I think that a basenji puppy and a two-year-old is a recipe for disaster for many reasons. Both require and crave lots of attention, neither one can be reasoned with, both will want to play with the same toy, both can be stubborn, and the list goes. It is far too much to expect a two-year-old to understand how to get along with any puppy, especially a basenji puppy. If your heart is set on a basenji puppy, then I think you should wait until your child is at least five or six years old.Children that age understand what you are saying about the puppy and you can explain to them why you are saying it. I agree with the person who suggested getting an older basenji or how about a puppy of another breed? t one time in my life I had a basenji and a mixed breed, and they got along beautifully.
You may love all the traits of this breed but I was suggest that you talk to owners and their experiences with the basenjis and young children. One cannot count on even the best breeders to give you the full story. Please don't get me wrong. I've had three basenjis and adored them all. I got the first one when my youngest daughter was seven. You don't have to wait that long but two years old is too young, imho. Good luck.
Working Dog Basenji Pups Waiting list
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I always wonder when someone decides they can fill in some niche and that no one else has. I do have to wonder why no other health tests than Fanconi were done on the parents.
We are neighbors, was surprised I wasn't aware of you, but then, I don't look for trainers. However, I do have several K9 officer friends as well as a friend who used to train the police and fire dept up in Cumming area. Oddly no one I talked to knew of you either. I cannot imagine why you would leave Calif and settle in Canton! We cannot wait to move in about 2 yrs!
But I wish you the best of luck building your business here. I was glad to see you are now providing some training at Loving Hands. Having witnessed a few truly awful pop&jerk trainers there in the past, nice they have found another source. JoAnne walks on water for me. We lost Sayblee to lymphoma, but it wasn't because JoAnne didn't do every imaginable thing to try to save her.
I saved your link because I still frequently get calls about training issues (I do rescue). You might want to check your page, has duplicate paragraph: http://www.gak9.com/obedience-training/
As I am sure you know, we are surrounded by people here who think hitting, choking, pop/jerk etc are the way to train. Glad to see someone to refer real issues to as I no longer volunteer to do in-home training and frankly not pleased with most area "trainers." -
Hi Debra,
Good observations! I am sorry you have not heard of us and had to wonder.
To answer your question about a niche and why in the world might we do it!: Our founding fathers were probably asked the same question and even though it is not the same issue, it is based on the same principal. Growth and change require new ideas. probably the most important reason is that my partner, Kelli, is a trainer for Auburn University's Detector dog program and is responsible for the training and testing of K9's destined for Homeland Security, Afghanistan and Iraq. the question has oft arisen, "Is there a small, agile, quiet dog that does not look like a typical police K9 but still has great workability?" I think the reason for the question is obvious. So, to make a long story short…we are trying to see if it is possible. The other part of our working lines is hunting basenjis and that is what the breed is all about...perhaps not much in the US but it should be part of the breed standard, IMO.
I am also sorry that you have not heard of us but there are hundreds of agencies just in Georgia and to have a couple of officers not know us really is not unusual. We train over 150 agencies each year all across the US and now in Germany and Slovakia. If you go to out calander page you will see that we are booked for the next year teaching schools. I have written a lot of articles on Basenji hunting that have been published here in the US, Germany, England, and Australia. I am a contributor for Police K9 and K9 Cops magazines. I have published two books on K9's and K9 training, the most recent having hit Amazon.com just two weeks ago.
I think the big reason why you don't know of us is because our specialty is working dogs and not the basenji show circles that is the norm here. However, you are welcome to visit anytime and check out our B's in action...well, maybe not Phoienix...she is whale like now.
As far as other tests go, we had plans to do it but the "Timing" snuck up on us while we were out of state teaching a dog school for Charlotte NC, Police Dept. No excuse, I know...but we did the best we could. However, our dogs pedigrees are really nice and we offer the same health guarantee for the B's that we do for our government dogs. I think we can survive and happily undergo any scrutiny.
Jeff
"DebraDownSouth
I always wonder when someone decides they can fill in some niche and that no one else has. I do have to wonder why no other health tests than Fanconi were done on the parents.We are neighbors, was surprised I wasn't aware of you, but then, I don't look for trainers. However, I do have several K9 officer friends as well as a friend who used to train the police and fire dept up in Cumming area. Oddly no one I talked to knew of you either. I cannot imagine why you would leave Calif and settle in Canton! We cannot wait to move in about 2 yrs!
