Thanks for posting this Fran!
Lockdown puppies' flood rescue centres
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But @pawla, you speak for all of us who have bred / do breed Basenjis and who love the breed as a breed, not just individual Basenjis.
I wouldn't have been as abstemious as you !
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@zande said in Lockdown puppies' flood rescue centres:
@elbrant I think you should ! When Hoover (12) went into a decline over the death of Keepurr, I bought in Mku. He brought her back to life, almost to puppyhood. They bonded fiercely and she taught him life-skills while he taught her to have FUN again. Best purchase I ever made.
Now he is on his own, sadly. But not for long. Lockdown permitting, a new boy arrives on 17th January ! We are allowed out to buy essentials. And what could be more essential than a Basenji puppy ? He is about an hour's drive away and I also need to collect 9 small hazel trees and a large can of top quality olive oil left with his breeder for me by Mku's.
Can I be nosey please and ask what the trees and olive oil are for?
Just curious. -
@alibobo Its very simple. I have a large garden surrounded by mixed hedges. Mku's breeder lives near a forest and seedlings appear in her garden.
I grub out ivy from my hedges and this leaves gaps which are filled with small hazels which she pots up and gives to me. No waste and no cost - suits everyone.
Once in the hedges, the hazels grow and thicken as they are cut twice a year and fill the hedges in nicely.
There is also wire netting - when we first got Basenjis back in 1981 we cut all the hedges in half and put independently strung small gauge wire netting up before letting the hedges grow back. Thus making the garden dog-proof but still visually very attractive.
Mku's breeder is not from UK. She is married to a Brit and lives and works in this country but she still has access to some excellent olive oil and from time to time gives me a very welcome addition to my larder.
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@zande sounds lovely. I'd like to get some outdoor potted trees for my back yard but haven't decided what to go for yet. Also, the olive oil sounds delicious. Lucky you!
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This popped up on my news feed this morning. Good article with a disturbing message.
When your 'pandemic puppy' doesn't work out
"In March 2020, as the UK, parts of the US and elsewhere, went into their first lockdown, millions of people suddenly had a lot more time alone at home, with the internet as their friend.
On social media others seemed to be having the times of their lives playing with their dogs, posting adorable photos and recording cute animal-themed TikToks.
The message: a furry friend would make lockdown a lot less lonely.
People who had been putting off getting a dog because of a lack of time at home suddenly had a glut of it. They saw lockdown as the perfect opportunity to finally raise a puppy.
Now, almost a year later, animal shelters are starting to see older puppies with behavioural issues being handed in by frustrated owners, and pet sales websites are filling up with listings for puppies being resold."
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Precisely, @JENGOSMonkey. We were warned of that in our newspapers and on the media generally, back in October.
I have now had exactly 190 enquiries for puppies. I haven't bred a litter for several years, Marvin died and our stock aged, and this is an unprecedented number.
Very few, comparatively speaking, have done any homework or researched into the breed. One of the three in today wants a Basenji 'because they don't bark and are full of energy'. This is pretty typical. Not all say where they live, I know less than nothing about 99 % of them at first but I am careful to write back to each and every one of them, then, depending on their reply (few actually bother) I engage in correspondence, ask questions and have filled three of this year's litters with really suitable homes. At least one has already shown up on the forum, Hi Brittney !
I'm pretty sure all UK Basenji breeders will have been careful choosing who gets their puppies and for the moment, not many have left Mom and siblings for the wider world. But our UK Rescue co-ordinator has also started to compile a list of potential new homes, I am quite sure.
What we also hope is that unregistered imported dogs and untested (for PRA and Fanconi as an absolute minimum) dogs will be bred from, to cash in on soaring prices. Not just in Basenjis, in all breeds.
When we go to the woods, we meet dozens of new, totally untrained, puppies. Last week a lovely young Whippet looked bored to tears, moving slowly along at toddler's pace, tied to a pushchair. It will never be allowed free to expend its energy like Mku and Kito. It probably doesn't know what running is like.
Fingers crossed for Basenjis - here, in USA and all over.
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@zande - Totally true Zande, I have gotten over the last year at least 20 to 40 inquiries a week looking for a puppy, many have no idea about a Basenji but go by what they read on line that they are "non-barking" or hyperallergic which are NOT true for Basenjis... they might not bark like many breeders but they are NOT silent, they make all other dog noises and then some, some that would raise the hair on the back of your neck. And that if these people that are now home, they need to spend time with their children (if they have them) and that is NO different than a working family... you need to have the time to spend with your pup, regardless of the breed
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@tanza said in Lockdown puppies' flood rescue centres:
... but go by what they read on line that they are "non-barking" or hyperallergic which are NOT true for Basenjis... they might not bark like many breeders but they are NOT silent, they make all other dog noises and then some, some that would raise the hair on the back of your neck.
Like this? My son took Logan for a run. Sparkle came and let me know how she felt about it. took me a minute to get the phone going. Can you imagine this... in an appartment? OMG!
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@jengosmonkey - Yup that is one of the noises that a Basenji can make... however when they are really pissed, you could find the police at your home...!
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My second girl, Lady, had a really high pitched howl. When she let loose the neighbours didn't even know it was a dog, they thought some kind of wild animal. Fortunately she didn't howl often. The screaming, if they are really upset, is a lot worse. My first girl, Val, would scream when I tried to pill her! The neighbours probably thought I was killing her!
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Hoover used to scream. Rose, the lady with the Spaniel I used to walk in the woods with in the good old pre- covid days, was terrified by it. She thought the dog was dying.
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@zande
I know that “basenji scream” - sends chills up your spine. When my B has done it it - you’d think someone was trying to KILL HER. Otherwise she was never that vocal - an occasional yawn and I think I’ve only heard her baroo twice. But I’ve definitely heard her SCREAM! -
Jengo always sang when the my son played the piano. I can make Logan talk by either fixing him a meal (he get's very excited, but has no patience) or I can say BEEP BEEP! to him. That makes him talk back. It's weird too because I swear he can count. Two beeps and two baroos. Three beeps and three baroos. Princess Sparkle though... she makes weirdest noises of any of them. When my wife or I come home she makes this really gravely growl chattering talking sound at us while jumping up to greet us. It's really sweet, but hard to believe it's coming from this petite sweet little princess thing.
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My boy Sunny would howl on cue. We had a little "howling song" that we would sing, and that set him off. Also, the phrase "you're only a dog and that's all you'll ever be" would result in instant howling! And once started, he would continue. I have a video where I picked him up and held him upside down, and he continued to howl!
