Mya is not overweight. I'm sure it is the angle and the lighting. I am a responsible owner and Mya is well taken care of. Since I own a basenji now I'm knowledgeable enough to ask the appropriate questions of the breeder. I did not post this picture for everyone to point and frown. I most certainly did not post for anyone's disapproval of my breeders either.
My feelings are hurt and I'm not exactly clear on what to think of some of the perfectly opinionated people on this site.
Are you saying that breeders that do not remove dew claws are irresponsible??
Yes, in the US it is standard to remove dew claws…. that along with health testing before breeding...
Sorry that your feelings are hurt regarding breeders. But if a breeder is not testing and no results on public database (www.offa.org) then they are not responsible. When people breed and do not test (especially for Fanconi) then they are part of the problem, not part of the solution to rid our breed of serious genetic health concerns. It is not fair to the dog or the people that purchase what they think is a health pup only to find out 3 to 10 yrs later that they have a dog that now needs 20 to 30 pills a day to be kept alive
While there are overweight Basenji's (I know of one who weighs in at 40 lbs), I don't think it can be assessed that Mya is overweight. How can you tell from a photo of her lying in the shadows? She has lovely colour, her expression is good, from what I can tell her leg muscle is good on the front. Don't take offense. Because some Basenji's have looser skin, sometimes it looks they carry a lot of weight around the neck area. My Sugar does. I also believe in many places in Europe, it is illegal to remove dew claws.
Sorry that your feelings are hurt regarding breeders. But if a breeder is not testing and no results on public database (www.offa.org) then they are not responsible. When people breed and do not test (especially for Fanconi) then they are part of the problem, not part of the solution to rid our breed of serious genetic health concerns. It is not fair to the dog or the people that purchase what they think is a health pup only to find out 3 to 10 yrs later that they have a dog that now needs 20 to 30 pills a day to be kept alive
Who ever said the breeder isn't testing? I know I didn't. People are just jumping to conclusions here.
While there are overweight Basenji's (I know of one who weighs in at 40 lbs), I don't think it can be assessed that Mya is overweight. How can you tell from a photo of her lying in the shadows? She has lovely colour, her expression is good, from what I can tell her leg muscle is good on the front. Don't take offense. Because some Basenji's have looser skin, sometimes it looks they carry a lot of weight around the neck area. My Sugar does. I also believe in many places in Europe, it is illegal to remove dew claws.
Thanks for the info. I don't think a breeder is irresponsible for not removing dew claws. Personally, I think it's cruelty.
I agree - the only time I have over weight basenjis is when someone has a false pregnancy.
Jazzy becomes overweight if she LOOKS at food. I have to monitor her diet fairly closely.
She takes after her human mama that way~~except I'm not as good at monitoring MY diet. :p
Who ever said the breeder isn't testing? I know I didn't. People are just jumping to conclusions here.
I have to agree with you.. I was also a bit annoyed that everybody started about weight, dew claws and breeders not testing..
Mya is beautiful. With dew claws.. Tillo has them as well.. the Dutch government thinks it is cruelty to take them of 
Edit: and please tell us about that puppy you are waiting for…...
I have to agree with you.. I was also a bit annoyed that everybody started about weight, dew claws and breeders not testing..
Mya is beautiful. With dew claws.. Tillo has them as well.. the Dutch government thinks it is cruelty to take them ofEdit: and please tell us about that puppy you are waiting for…...
Thanks Janneke. I knew I could count on you for some reassurance!! 
I am waiting for the breeder to call. Should be any day now. I have decided, because of everything I've read here, that we do need a male. Was Tillo easy to potty train??
Who ever said the breeder isn't testing? I know I didn't. People are just jumping to conclusions here.
You were the one that brought up that we were picking on Mya's breeder?… and it was a statement of fact of what a responsible breeder does... No one said that your didn't, hopefully they do and the results are on the OFA site
Thanks Janneke. I knew I could count on you for some reassurance!!
I am waiting for the breeder to call. Should be any day now. I have decided, because of everything I've read here, that we do need a male. Was Tillo easy to potty train??
