Back in the beginning of 2006 Alex and I decided to add a dog to our life. We already had a cat for a few years but we both really wanted a dog. We didn’t live in a large home so we knew that we needed a small breed. After taking some time and really researching small dogs we came across a photo of a Basenji. We immediately started to read anything we could find about this breed and everything we read, positive and negative just made us want one even more. These dogs were really special, not like any other breed.

After doing some more research on the breed I contacted my vet who referred me to a Basenji breeder just a few blocks from us. We contacted her and she offered to allow us into her home to see a real Basenji!

We fell in love with the breed at the moment we saw her dog. We just knew that we wanted a Basenji, but we soon found out that no one in Northern California was breeding that year. We tracked down every breeder in California and surrounding areas and finally were referred to Khani’s Basenjis in Portland Oregon. She was having a litter of pups that year and she put us on her waiting list. In December we flew to Portland to pick up our puppy who we named Leeno. Leeno was a red and white male who was the apple of our eye. A loving dog with a great temperament who loved to run around the house at sonic speed doing the b500.

A few months later we started to see that Leeno wasn’t acting right. We took him to the vet because he had problems standing up straight. He would wobble and stagger. He couldn’t climb stairs and would fall all the time. We nicknamed him Clumsy Leeno thinking he was just a puppy and hadn’t grown into his puppy paws yet. The vet immediately diagnosed him with a neurological disorder and said that there was no hope. After hearing that, we immediately sought the advice of a veterinarian neuro-specialist in Berkley and it was confirmed that Leeno was ill and didn’t have much time left.

We immediately contacted the breeder to inform her of the bad news. She told us that she would be in the area at a local show and would be willing to take him back. There was no way Alex and I could have watched our little puppy suffer anymore, yet we didn’t have the heart to have him put to sleep. The breeder was offering to take him for us and when the time was right and maybe gives us another puppy.

During the time that Leeno was diagnosed with Cerebellum Ataxia, Alex and I searched all over the web for any information on this rare disease or any other clues related to Leenos condition. I would be up all hours of the night trying to find a cure or even just try to locate any type of information, but noone knew anything about this and trying to reference this to Basenji’s, I had just no luck. That was when Alex and I decided that a forum needed to be created to where people could come together and ask for advice and help each other in an open forum format which was something that was not around at the time. Basenji Forums was then created and to our amazement it has taken off. With over a thousand members from all over the globe, you now have an abundant amount of resources, get to meet new people and most importantly have fun.

If many of you can think back to the beginning of Basenji Forums, we never formally introduced ourselves to the forum. I would post a few questions here and there but we never said anything. A few people knew about our situation and we really appreciated all the love and support.

In 2007 while watching Basenji Forums grow we became more and more anxious to have a Basenji of our own. Alex and I just couldn’t wait till the litter was born. A year sure was a long time but when we received the news that we would soon have another puppy, we were really excited. This past January we were able to bring our little boy home. We named him Chance because this was a chance we were willing to take. His litter name is Flash, Khani’s Viva La Rock. Chance just loves to run around, chase the cat, get into things and do all the other mischievous things that Basenjis do best. We are happy and blessed to have him in our lives.

Now it’s 2008 and our community continues to grow daily and thanks to the encouragement from the forum members we have now added a second tri colored Basenji girl to our family. Her name is Kiya…

From Alex and Vanessa

Leeno 2006

Chance and Maddox 2007 (rare moments together)

Chance and Maddox 2007 (getting warm from the sun)

Chance and Kiya Bed Stories 2008 (learning to share)
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@refinnej:

hi, i just wanted to let you know that if you are still considering a basenji, you really need to make sure you have enough time in your life to walk him and exercise him. a rub down or tossing of a toy isn't enough for this breed. they are not to far from a jack russell's energy level. red flag with your small children. i'm looking for a new home for my 3 yr old basenji because he has not adjusted to my 2 yr old. we don't get to give him the proper exercise he needs which has him wired, and i think thats part of his aggression towards my daughter. this breed is also a semi dominant breed, so if dominance isn't established by every member in the household, he will take advantage. there are better breeds for families and children, i dont think this is one of them. i dont want to discourage you, basenjis are wonderful, and fun dogs, but they definatly need proper care. good luck

I am sorry that you have decided to give your basenji up for adoption. You did come to the right forum though. The majority of people on this message board are either breeders or long time basenji owners. Everyone comes here to give advice and help one another. You are correct when you say that basenjis require special attention but there are ways to work on changing a basenjis behavior.
I personally feel that discouraging people from basenjis is a little harsh. Especially when everyone in this community loves this breed. People need to be educated rather than discouraged.
I wish you the best of luck and if there are anything members of this forum can help you with, do not hesitate to ask. People in this community are quick to respond and give great advice. :o

The forum has arranged Play Dates in the past. I am sure we could even get a few more Basenji People to partake in a South Bay Basenji Play Date :p

Hey there!
Such a small world! If we would not of met you would of never known of Basenji Forums. There are a ton of great people here who can offer expert first hand advice!
We should get together and have a Basenji Play Date soon!

