• Hello,

    I just got my first Basenji!!! He is 13 weeks old, so adorable and his name is Chai. I have been reading EVERYTHING on this forum and it helped greatly! I have been crate training him with success, and I am going to puppy school. So far, so good: all these horror stories about destructive dogs scared me a bit but Chai is pretty nice, doesn't growl, doesn't pee or poop inside and hasn't destroyed anything!!!

    Cathy


  • Where did you get your basenji from? I look forward to photos


  • Welcome…..can't wait to see pictures of your little boy


  • WELCOME!! We can't wait to see pics of your "fur-baby"!


  • Everybody was so quick to respond that I HAD to post photos of my little Chai right away too… here he is!!!

    attachment_p_38595_0_n567372778_424757_4813.jpg
    attachment_p_38595_1_n678552693_705223_177.jpg
    attachment_p_38595_2_n678552693_705224_426.jpg
    attachment_p_38595_3_n678552693_705225_700.jpg
    attachment_p_38595_4_n678552693_705336_7560.jpg


  • What a sweet boy. So cute. Where did you get him (Breeder). Have the parents been tested for fanconi marker? Hope to see more pics real soon.


  • I got him from a Denise Searcy, a breeder in Nuveo, California. His parents have been tested for the Fanconi disease and he's good. The only little problem is his knee cap that's a bit moving. The breeder discounted him for this reason ($400) and said he should be ok as he grow up - she has 3 other dogs with the same knee cap thing…

    Do you know this breeder?


  • I have heard of her. While I was researching breeders in the greater west coast. I am glad to hear that you have a B from a breeder that tests the Fanconi Marker. Is this your first B? How are things going with the little cutie? Everyone here is soo great about sharing their experiences with these amazing dogs. Again welcome so glad you have found this great B resource.


  • I also got my Zip from Denise, but as an adult. Denise is wonderful! Zip also has subluxating patellas and I have only seen her hold up her hind leg about 5 times or so since I got her in November. It's really not that bad. Denise b-sat Zip for me over Christmas and I got to see her litter when I picked up and dropped off Zip. Denise also sent me 8-9 week old pictures. Precious precious. Denise has been a great resource. Chai is darling. Cute name, too!!


  • @mauigirl:

    I also got my Zip from Denise, but as an adult. Denise is wonderful! Zip also has subluxating patellas and I have only seen her hold up her hind leg about 5 times or so since I got her in November.

    So, is that common, and/or is it an issue of breeding?


  • @JazzysMom:

    So, is that common, and/or is it an issue of breeding?

    It is an issue of breeding, it is believed to be hereditary. The rate of occurence is hard to judge because a person will know a dog is failing at the exam and will then not send in the results to OFA though submitting failing results is free of charge and since it is not a DNA based test you can opt to keep them private. Right now, OFA lists Basenjis at 50 with 123 tested and 2.7% having the condition. Most vets will check for this at a routine exam and the cost to submit to OFA for passing results is $15. On the OFA site it will list if the exam was done by a practitioner or a specialist. If the link works it should take you to all the OFA listings for Patellas. A dog must be 12 months old for the exam for the results to be registered because puppies can be a little loose and then tighten up by a year old.

    http://www.offa.org/results.html?num=®istrar=&namecontains=N&part=&breed%5B%5D=BJ&breedlist=ALL&variety%5B%5D=&sex=&birthday_start_month=&birthday_start_year=&birthday_end_month=&birthday_end_year=&birthday=®code%5B%5D=PA®and=N&rptdte_start_month=&rptdte_start_year=&rptdte_end_month=&rptdte_end_year=&rptdte=&submit=Begin+Search


  • I know that Denise originally got Zip w/ intent to show and breed her. She spade her upon discovering the knee problem. I don't believe she would have bred her most recent litter knowing the puppies would have subluxating patellas…how can that be predicted if the parents knees appear to be normal? It also wasn't the whole litter that ended up with it. Plus Robyn and Walker (Chai's parents if I'm not mistaken) both tested Normal by a practitioner. Hmm. Seems rather hard to avoid? Is there usually much disparity between a specialist and a practitioner exam?


  • Because there is no DNA test the only way for a breeder to really have a good idea of how likely it is to appear in their breeding program is to have vertical pedigree information. This means getting data about the siblings of the dogs in a dog's pedigree. Though Walker and Robyn may not have patella issues, have their siblings been tested? What about their grandparents and their siblings? Even then a breeder has to make an assessment of risk and then decide if it is a risk they can live with.

    With some diseases, people have not done enough testing to have a really good idea what to expect. Also, if other people are not willing to make their test results public then it is not available to use when making the decision.

    Both Zip and Walker have some dogs in common in their pedigrees, Avongara Gangura and Zamee. Zip and Robyn also have a dog in common in their pedigrees, Serengeti Cool Jazz of Woz. Also, Robyn's grandsire has sired a dog with a patella issue listed in the OFA database.

    That doesn't mean Denise was irresponsible or could have predicted that there would have been a problem, just saying that even though both Walker and Zip were bought from other breeders, Denise has a certain family of dogs she works with. Denise did the responsible thing, she had the puppies examined before she placed them and has been very up front with all her buyers. I am sure she will also keep in touch with them to see how the pups progress.


  • Boy is Chai a CUTIE!!! I loved the picture of him chewing on the stick and the man in the picture doing the same thing. TOO FUNNY! 🙂

Suggested Topics

  • 6
  • 3
  • 16
  • 23
  • 15
  • 15