere looking and calling. None of the kids trick or treating saw her. My room mate and best friend John went looking too. He found her 4 blocks away in a parking lot at a park shivering under a parked car. Oh my god I couldn't believe it! I owed him big time. I don't know how he found her, it was a miracle.
    I had her for 17 years and she was a such a great dog and one of the best little troopers ever! She was very protective of me. She died at my house in 1992 at the age of 17-1/2. Losing her was so very hard as she was a wonderful dog. She's laid to rest in my backyard. I miss her. Thank you Nipper!


  • That is really an amazing story and she sounds like such a sweet sweet little girl. It's nice that you still remember her so fondly.

    Nipper reminds a lot of my little girl who was also spooked by kids once (I do hope she'll get over it) and she was also growly at first but she loves me to no end & is so incredibly sweet with us.


  • Thanks jys1011! Unfortunatly the kids hatred thing never resolved. If I remeber my mothers friend told me the kids of that family tried to push her in the toliet. Real tramatic! She nipped a few kids that tried to pet her. That's how she got the name Nipper. After the first year I never really had any problems with her. I never did any training with her either. Sounds like yours is a great one!


  • nobarkus - You're memories of your beloved furkids are so vivid and fun. I am so happy that Nipper spent his life with you. Keep on making memories - they last multiple life times.


  • Thanks Jill! I'm enjoying telling and remembering it. I'm really enjoying reading everybodys stories and info too.


  • Nobarkus that was a beautiful story I can tell you loved her very much. I hope my B will live to be 17 years old that is very impressive.


  • @nobarkus:

    Thanks Jill! I'm enjoying telling and remembering it. I'm really enjoying reading everybodys stories and info too.

    Where/who did you get your Basenjis from?


  • My first, as stated in my story came from my mothers friends niece. Now who the mother and father was or if they were registered I don't know. My blk/wht came from this couple in Redwood City in 1994. My exwife bought her and there's no papers only photos and call names of the parents. Ringo, the Red/wht I bought from a Basenji rescue breeder in Marin named Margaret Hoff. Ringo had AKC papers and was from a certified breeder in Texas that is no longer breeding. His name is Lord Ringo of Wacella.


  • Margaret was the jewel of all jewels!!!!! We totally miss her…. she did our rescue for BCONC for more years that we can count... she was the heart and soul of rescue for us and we have never been able to replace her.. Of course now we can't as a club do rescue do to insurance reasons, so BRAT is the official rescue for No. California....


  • Yes Pat a lot of people knew her. I knew the girl, I met at Fort Funston who took Margaret's Basenjis after she died. I saw this girl one day at the fort and her Basenjis were different. She said her 2 died from Fanconi and these were Margaret's dogs.


  • Yes, I knew about hers that passed from Fanconi, again why it is so important that people go to responsible breeders so that they know what is in the pedigrees of the dogs they are considering. And with any luck, by the fall of this year we will have a DNA test that will identify as an interim step marker-based tests used nearby DNA or markers, that are inherited with the mutation to indicate affected, carier or clear status. You can all read and keep up with health issues in our breed at www.basenjihealth.org (The Basenji Club of America Endowment)


  • Thanks Pat for the important info!


  • What a great remembrance of Nipper and it sounds like you gave her a wonderful life.

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