But I wish you the best of luck building your business here. I was glad to see you are now providing some training at Loving Hands. Having witnessed a few truly awful pop&jerk trainers there in the past, nice they have found another source. JoAnne walks on water for me. We lost Sayblee to lymphoma, but it wasn't because JoAnne didn't do every imaginable thing to try to save her.
I saved your link because I still frequently get calls about training issues (I do rescue). You might want to check your page, has duplicate paragraph: http://www.gak9.com/obedience-training/
As I am sure you know, we are surrounded by people here who think hitting, choking, pop/jerk etc are the way to train. Glad to see someone to refer real issues to as I no longer volunteer to do in-" -
Jeff, I am so glad your over your health scare. Welcome.
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Jeff, since we both live in the same town and I talked to area folks, yeah a bit surprising. Canton isn't that big.
And for clarification– Basenjis are my "new" breed, I only got into them for my daughter and fell in love 11 yrs ago. Rottweilers, including dogs we have placed in police work, schutzhund homes as well as show/herding/obedience was my life since 1987. I know far more working dog folks than show people.Being a stickler for testing, sorry but I'd have held off breeding until the i's were dotted and the t's crossed. If by "survive scrutiny" you mean you don't give a fig about others' opinions... sure. If you mean you did the most responsible thing, you are imho utterly wrong.
If your dogs prove to have hip, eye, heart or thyroid issues, the best pedigree on earth won't ease the pain of their offspring developing issues or their owners pain in watching them. Whether someone is breeding for show, work or even pets-- cutting corners on health testing upsets me. We are lucky we have a pretty healthy breed in basenjis, but I am perplexed to see the folks here who would chow down on a fellow breeder simply giving you a pass, no matter how many articles or books you have written. And now, done with it. I do hope you get the health tests done asap. It really is what responsible breeders do for the benefit of their dogs.
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Ok…thank you and it is really nice to meet you. Again, the offer still stands and you are welcome to visit anytime.
Jeff
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Jeff. Please, do the health testing. I know you have have "issues' now its time to focus on your dogs. IMO.
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Hi Jeff,
Wasn't Kaden in a CNN article a few years back? Nice to see one of Conan's pups doing such cool things. Good luck.
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HI Nemo,
Yes, he was and perhaps National Geographic in January 2012, too. Conan is an awesome dog and we were very lucky to be part of that breeding. I've not met him but if Kaden is an example, I would like to!
Jeff
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HI and I am sorry but I did not see your name…it sounds like you have a great situation for hunting B's up there and I envy you. Personally, I think a good hunting B will out work most other typical gun dogs. My B's consistently outwork pointers and labs...they just do not have the endurance. I also think the intelligence and nose of the hunting basenjis is better. I can't see myself working with another hunter. The only drawback is coat...without a hunting vest, they freeze their butts off. My B's hunt well in the snow but they need good waterproof coats.
I plan to keep this going for as long as possible. I just do not know if I will have the time. My business of training dogs keeps me very busy plus we travel each and every month all over the US and in Europe training handlers. I just cannot say for certain if I will be able to do this in the near future. I guess it depends on demand.
Jeff
I'm Danielle by the way, sorry.
I believe you and my boss had a phone conversation a couple years ago when I first started apprenticing with him, if that might ring a bell?One thing I've wondered about is working a Basenji in tall or thick cover, like the prairie & brome grasses we have up here? My "real" hunting dog is an Epagneul Breton (aka French Brittany) and while they are absolute little sticks of dynamite with twice the stamina of a bigger dog…..they are a compact 30-40 lb dog and they can completely disappear in tall cover if they get 15 feet away from you. Especially the more common red & white dogs, they blend in with the grass.....mine is black roan (French standard has always allowed black; AKC standard was changed when breed was first imported here)....but it can still be tough to keep track of where she is.
On the other hand, her shorter stature makes it easier for her to burrow under dense cover like brome, whereas I've seen long legged Pointers get tangled up and worn out from trying to go over it. And there's always beeper collars & GPS collars that'll help you keep track of the dog....so I would imagine as long as the Basenji had the passion & energy to push through tough cover they would do fine.
So your dogs hunt in the snow with just a vest on? No boots? LOL mine absolutely turn into whiny babies if it's too cold & snowy out....under 15 degrees or so they won't walk in the snow except to potty.
