Hi, I just wanted to introduce myself. We are owned by a feisty black and white Basenji who was born in December 2012. Her name is Stitch! Right now she has cabin fever from the crazy cold and snowy winter we've been having! She would love to get out and go on a long walk in the MetroParks but she can't stand the cold!
Would like to meet some other basenji families in the Cleveland area! Excited to read other people's stories on the forum!
Jen
Welcome fellow basenji owner from Ohio!
You choose a great breeder, Kyle of Kaleonache is such a nice guy!
We loved our interaction with Kyle, too! He was so helpful last year around this time when we brought Stitch home and had TONS of questions!
Love the name Stitch, must be hard when it's so cold, do you play a lot of inside games? I notice Kaiser starts to get cabin fever after 3 days so in winter(doesn't get too cold here) we try to get him out even if it's raining(which he hates like any good basenji should) even though I made sure we walked in the rain as a pup he still refuses even when dressed in his lovely warm raincoat. As long as he just snuggles up somewhere warm and behaves he can get away with it.
Jolanda and Kaiser
If you are ever looking for basenji play time let me know! We are in Parma which is near Cleveland. Elliot LOVES Metroparks walks :).
Right now he's fighting off a bug he picked up at a show though. Poor baby :(.
I'm trying to figure out why I can't log into the forum from my phone / tablet … says my password is wrong but I typed the same thing I did here on the computer. I'm also trying to figure out why my "profile picture" doesn't show up by my posts ...
Anyway, I live in Mayfield, and I would love to go on a Basenji walk sometime (when the darned weather breaks)! 
I am not sure why, but we met another basenji here on the east side (another of Kyle's dogs) and that dog did NOT like Stitch at all. She wanted to get at her, barring her teeth, etc. Not sure why, Stitch has gone to the doggie hotel a couple of times when we've gone out of town, and she's always gotten good "grades" by the staff. Do basenjis sometimes not get along with other basenjis?
Stitch has Buddy, the tabby cat to play with. They grew up together. Stitch obviously outweighs the cat and can get a bit rough with him and they need to be separated, but he's her source of entertainment (and he helps her to get in trouble), especially when we have had so much snow and frigid temperatures this winter. Stitch wants nothing to do with a dog jacket or dog boots, so it's been go out, do your business, and come right back in for at least 6 weeks now! That's why I say she's got cabin fever! I do to!
Jen
Do basenjis sometimes not get along with other basenjis?
Oh yes! Some Basenjis are same sex aggressive, and some (like mine) just don't like other dogs at all, whether they are Basenjis or not. Of the five Basenjis I have owned, two were fine with other dogs, one was same sex aggressive, and the other two didn't like any strange dogs at all!
Yes unfortunately a lot of basenjis don't like other dogs when they become mature. Elliot still doesn't mind most of the time but he has gotten a little snarky towards other dogs at shows. Do you plan to show your girl?
Unfortunately Oakley doesn't like other dogs since maturing. He has two he knows and gets in mostly fine with. His behaviorist says he is fear aggressive; he wants the interaction but he can't handle it; gets overwhelmed and resorts to aggression. It's in work in progress but I don't imagine it'll change a lot. Repeated exposures produces the best results for him- once he starts to feel like he knows the dog his tolerance goes up. I often struggle with the idea that a second would do him good; maybe not at first but that over time he'd learn to like having another B around.
Aw that's too cute. My dog grew up with a cat 'buddy' too. They've remained good friends over the years despite the huge (15/40 lb) weight difference; and that was his primary playmate whenever the golden wouldn't play with him. Cat's a cool sport, so they wrestle to this day. Ruined Beo for other cats though….whenever he sees a cat he just automatically thinks they want to be friends....which they don't.
Poor you and Stitch 6 weeks is an awfully long time to keep a Basenji entertained. Kaiser having grown up with our cats now also thinks every cat is a play mate, he doesn't realise how nice our cat is to him, so we look and don't touch, hard as we have a few feisty cat's on our daily walk who are quite happy to confront him or sneak an attack in. I have noticed that with Kaiser maturing he's now 19 months old he is a little less tolerant(and he has always been very tolerant) to dogs without manners which is understandable when you watch what caused his manner, so haven't seen anything worrying as yet and do hope not too.
Jolanda and Kaiser
I keep trying to reply the the thread but it never shows up, so sorry if this same story ends up being here a few times …
Stitch seems to be OK with the other dogs, for some reason it's the other dogs that don't like her. She tries to make friends with them, even when they don't like her. I hope it stays that way. My sister has an aging Dachshund that doesn't like Stitch so much that we don't bring Stitch around if we know that Angelo will be there. Funny thing is, though, the Dachshund couldn't do a thing to Stitch as he's about as high as Stitch's belly!
We never considered showing Stitch. Kyle, our breeder, knew that from the start. He called her a "companion" dog and that's what her AKC paperwork says. Plus, our "heels" are no good! She just can't get those for some reason!
Stitch was fixed, anyway, when she was about 8 months old, she was in her first heat, so I guess that leaves the show ring out of question, no matter what! I think she would love some kind of agility or field sport or something. She loves to go on jogs with me. She has to slow down for me to keep up with her! ... only problem is she can't be trusted off a leash for those sports. She does what the trainer we worked with calls "door dashing" and dashes toward the door when someone opens it and has twice gotten out and been very difficult to catch. Now we've got a baby gate at the door so that's physically impossible now! I've always wondered how sight hounds like Basenjis can compete in these off leash activities since that tends to be a problem with them.
I will try to post a couple pictures of Buddy and Stitch together. Stitch is a "little" Basenji at about 19.5 or 20 pounds and Buddy is a chubby tabby cat, so the weight difference really isn't as much as it could be, but the strong Basenji jaws when they wrestle is what scares me! Buddy COULD run away, but he likes to lay on his back and let Stitch push him around. I think maybe he's being submissive to her!
I feel the same way; i have no idea how people can teach their basenjis (or sighthounds really) to compete in events where there isn't an enclosure. I don't know about there, but here the lure coursing is done in an open field….so it's not like the dogs couldn't run away if a bird or something came along. Agility especially....not typically employed in an enclosed space. I'm guessing that the dogs who are involved just have the focus and drive for those sports, to the point where they don't have any need to take off. Plus, training I suppose. My dog could care less about chasing a silly bag when there are LIVE birds, and other dogs, to run after.... so it doesn't work for everyone.
I gave up on lure coursing and agility, the focus/desire just wasn't there. However, Nosework is awesome. It's off leash, but little danger since there are no other dogs around....and at the beginning levels the space is enclosed, so they're not going anywhere. The focus is food oriented, so the drive, for most dogs, is already instilled within them from birth.
There is a 'new' sport that looks pretty cool, it's called "Barn Hunt". Usually in an enclosed space. Would get involved if we had anything like that here. There are lots of other sports that don't require off leash in an open area...
Adorable photos. Your Buddy looks like my Boo Boo the cat…same markings and everything.
Stitch reminds me so much of my Oakley…so cute!
Oakley loves lure coursing but the catch on that is the field isn't enclosed and it gives me a heart attack nearly every time. He is so enthralled by the lure he has never had a problem but we haven't coursed since his dog to dog aggression/ambivalence and so now I'm super reluctant to let him off leash in an event surrounded by dogs (but it's literally the only thing that he loves and drains his energy..I may try a muzzle and see if that deters him from wanting to course but safer in case he does detract from the lure.
I never though Oakley would care about the lure but first time he ran a full course; he loved it and was great to see
There is a chance her and Oakley could be related because a lot of Kyle's dogs are from Eldarado 
