Jibini is 8 years old and has yodeled twice in his life. The most I ever get when he's excited or happy is a big yawn with a lilting little, "Aahhh-ooo" at the end of it. Tana is even quieter. I thought she might truly be mute until I heard her whine….it's a GRUNT more than a whine. "Mmmph, mmmph, mmmph, mmph"....is ALL she ever says, and only when she sees a cat or squirrel. Two very quiet Basenjis even though I had really, really hoped for yodels when I picked this breed!!!
The first time Jibini yodeled was at a local dog park when a too-young Husky puppy got knocked by a big dog and started yowling loud enough to wake the dead. Everyone crowded around to make sure he was OK. Jibini burst into the center of the crowd, took a deep breath and belted out a nice, crisp, clear, "RRRRRRROOOOOOOOooooOOOOooo-OOOO!" Everyone hushed for just a split second- even the Husky quit overreacting long enough to notice the "silent dog" making a noise.....
The second time Jibini yodeled was to voice his deep-seated moral objections to "adult" images on TV. My ex boyfriend and I were out of town for a Lure Coursing meet & were settling down in our hotel room. The TV had one of those "pay-per-view" movie boxes hooked up to it. All sorts of films from family-friendly to "adult". So my ex was flipping through the options. As soon as he started browsing the "adult" category, Jibini went nuts. Staring at the TV. Yodeling. Pacing the bed. Yodeling. Tilting his head to one side. Yodeling. Jibini would stop if my ex changed the channel. As soon as the naughty stuff was back, Jibini would yodel again.
The good news is, I got it all on video. The bad news is, I'm always the last to upgrade to new technology so it's on a Hi 8 CASSETTE tape....AND I've lost the AC adaptor for the video camera. I have a great tape that won't play on anything and no way to transfer it to digital until I break down and upgrade to new technology again. One day, it'll be on Youtube. I promise.
Danielle, Fred
Jibini & Tana