Registration papers should be proof, but without DNA confirmation one can never be positive. I know a breeder (in another breed) who was getting old and a bit confused and I am sure some of her pups' parents were not accurately attributed, but the pups were purebred, just possibly from different sire. Coat colour can vary tremendously and it's more likely when it isn't a disqualification in the breed. If you are buying a dog described as purebred then there should be registration papers given to you. A DNA test should tell you whether the dog is Basenji or mixed with something else, if you really want to know.
Blue tri basenji
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Oh, I knew I have had dealings with this woman before. I rehomed a "blue" basenji that was up in Wa. This dog was quite unique looking re fur color…Kathy Britton had seen him.
Nice boy, I found a great home for him. -
And as already pointed out, the pictures of her kennels is less then acceptable, in my opinion… and if you have kennel situations and can not afford to put up good kennel runs then you should not be breeding... Saying that it is "work" in progress is not (again in my opinion) acceptable conditions for any dog to be living in...
What is it about the kennels you object to?
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Robyn, I guess I don't get your question. Wire and dirt are not OK as kennels IMO.
Any bubba can do this, and most of the puppymillers do this or worse. -
Robyn, I guess I don't get your question. Wire and dirt are not OK as kennels IMO.
Any bubba can do this, and most of the puppymillers do this or worse.I guess I must be a puppymill then since my dogs have killed the grass in my yard and it is nothing but dirt now. And FWIW, rolled wire fencing is far better than chain link for keeping Basenjis in. It sways when they climb it and they have a hard time getting out of it. I know. I used to have it where I lived previously. The chain link I have now does not keep one of my Basenjis in. He gets hold of the bar at the top and pushes himself over. He would not be able to do that if I had been smart enough to install rolled wire as it has no bar across the top.
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Interesting…I'm with Robin - I guess I thought by all the talk that I was going to see a trash strewn kennel run that was layered with feces. :rolleyes: I guess I must be a bubba - I have wire (chain link) and dirt (with some grass mixed in).
Like Robin, my dogs have killed a large section of the grass in their main run so there is now a third of the run that is down to dirt and weeds. Even though I'll most likely replant grass this fall, I have no hope that it will look any better come next fall since I have 2 diggers (Ozzy & Liyah - occasionally Ruby likes to dig as well). I've been toying with the idea of hardscaping all but 2 small sections - keeping one section grass and one dirt (sandbox so they can dig). Under the deck I'll be changing it from organic tree bark to pea stone.
Oh, and with the rolled wire, I've considered doing my new dog area with rolled wire and horse fencing - definitely harder to get out with that than chain link. I still haven't made up my mind.
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I don't think it looked all that bad, particularly the fencing looked fine. But the resting area (shade area?) looked like it could use some work. And there looked like there was quite a bit of feces in their area. Now…I am certainly not claiming to have the most spotless dog area in the world. There are areas where the grass is overgrown, and there are areas where there is no longer grass
but if I were going to put some pics on the internet advertising my 'breeding facility' I would surely make sure it looked freakin' perfect.The real question here is if this is just the area where the dogs spend *some of the time...or is this the area where they *live....that would make a difference to me.
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Now…I am certainly not claiming to have the most spotless dog area in the world. There are areas where the grass is overgrown, and there are areas where there is no longer grass
but if I were going to put some pics on the internet advertising my 'breeding facility' I would surely make sure it looked freakin' perfect.The real question here is if this is just the area where the dogs spend *some of the time...or is this the area where they *live....that would make a difference to me.
YES! to all of that. I don't think there is any grass anywhere on my property - 5 acres. And where I live, water is precious commodity, especially right now when everything is as dry as a tinderbox. People in town have grass, but nobody on my street has grass. BUT if I were putting pics on the 'net, I'd make sure things looked the very best they could.
What I do find questionable is the quality of the dogs, the number of dogs (6-8 of each breed, 4 breeds), lack of spay/neuter, etc
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We frequently have summer droughts and water restrictions here, too. Replanting grass in my yard won't be a simple process. The ground here is hard, red clay which is extremely difficult for grass seed to take root in. Clay also has poor drainage and any seed that does take root will be drowned or washed away in rain or when watered. I would have to till up the yard and add humus or light mulch to the soil before planting or sodding. That still doesn't solve the problem of trying to get grass to grow in the shade that covers half my yard. And considering that the dogs will just kill it again, I can't justify the time, energy, and expense just to make my yard "pretty" for a few weeks.
