• We live in an urban area, but one with lots and lots of dogs. We have a lot of conversation on walks, asking about the breed, whether our two are twins, yada yada. But we also get, once or twice a week, "Are those… <wide eyed="">basenjis?!?!" In pretty much the same tone of voice you might say, "Whoa - are you walking a unicorn?" 😃

    Why no, they're not mythical creatures, just mystical ones!</wide>


  • Thats funny! Even in my small city of 5000 people, I have gotten 2 people now who have seen me on walks and said "Is that a basenji???" in the exact tone you described! One guy even ran out of his house to ask me, must have seen me from the window 🙂
    Both of them, I believe, had basenjis when they were younger, and that is how they knew the breed.


  • We get that occasionally on walks as well, along with the "What IS that?" when they can't immediately recognize the breed.


  • I did that last summer, except it was where did you get your basenji?:eek: I hadn't seen one for soooo long, I couldn't believe my eyes when one walked past my apartment. I just got so excited that chills ran down my spine. {can you imagine a 40 something, 200+ lbs. woman running like a little girl?:o } I ran down the hall and flew out the door just to get near her. The woman was from Minnesota and just visiting the town I was living in. 🆒


  • Last week when I was walking the kids, I had a car go by me, then turn around and come back and roll down the windows…I thought the guy driving was going to ask me directions.

    Instead, the guy says "Oh my God...are those basenjis? 😃 "...I told him yes and then he started asking all kinds of questions, where I got them, how I got interested in them. It was pretty funny. Then right before he drove off, he said, "my wife is going to be so jealous that I saw them and she didn't". 😃


  • We used to walk our last pack (5 red basenjis) every day in our neighborhood, up to the water and back. We got lots of smiles, and quite a few people would stop us to ask questions or talk about the basenji they once had. We had no idea how far our 'reputation' had spread until one day a couple leapt out of a car as we approached and ran up to us. They said they had been waiting for us, they were wanting to really know about living with basenjis and "someone in a pet store up in New Port Richey (about an hour north-west) told us about you and your basenjis and that you could be found here every afternoon". It was pretty funny, we laughed for a long time about being a "local tourist attraction"!

    Anne in Tampa


  • @MacPack:

    "someone in a pet store up in New Port Richey (about an hour north-west) told us about you and your basenjis and that you could be found here every afternoon". It was pretty funny, we laughed for a long time about being a "local tourist attraction"!

    Anne in Tampa

    Well, it's one I always try to get when I'm in town. 😉

    (Of course I always have to invoke Digital's name to get Anne to pick up the phone.)


  • The caller ID needs to show "Digital" ! I'm wary of calls that may be work related, but always delighted to talk with Kim & gang! Or anyone else that may be passing through…......

    Anne in Tampa


  • That happened to me tonight, actually. I was walking with Tosca, listening to my ipod, when I see some lady across the street waving at me. So I turned off the music, and went over to talk to her, and she said, "Is that a BASENJI???" She was thrilled, apparantly one of her good friends who has now passed away used to breed them. I live in east-central Wisconsin, and before we got Tosca from rescue, we were looking at breeders and could find NONE in our area, so I was interested to hear that there was one at one time.
    For all you breeders out there…are you familiar with this person? I guess her name was Debra K (forgot the last name, I was on a walk) and she was from around Reedsville, WI. I assume she was a pretty good breeder because the lady I talked with mentioned how she had the contracts and stuff where you could return the dog any time, etc. Don't know how long this woman passed away, though. Anyway, she passed my email along to the woman's daughter, so she may be able to connect me with more basenji owners in my area...yay!


  • Lol thats so funny…its the same way in out appt complex EVERYONE knows Indi. He is a star. Before we had him no one would talk to us but after we got him everyone wanted to come and see him and pet him...sort of like he was a celeberty.


  • I get that even with Mica my little b-mix. Somehow, people seem to know …a basenji... yesterday Mica and I were lure-coursing near Milw. and another couple had a little red-b and they came up to talk to me about what kind of dog was my Mica. Needless to say she was barking at the lure-course on the other side of the fence, waiting for her turn. We had fun talking and the most important lure-coursing.

    BaMica mom


  • You said the lure coursing is near Milwaukee? Do you know what city? We are only about an hr from Milwaukee so I would maybe try it sometime…is it something, though, where the dogs are all together? Tosca doesn't always do good with other dogs, and I would be nervous about doing an activity where she has to be around them as a group unleashed...


  • They are only off lead to run.. and for practice, she would be running by herself… the rest of the time all the dogs are leashed at lure trials.


  • When they are off lead to run, do they have access to attack other dogs, or do they have their own little area to stay in? She has never attacked another dog, but she has been attacked twice, and she growls at other dogs, so community events make me nervous 🙂


  • @Jylly18:

    When they are off lead to run, do they have access to attack other dogs, or do they have their own little area to stay in? She has never attacked another dog, but she has been attacked twice, and she growls at other dogs, so community events make me nervous 🙂

    Well in our area, the field they run on is pretty much away from the rest of the dogs… so unless she would want to run off the field to try and find another dog to go after, usually not a problem... and also you need to gage her interest in the lure before you would turn her loose.... And remember they are off lead (the dog running), totally different the being on lead and wanting to go after other dogs. Honestly I have never really seen a dog run off the field just to go find a dog to go after.

    The field that they run on, the other dogs are kept off... but it is not like a fenced in area.... at least not in Ca.


  • Try the web-site www.lurecoursingfanatics.com. She has a website and takes time reservations. You can purchase a punch card for the runs, too. This is not a formal lurecoursing like the AKC trials, or however I have read how they do this… She has a large fenced in yard in the back of her house and than people bring their dog-cages and use those or generally, keep the dogs on leash, too. She is very organized. The dogs go, one at a time on the lure coursing course, and it is strictly for fun. I think it is just in Somers, WI. Off of I-94 south toward Chicago just past Mitchell Airport and at exit 339 if I am correct, just heading out of Milw.
    BaMicas mom


  • Thanks! I checked out the site, and it looks cool, and very safe! It is a bit far, though, almost to Kenosha, but we do go down to Chicago to visit relatives frequently, and usually bring Tosca, so maybe we will stop sometime.

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