Hello Everyone,
Yes Spring is among us and now comes the sneezing and itchy eyes :eek:
For the first time in our lives we have a dog who recently developed skin allergies. Last week Kiya our 2 year old tri started developing hives all over her body. She couldn't stop itching and you could tell she was in quite a bit of discomfort. We rushed her to the emergency room and the vet gave her a steroid and some anti-biotic to clear up her body. It worked and a few days later we took her to her regular vet for another follow up appt. The vet suggested we take her off the meds since she no longer had hives. A day later they came back!
From process of elimination we have since ruled out a food allergy and now know its not related to the grass outside. Try keeping your B off grass for a few days. Poor girl had to potty on rocks and dirt She was not a happy camper.
This morning we woke up and the hives came back. I immediately called the vet and he thinks its something in the house Man this is tough! Our poor girl is obviously having an allergic reaction to something in our house yet we can not for the life of us figure it out! The Temaril-p is working and the vet said to use it as needed so at least we have something.
Now the elimination process begins yet again.

WoW JazzysMom!
Our two B's would go crazy over all those lovely ornaments.
You are so lucky!

@Alex:

We got our gifts package today, but we are not opening them until Christmas eve December 25th. Family tradition, dogs get to open their gifts with everyone else

Heheheheeh
Actually the truth….Alex really wanted to open it and I told him NO!

I thought this would be a funny thread to start.
What do you do in order to "Basenji Proof" your Christmas/New Year?
We baby gate our tree to keep Chance from using it as a toilet and from Kiya drinking the water. :p

Before:

After:

Hello everyone!
It's been quite sometime since I've posted on the forum. With school, work, wedding plans and 2 B's taking up most of my time I have hardly had time to say much on the forum.
Anyhoo…I needed some advice. My 2 year old tri bitch named Kiya has recently started going through some changes. She has become quite more aggressive towards our male Chance. Chance is neutered and Kiya isn't...well that's not quite possible since she is a female :p but anyways...she has become more playful but in a chewing, nipping, chasing kind of way. To the point that one of them usually ends up scratched and bleeding. I know its playing and not full on attack mode but she just will not stop! She went into season early (this past August) and hasn't had another heat. Is this a sign of her about to go into season again? She stands on top of Chance which looks like she is trying to dominate him. She will chew on him and then immediately stand next to him pawing at him. It's a little odd to look at since my male Chance has no clue what she is doing. :rolleyes:
My issue is that the aggressiveness is getting a little too crazy in the house. Its all the time and she just won't leave him or even the cat alone now. She will run around the whole house doing a B-500 knocking down everything in site and launch at either Chance or my cat Maddox. They tolerate it for a few minutes and play with her but then get tired. She of course doesn't and then we have to separate them. Will this stop? I am tired of breaking up fights and nursing wounds. Its not an issue with exercise. My fiance runs with them 2 times a day to exhaust them. She on the other hand always has this energy to harass everything around her. LOL

Hahahaha!
Yeah…Most people assumed we were married...Surprise!!! LOL

Let me clarify…

Chance was not neutered because he is a carrier. He was neutered because we plan on breeding our bitch at a later date and we have no intention on breeding him.

Becky, I don’t feel I need to contact the breeder over every little training issue that arises. Chance has gone to obedience training and we work with him daily and have seen a behaviorist. As for shoving a pill down his throat and not dealing with the issues at hand is something I am well aware of. That is why I am asking questions on this forum. What I was not aware of was that the fact that aggression could be due to a thyroid issue and I was just given this information yesterday which I intend on following through on and getting his blood work done.

I created this forum to talk about issues in the open to allow people to come together and offer advice/support. In no way this should be the only resource to find answers, contacting your breeder is the right thing to do. I had no malice. Kathy Britton knows that I will contact her if there is a problem. She has always offered help when I need it and has always made herself available and given us whatever we needed which we are grateful for.

As for allowing my dogs on furniture, everyone has a difference of opinion on training methods and in our house, our dogs are allowed on furniture when we say it is ok. Certain furniture is off limits and they know that.

As we are slowly trying to weed out what is going on with our boy, I am learning that many things could be causing this. Yes maybe Kiya our female is going into heat early. If that is the case than we will have to deal with that. It is difficult since Chance’s aggression started sometime ago. This did not just develop over night. Unfortunately we ignored the beginning signs and let it go thinking it was nothing. Now it has become more noticeable, we need to deal with this immediately. Hopefully it is something that we can diagnose quickly and resolve.

We appreciate all the information everyone on the forum has given us. Yes I admit that we should of paid attention to the warning signs earlier and nipped it in the bud sometime ago. You never think that the little things will add up to something bigger in the end. Chance's attitude has changed a little and we need to work even harder at getting him back to the cool cucumber he was before

My male would get car sick within a block of being in the car. I was told to try Rescue Remedy which you can pick up from any organic foods store. You can also buy it online. It comes in a a little spray bottle. I would squirt 5 sprays in his mouth about a half an hour before we would go anywhere. It would help calm him down but not make him groggy or tired. Its great for people too who get nervous/anxious.