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It looks very much like a commercial breeders set up to me. Certainly not how i would keep my dogs, but IMO, much better than individual kennelled areas and small run (as kennels usually are over here). The dogs have plenty of room to move around, the poo is obviously cleaned up, they have shelter and from their condition they look well fed.
Its not a pretty, immaculate breeding establishment, but i dont see anything cruel or unclean to be of concern in the pics.
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We frequently have summer droughts and water restrictions here, too. Replanting grass in my yard won't be a simple process. The ground here is hard, red clay which is extremely difficult for grass seed to take root in. Clay also has poor drainage and any seed that does take root will be drowned or washed away in rain or when watered. I would have to till up the yard and add humus or light mulch to the soil before planting or sodding. That still doesn't solve the problem of trying to get grass to grow in the shade that covers half my yard. And considering that the dogs will just kill it again, I can't justify the time, energy, and expense just to make my yard "pretty" for a few weeks. I would rather put my money into health testing my dogs….but maybe that's just me. shrugs
I agree with you too. id save my money and use it for something worth using. I hear NC is alot of clay land
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It looks very much like a commercial breeders set up to me. Certainly not how i would keep my dogs, but IMO, much better than individual kennelled areas and small run (as kennels usually are over here). The dogs have plenty of room to move around, the poo is obviously cleaned up, they have shelter and from their condition they look well fed.
Its not a pretty, immaculate breeding establishment, but i dont see anything cruel or unclean to be of concern in the pics.
I agree with you completely.
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Back to Nocturnal kennels….the yards do need to be poop scooped but they are free of debris. The fencing is secure and they are large enough for the dogs to run around and play. The dogs themselves are in good weight and visually appear to be healthy. The Welsh Terriers have been groomed. I do not agree with the breeding practices of this place but the conditions of the kennels are far better than some breeders (assorted breeds) and rescue places I have been too.
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My Basenjis have a very large area (which I laughingly call my garden) to run in. At times even though there is considerable space, there are parts that are grassless owing to the amount of running and playing my dogs enjoy. I also don't have chain limk fencing as I would have Basenjis out and about on the hunt having easily climbed it!! I have what we call here pig netting (I'm not sure if thats the same sort of wire Robyn is talking about) which inhibits the climbing.
I can't comment on the breeder you're talking about, after all you know her - we don't, but I'm sure that I couldn't be classified as irresponsible because my dogs are not always on grass and my home is always open to those who ask to come and see my happy, healthy Basenjis.
My priority are my Basenjis and not in having a perfect garden!
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The color is beautiful.
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My Basenjis have a very large area (which I laughingly call my garden) to run in. At times even though there is considerable space, there are parts that are grassless owing to the amount of running and playing my dogs enjoy. I also don't have chain limk fencing as I would have Basenjis out and about on the hunt having easily climbed it!! I have what we call here pig netting (I'm not sure if thats the same sort of wire Robyn is talking about) which inhibits the climbing.
I can't comment on the breeder you're talking about, after all you know her - we don't, but I'm sure that I couldn't be classified as irresponsible because my dogs are not always on grass and my home is always open to those who ask to come and see my happy, healthy Basenjis.
My priority are my Basenjis and not in having a perfect garden!
ya I agree. Basenjis are the thing you should be worried about and as long as they are happy and healthy i dont think where they live should be an issue (as long as there is alot of space, its kept clean, and there is nothing in the area that can harm them)
your garden.
thats funny lol -
I know its a bit late to be joining this thread, and I certainly don't want to get anybody riled up or anything. I just wanted to add my 2 cents for any future reader that stumbles upon this thread.
My first 2 basenjis are from a backyard breeder. We thought we did a lot of research before hand, but when it came down to it, we just wanted a puppy "right now" instead of being on a waiting list. So we found basenji puppies in the paper & went to visit.
The breeder lived out in the country, with a good sized bit of land, a barn and a house. She bred rabbits, miniature ponies, neopolitan mastiffs, some type of cats, chinese cresteds & basenjis. All dogs were in outdoor, dirt runs, except for the cresteds, which were in the house. Bunnies were in the barn, and all bitches with litters on the ground were in secure, heated areas of the barn (heated with a heat lamp). Her puppies were available to take right that moment, and were less than half the price of basenjis we'd seen elsewhere (only $400).
