First, let me say as the human that I am anti-social and generally a private critter outside of my computer.

What is getting me is all the strange (AKA normal) people coming up to me.

Dog people I could understand, but I get jaded business people, thugs from da-hood, asian tourists, and many other "types" that I wouldn't expect to be interested in dogs at all are all a-gog over my basenji babes.

I, of course, dutifully try to convince them that the basenji are not for your average human. The fact that they don't bark does not make up for the fact that I have very few clothes left that don't have basenji holes in them. And apparently we got off lucky.

"Oh they are so small and cute!" … Yea. Like a stick of dynamite.

Hea. Thanks for lettin me rant.

LOL how true!

Mine's more of a shoe junkie although she does like dirty clothes from the laundry basket! Don't you love it when someone on the street asks "What kind of dog is that?" What I love too is the look on people's faces when Abbey comes out with some wierd sound they've never heard before out of a dog!

Same with my dogs. I've had a woman with three wild little kids running around like crazy and she stopped and asked me all sorts of questions about my dogs. First think they will want to know is, "is that the biggest they get?" and if they are good with children. I keep all my answers very low key. I don't like it when they come off only wanting a dog because it's a decent size and doesn't bark.

My neighbors always comment on the weird sounds that Cali makes. She has a group of dogs that she plays with daily and their owners always laugh and say "Here comes Cali." She screams/barks at the top of her lungs until we reach the other dogs. Of course she is the loudest dog in the neighborhood and has to be the center of attention at all times. People are always staring at us because she is very loud when we are outside and she sees other people or dogs. She is quiet in the house except for the occasional growl, cry or woof.
tlbuddy:)

Sandie and i went to PetsMart last weekend (our weekly outing) A man ask me why i didnt have her ears cut i really took that as a insult… ( I love her huge ears ) Then asked me if i would be interested in breeding her with a jack russell... Oh my... i knew right away he sure didnt know what she was... So i told him shes a basenji her ears are supossed to be like that and shes only 14 weeks old and why would he want to breed his Jack Russell out of its bloodline...

I have people ask about Joey too. One guy knew he was a basenji, but went on to say, "make him yodel" . Sheesh, he doesn't know you can't "make" a b do anything!

We get the same thing.I remember being stopped at a canine walk a year ago and someone asking all these questions. I first listed all the amazing qualities Dash has: not barking, little to no shedding, small, cuddly etc. And then I stopped and said BUT, he can't be left unattended-he destroys everything, he terrorizes my cats, has no manners, refuses to go outside and do his business in any type of bad weather, will smack you in the face if you accidentally blow in his direction, runs aound the house like his butt is on fire, never tires…... I think he got my point.

my B is D-all of the above. Chews on everything, center of attention, spoiled, fresh (the whole smack in your face) but darn adorable. People will stop me and ask about him. Little do they know I'm still learning. This weekend I had a man all dressed up..looked like he was going to church get on his knees and play with Champ. He was mesmerized. After a few niunutes we said goodbye have a nice day and with a big grin he said..Now I will. But the silliest has to be yesturday when someone asked me is he a fox? yeah sure they let you have those now a days…I answered no but he does act like the tasmanian devil. (Then Champ playfully pulled on his yorkies face so we had to say goodbye. And even then the guy was still wooing over our B).

@luzmery928:

But the silliest has to be yesturday when someone asked me is he a fox?

That actually did make me laugh out loud :p

@dash:

will smack you in the face if you accidentally blow in his direction, runs aound the house like his butt is on fire, never tires…... I think he got my point.

Oh my, oh my! That's the 1st time anyone has mentioned the smack on the face thing. (I think) Duke will do that too, while he sits on my lap and we're face to face hugging & talking with our hellos when I get home from work - sometimes. He's quick and it's daunting when his nails are sliding down my cheek to chin. Quick as I can grab his paw and say no-no, the other paw goes for the other side of my face. Geesh! I thought it was just a Duke thing! There were times I thought I'd been scratched raw!! :eek: It must be his way of giving me a love pat . . .

And . . . Duke has the rest of the Basenji behaviors - that I expect and manage. Most of his bad is because he just didn't get attention, front and center - as described. We are lucky to have each other. No one really understands except - "special dogs - special people"

We feel our B is a whole lot of animal rolled into 1…Cat (scratching and reaching),Of couse dog, Horse (galloping), pig (grunting), wolf (howling), well you get my point.

Magnum is a star at our campground (YAY, CAMPING AGAIN SOON!). When we go for walks, seasonal campers are always pointing at us. Once they approach, they'll say, "that's the barkless dog, right?" And, I'll say, "Yeah, pretty much." People seem to be fascinated by that aspect of the Basenji. 'Course, they pretty much ignore my next statement: "They make lots of other noises, though. Howling, whining, growling, SCREAMING."

Once Magnum shows them his true aloof self ("Who are you again? I really don't have the time…"), they wander away, disappointed that he's not an instantly-friendly dog. That's okay by me! I want him ALL TO MYSELF (can you tell I'm a jealous mama?)!

Oh and I also noticed that his back paws look like rabbit feet.

A FOX???? What the???…ok this is the description my husband uses to describe our dogs when people don't know what a basenji is...but I didn't think they REALLY look like a real fox LOL LOL Could you imagine having a fox as a pet! :eek: :eek: I bet they'd be easier than a basenji.

The other day a van full of people stopped my husband on his walk with the dogs to answer a ton of questions on our dogs....the best is when they compliment their BEAUTY

Yesturday at the pet store someone told be my B had great ears…I said thank you, you know the way u reply thank you when they compliment your kids. But I do have to admit everyone always says he is beautiful and that he look like a fox.