You've got me thinking about this....do you think there will be any available pups out of this litter or are they spoken for already?
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Hi Danielle and I do remember! Nice to hear from you!
You are correct about the tall grass. I lost the B's constantly in CA during fall hunts. I used the astro GPS system by Garmin for that reason alone. Frankly, I think the B's use it to their advantage to get in close and then with a sudden burst of speed, close the gap for a kill if possible. I know Axel used this tactic to kill turkey during fall hunts.
The snow is not a big deal as long as it is not too cold and they are running. The hunt seems to make them pretty oblivious until they get really tired.
We have Phoenix and Kaden scheduled for the rest of their tests on Tuseday and Phoenix will also get an X-ray of her babies. We should no how many than. We only have a couple spoken for and that is if they test well for detection work. For hunting, most of the litter should do well.
I am going to have a Flicker page link for parents and upcoming pup photos very soon.
Jeff
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Health tests especially hip x-rays and thyroid testing are not accurate on pregnant bitches due to the physiological changes of pregnancy.
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We are are counting pups with the X-ray not hips. Did not know about the thyroid test though.
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Wow, son of a gun. I am an idiot. I never thought about a GSP tracking on a dog and it's so logical of a use makes me feel faint. I have very very few hunter friends, okay maybe none. And none that use dogs. What a great idea. The joy of message boards– you find out things others probably have known for years and you might never have learned.
Ivoss-- I wasn't suggesting he do it now, just so you know. In fact, some research on xrays of dogs indicate they are dangerous for pregnant dogs-- just like humans-- early in pregnancy and that because of the unknown factors, probably best left til last week if you need one.
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I never thought about a GSP tracking on a dog and it's so logical of a use makes me feel faint..
It strikes me that this would be a boon for anyone who walks a dog off leash in wooded or bushy areas, or has a dog that is an "escape artist". It would certainly make finding a lost or escaped dog much, much easier! (good for kids, too!) Oops! We can't get it in Canada. Bummer!
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=8576&ra=true
Oh, and I see something much less expensive for lost dogs…..
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=68084
Oops again, it's an add on…..should have read that first....
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I wasn't suggesting that you said tesing should be done immediately, Debra. Jeff said he was taking both dogs on Tuesday for all the remaining testing. That to me implies hips, thyroid, and eyes which didn't make sense to me since the testing isn't best done during pregnancy.
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Somehow I missed going back to read his post after the GSP part (excitement and forgot to go back). Yep, waste of money for accuracy.
However, having just learned he has shock collars on his dogs in the field, you can all be sure that I would never ever recommend anyone to him for training. Quite the opposite. Says it all.
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OMG, hysteria rises again.
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I'm not surprised that someone training hunting dogs uses an e-collar, since that is pretty much what they were invented for. It is a very effective tool for communicating at a distance, and if used correctly (aye, there's the rub!) is not at all abusive. I've been using an e-collar for off leash work the last three years, and I can honestly say it has improved my relationship with my Basenji immensely. He wears it exclusively for off leash work, and at no other time. It has turned him into a real "farm dog", who can go out and about with me or my husband whenever we have chores to do, and he absolutely loves the freedom he has gained from it. I find that when he is loose he is much more attentive…...and not because he is getting shocked, either. He seldom receives a correction, and when he does it is usually a slight tingle (he and I can perceive the sensation at the same level......just enough to say "did I feel something"?). Anything more is reserved for emergencies, and yes, it does interrupt a potentially dangerous cat or critter chase, for which I do not apologize. I would absolutely not recommend an e-collar to anyone unwilling to take the time to learn how to use it properly, or to anyone with a short temper, because there is definitely potential for abuse.......as there is with almost any form of restraining a dog.
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i haven't met anyone with working dogs who doesn't use e-collars. the correction can be very mild - i've felt it myself to see what it was like. most models also have a tone only correction to just give the dog an audio reminder. i would guess that most professional dog handlers use these correctly with no harm to the dogs.
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Previous post: We have Phoenix and Kaden scheduled for the rest of their tests on Tuseday
We are are counting pups with the X-ray not hips. Did not know about the thyroid test though.
So what tests? Can't CERF, not hips, doubt cardiac. So by "rest of their tests" you meant just the thyroid? Sigh.
