I so sorry for your loss. It is never easy losing one of our beloved pets. If you are on Reddit, there is a subreddit where you can request portraits of your pets that have passed on. Maybe you can have one created with both of your beloved Basenjis. https://www.reddit.com/r/RainbowBridgeBabies/comments/b21pu0/how_to_request_and_about_us/
Lost my companion I rescued..
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I am so sorry you have lost your best friend, I know how empty your home must feel now. And you will never "replace" Chopper, but hopefully you will find another great basenji to make you smile again. I feel like giving a loving home to a new basenji honors the memory of the one that has left us with a hole in our hearts.
I'm in Florida too with my Topper, also 13. There used to be 2 or 3 good breeders in the Ocala area.You have written a lovely tribute to Chopper, who was a very lucky dog to have such a loving human to care for him.
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It's so hard to loose such a good friend. Run free Chopper. There was a lot of love in your life.
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I am so sorry to read of Chopper, we just lost one too, as you may have read. It is soooo hard. When I get the doggy dinner, I have a hard time remembering not to get a bowl for Luna….and each time I walk thru the dog room I look over to her crate, and she isn't there. It takes time to heal...
It sounds like Chopper had a wonderful life with you...I hope you will find a new companion soon.
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Wonderful story. No dog will replace Chopper as he has his special place in your heart but you will find a new companion that will be wonderful. I have lost 3 special Basenjis over 34 years and each new one finds a special place in my heart. You see your heart has a lot of space for all these special dogs. Chopper wants you to find a new special friend because he loves you.
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I'm sorry for your loss, that was a lovely tribute to Chopper. Run free little Chopper
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I am so sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing your wonderful story. I also came across this wonderful forum just over a year ago the day after losing our "only child". My thoughts are with you. I know that Chopper was deeply loved.
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Thanks guys.
I found 2 breeders in Ocala on Basenji.org and 1 in Tittusville on breeders.net
I'm going to give them calls tomorrow. -
I am sorry for your loss. You wrote a wonderful tribute to Chopper.
Have you checked the BCOA Breeder's Directory? http://www.basenji.org/PUBLIC/BreederDirectory.htm
Also be sure to check out this site for how to screen a breeder, http://www.basenji.org/learn/ScreeningBreeders.htm
Make sure that you ask about Fanconi testing and that you verify for yourself that the parents show up on the OFA website, http://www.offa.org
Many on this forum are very passionate about making sure that everyone preparing to get a puppy knows about the Fanconi test and verifying that the testing has actually been done. To read a thread about how this disease effects the dog and owner check out, http://www.basenjiforums.com/showthread.php?t=6165
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Yeah, that's the site I mentioned in my last post. I've read about it and I know I need to ask if they are tested. I'm not sure what proof I'm supposed to get that they don't have it, though.
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Innociv,
I am so sorry to hear about your loss. Just know that Chopper is running and playing again, upstairs. Your contribute to him was amazing, thank you for saring it with us.
My husband and I lost our two beloved dogs in march and exactly 4 weeks later in april. It was extremely painful and still is, I constantly catch myself calling all names when doggie dinner is being served and when it is time to go for a walk. Well, as my Mother's Day present this year I got my beloved Otis, he is an almost 5 month old brindle boy and he has melted my heart. He will never take Bogus' or Lou's place in our hearts but he has bombared himself into another special place in our family and hearts. -
Hi,
I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your wonderful Dog Chopper, he sounds like he was such a character.
Like you i found this forum after i had lost my Basenji, i guess i was searching Basenjis online because i missed him so much. I have to say this forum has realy helped me, i wish i'd found it whilst i still had him but i have gained a lot of comfort from chatting to Basenji people and looking at photographs, i hope you do the same. Have you got any pictures of Chopper you could share? It would be lovely to see him.
I too am hoping to get a Pup maybe later this year if i can find one,
Shelley -
Yeah, that's the site I mentioned in my last post. I've read about it and I know I need to ask if they are tested. I'm not sure what proof I'm supposed to get that they don't have it, though.
You need to ask for the registered names of the parents. Then go to the OFA website, http://www.offa.org and do a search on the parents names. If they have been tested their results will be listed in the database.