Tillo was tha best!! At the breeder the pups already 'used' newspapers! So.. he peed in the house… twice? The first night he was with us, he was in his crate, with the door open. After a couple of hours sleep I heared something.. It was Tillo. He got up, walked in the middle of night to the other end of the room to pee... ON THE NEWSPAPER!! Aah.. so proud, so proud..
I have to agree with you.. I was also a bit annoyed that everybody started about weight, dew claws and breeders not testing..
Mya is beautiful. With dew claws.. Tillo has them as well.. the Dutch government thinks it is cruelty to take them ofEdit: and please tell us about that puppy you are waiting for…...
That is a difference between Europe and US… we do have different ideas about dew claws. Anyone who has seen a dew claw hanging by a thread, or one that has grown around and back into the skin would agree that it is much better to remove them at birth.
and it was a statement of fact of what a responsible breeder does… No one said that your didn't, hopefully they do and the results are on the OFA site
Maybe it was a statement, but it's not really nice to get all this fanconi-blabla (sorry for the blabla part) in a thread about Mya looking extremely pretty. Mya's mommy (;)) isn't new to this forum.. so I suppose she has done her reading. After that.. It's up to her to decide. If she wants to know more about the testing, she can ask them and you can all tell her about fanconi, thyriod, dew claws, weight etc.. But maybe she just knows all of it already?
That is a difference between Europe and US… we do have different ideas about dew claws. Anyone who has seen a dew claw hanging by a thread, or one that has grown around and back into the skin would agree that it is much better to remove them at birth.
The cruelty part was a reaction to MomofMya because she said she believes it's cruelty.. I thought it would be a nice addition to tell that the Dutch government agrees..
On the other hand.. docking tails was always ok, because otherwhise the dog could break his tailbones while wagging his tail? (or something like that..)
Well.. here in the Netherlands all dogs have tails.. and I believe it is very rare that a dog breaks it..
Momofmya asked about dew claws… many answered... I was not one to say anything about weight other then to disagree about Basenji prone to gaining weight....
The cruelty part was a reaction to MomofMya because she said she believes it's cruelty.. I thought it would be a nice addition to tell that the Dutch government agrees..
On the other hand.. docking tails was always ok, because otherwhise the dog could break his tailbones while wagging his tail? (or something like that..)
Well.. here in the Netherlands all dogs have tails.. and I believe it is very rare that a dog breaks it..
I don't understand your comment about docking tails…. what country are you talking about?
I don't understand your comment about docking tails…. what country are you talking about?
In the Netherlands it's no longer allowed to dock tails.. Don't know if that's also the case in the US? But there was a 'good' reason to dock.. but now it seems that that reason wasn't that good..
I think it's the same with dew claws.. I don't know how often it happens in the Netherlands that a dew claw causes problems.. but probably not often enough to change the rule of not clipping them..
she would be a great girlfriend for buana….
she so pretty..
Momofmya asked about dew claws… many answered... I was not one to say anything about weight other then to disagree about Basenji prone to gaining weight....
I think it was the other way around.. first there was fanconi.. then thyriod.. then weight.. and then dew claws. The question was: do breeders still clip them. The answer was: yes, all responsible breeders do.. then:
Originally Posted by MomOfMya:
Are you saying that breeders that do not remove dew claws are irresponsible??
Tanza:
Yes, in the US it is standard to remove dew claws…. that along with health testing before breeding...
Sorry.. but I have to say that I feel a certain jugdment in your reply towards MomOfMya.. Please correct me if I'm wrong..
In the United States, responsible breeders do remove dew claws. That is not a judgemental statement, it is a statement decribing how things are done here.
Before breeding my first litter, I talked with many breeders about breeding practices including the removal of dew claws. The ones I spoke with have been breeding a long time and had experience with dogs that had them and those that had them removed and their overwhelming response was that they felt it was the responsible thing to remove them after having seen the damage done when one is ripped out if caught on something. Most of the situations given were run of the mill, out in the backyard, normal play type situations so it is not just for dogs that are active in performance. But everyone single one said it only took seeing one dog rip a dewclaw and have it hanging by a thread to convince them that it was absolutely the right thing to do to remove them at a couple of days old when it is not major surgery to remove.