The woman was extremely nice, and answered all of our minimal questions. She was clearly an animal lover. The pups were up to date on vacs, and she had just given them dewormer the day before. She said the father was "DNA tested". We didn't know what that meant, but it sure sounded fancy. We took our basenji boy home, and within 6 months, wanted another one. I wanted a dark brindle female, so when I contacted her the following year and she had one dark brindle female puppy available, I went up & purchased it without viewing any other puppies.
About 8 months after that, I realized we had dodged a very large bullet. During this time, we had realized she wasn't a "responsible" breeder. The dogs were not health tested for anything. She didn't show, and despite living within spitting distance of arguably the best coursing field in Georgia, had never heard of lure coursing. I "adopted" yodeldogs as my surrogate responsible breeder, and she has been a great asset to me over the years, especially considering she is available any time of day or night to answer my questions or field emergency "omg my dog is…. xyz... should I take it to the vet!?" She has become to me what my original breeder should be.
After looking at our first male's pedigree online, yodeldogs was able to tell us, through her own personal knowledge of his lines, that his sire was either carrier or affected. She didn't know about his dam. When I spoke with our "breeder" about Fanconi, she had never even heard of it, and had TWO more litters on the way, both sired by our male's carrier or affected dog.
As it turned out, our male was a carrier, thank God, but who knows about the others in that litter? She didn't make anybody sign a spay/neuter contract, and now our carrier male is with my ex. He has no plans to neuter, and he's even asked me about breeding him with my current girl, Callie. Under no circumstances would this ever happen in a million years, but he sees breeding as a way to make money. (See why he's my ex?)
Lola tested clear for fanconi, but we had another descrepancy with her. When we got her, our "breeder" told us that she chose to register Lola's litter with CKC because it was cheaper than AKC. It didn't matter to us at the time; we just wanted the dog. But when we heard about coursing and wanted to get involved, we learned that Lola needed an AKC registration number to participate. We assumed we could get her AKC registration since her parents were both AKC registered, but when we contacted our "breeder", she revealed that Lola was actually CKC registered because her dam was from a line that was all CKC registered. We were able to get her AKC limited registration so she could participate in coursing, but we were mislead when purchasing her on her background.
So all of this to say: picking a breeder is EXTREMELY important. Although our "breeder" seemed very nice and had an answer for everything on the surface, in the long run, she was just a very nice woman who loves animals and likes breeding them. She definitely sells them for profit. It doesn't change that she's nice & lovely & caring; however, none of that makes her a responsible breeder. Her facilities were not filthy, although I did not love that all of her animals were kept in outdoor runs all the time. Everything, on the surface, seemed great. However, she does not test her dogs, she has no spay/neuter contract, and she is not readily available to answer questions or offer support. If something were to happen & I could no longer care for Lola, she would not take her back.
This post is in no way commenting on what type of breeder Nocturnal may or may not be, and I am certainly not suggesting she is the same as my "breeder". However, to any prospective basenji owner that comes along, I think its important to urge extreme caution when judging a breeder on how nice they seem. -
I am late as well and just wanted to say, great post Andrew…I wish you didn't have to learn the hard way.
I might be one of the only ones saying this..I really don't care for the blues or diluted ones..looks washed out and not so shiny and sharp.
The puppy is/was cute, no doubt, but I prefer the regular colors. -
I am late as well and just wanted to say, great post Andrew…I wish you didn't have to learn the hard way.
We got EXTREMELY lucky… we definitely went about our learning in a round about way; however, I am just grateful we didn't learn about Fanconi after getting a basenji who developed it. I'm also fortunate there are a couple of really great local breeders & basenji owners who have helped me out along the way. It could have been MUCH MUCH worse, and I just want to prevent that worse scenario for any future owners. Owning a basenji is much easier if you have a breeder you can trust and rely on for support for the life of the animal as well as serve as a mentor/trainer/educator for all things basenji/show/performance. Even things like learning how to show or how to get into lure coursing are easier if you have a breeder/mentor to show you the ropes & cheer you on.
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The other thing that Carrie's post points out is that often we often don't know what sort of things we'd like to do with our dogs. Carrie didn't know she wanted to take her pups coursing when she brought that puppy home. When I got Digital the brindlewonderkid, I wanted a dog to show in conformation and maybe therapy work. That's what I told his breeder. I had NO idea we also wanted to do coursing, rally and agility (and tracking which I still have not done). For those who don't know, Digital easily obtained his AKC FC in 4 runs (2 best in fields) and was in the top 3 agility basenjis in the nation for 7 years running. And I'm now on my 3rd agility basenji.
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Because the color is so pretty, I am surprised breeders have not tried on purpose to generate more of them. How unique.