As an example if you were to search for Sherwood's In The Nick of Time, you would get back this page as the results, http://www.offa.org/results.html?all=sherwood%27s+in+the&x=18&y=0
If you then click on his name you will see his page with all his health testing results summarized, http://www.offa.org/display.html?appnum=789239#animal
You can see that he has been tested for Hips, Patellas, Thyroid, Fanconi, and CERF and see the results. At minimum breeders should be testing Hips, Eyes, and Fanconi status. BCOA recommends Hips, Eyes, Thyroid, and Fanconi which if done and public will give the dog the CHIC designation that you see for Sherwood's In The Nick of Time.
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I am sorry about your loss and the only words of wisdom I have is as long as they are in our hearts they are always with us.
Rita Jean
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You need to ask for the registered names of the parents. Then go to the OFA website, http://www.offa.org and do a search on the parents names. If they have been tested their results will be listed in the database.
As an example if you were to search for Sherwood's In The Nick of Time, you would get back this page as the results, http://www.offa.org/results.html?all=sherwood%27s+in+the&x=18&y=0
If you then click on his name you will see his page with all his health testing results summarized, http://www.offa.org/display.html?appnum=789239#animal
You can see that he has been tested for Hips, Patellas, Thyroid, Fanconi, and CERF and see the results. At minimum breeders should be testing Hips, Eyes, and Fanconi status. BCOA recommends Hips, Eyes, Thyroid, and Fanconi which if done and public will give the dog the CHIC designation that you see for Sherwood's In The Nick of Time.
Thanks. I see now.
I'm having trouble finding a young Basenji though.
Since they breed once a year, I have to wait 8 months or get one out of state..
There are some in Georgia so I might ahve to drive there since I want to see one in person. -
It is true that this is not a good time of year to find a young pup to bring home. This is a good time of year to begin screening breeders for fall litters though. Also, you may want to consider a young adult. Breeders sometimes have dogs that didn't turn out quite as they expected or sometimes dogs are returned and need rehomed.
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I don't mind a 4-7 month old Basenji. In fact, I could tell what kind of personality they have more at that age.. It doesn't need to be 10 weeks, or 13 weeks, or whatever.
But with one that is older and needs to be rehomed, he might already have bad habits.. The only thing I didn't like about Chopper is that he was hard to train (took twp months I think to teach him to lay down on command and I couldn't teach him to roll over.) and I think he was hit a lot by his previous owner. While I loved him and he was nearly perfect, I'd like a dog that has only been with a breeder so I can train him correctly.
I was hoping some breeders might of had ones they couldn't sell. Doesn't seem the case in Florida, though.
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Sorry to hear about Chopper.
You never know about older dogs that need rehoming until you go and meet them. Good breeders will sometimes have to rehome one of their dogs (the previous owner may have died or got shipped overseas or whatever) - that doesn't mean the dog was a problem dog. My second dog was a 5year old retired show dog that was very well trained.
And regarding training - that partly depends on the dog's personality. Two months to learn to lay down - ha - I had a 9 year old who refused to lie down up to the day he died.
So be more openminded about "older" dogs - you just might find one nearly as perfect as Chopper. -
But with one that is older and needs to be rehomed, he might already have bad habits.. The only thing I didn't like about Chopper is that he was hard to train (took twp months I think to teach him to lay down on command and I couldn't teach him to roll over.) and I think he was hit a lot by his previous owner. While I loved him and he was nearly perfect, I'd like a dog that has only been with a breeder so I can train him correctly.
QUOTE]Many dogs returned to breeders are returned because the family is overwhelmed and that may or may not be because of the dog. I would not rule out a dog that has been returned without meeting the actual dog.
Also, just to be realistic, even puppies can have difficulty learning commands. Basenjis respond very well to positive reinforcement training but can take a while to gain reliability with a command. They are also sighthounds so the issue of being distracted and therefore not reliable in performing commands when outside will always be something that has to be worked on.
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Lets talk a bit about 'training' - while some basenjis do learn parlor tricks - roll over, shake etc. It is a little unrealistic to expect that they all will. 'Training' for a B is typically those things that are critical like Come, sit, walking on a leash without pulling and giving some indication that it's potty time. For those that are more independent they look at you like "what ta heck to I have to roll over for" or "fetch it yourself", if the task does not fit their purpose - it's harder to teach.
Althouh - on old dogs new tricks - my daughter, when she bought her house took a favorite basenji with her and Thumper is 11 and she did teach her parlor tricks that she never knew as a youngster. So I suppose - timing is everything.
There are a couple of puppies in Indiana with breeders. It's seldom that you find breeders where you are - if you want something specific - you need to go where the Breeders are.
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I have a Basenji Boy and girl available, I am in Tampa, would you consider taking
them? Cabrerajo@msn.com
