So I have an inquiry in at both Jumoke and Taji Basenjis. Originally we went with Jumoke Basenjis because of how professional their website was, it's ease of navigation, the actual pictures of the parents, their full registered names, and the health testing results. Of course I looked them up on my own as well, hence the love for the full registered names. And I searched them here and read a lot about their puppies. I'll also admit that the one breeding they are doing has a low percentage of getting tri's, which actually had a huge part to play in the decision. It's not like I bawl when I see a tri, it's just I would be scared that I would unknowingly super-impose Blaze's personality onto this pup, and that's not fair.
So contact was made. I'm sixth on the list. Husband and I were sure we would be okay with our chances… then Halloween came.
The last few years, I've dressed Blaze up as BatDog. I bent a coathanger, stretched some black fabric, and shaped with pipe cleaners. It attached to him by a regular harness. The problem was when he heard the doorbell, he'd go running, but try to stop as he got close to the door. The wings would catch wind and he's start to spin on the laminate floor. Of course, he would wail at this point... This would freak out the smaller kids, and I ended up throwing the candy at the retreating children, yelling at them to take their candy.
So after all of this, I thought the neighbourhood kids were terrified of him. This year, I got asked by six kids "where's BatDog?", one boy was so disappointed when I told him that Blaze had passed, his family moved to another neighbourhood, and he made his Dad drive him and his friend to our condo complex to show him BatDog.
So now, bawling, I'm not so okay with our chances. Blaze came from a litter of four, his breeder had another litter of four, our old handler only had litters of three and four. So I did some more research and found Taji. Again, professional site, easy to navigate, interesting questionnaire to fill out, and the full registered names so that I could verify the info. After a quick search here, and reading some lovely things, I sent off my questionnaire. I'm hoping I did a smart thing, I let them know that I had contacted Jumoke first, we just can't take a full year of emptiness. It bites!