We never used our hand held as a "hearing aid" for our lab, and we went through a lot of traing on how to use the collar properly and had great success with it. I am not an idiot who would just start shocking my dog at random because he or she went out of site. When training our dog I am also outside working with the dog and I put a lot of time,effort and love into properly training my dog so he/she is safe. Thanks for the opinion though. -Toni

I will probably get the hand held shock collar for our new dog. We used it for our Lab because he loved to chase the wildlife, it worked pretty well. Thanks for the info.

I understand never leaving them alone beasuse our lab once ate our whole kitchen floor! Is it going to be possible to find a pup in May? I have heard that they only go into heat in the fall and pups are only available in the winter, is this true?
-Toni

My lab was very head strong and challanging to train. When I get a pet he or she will be part of the family and we will spend just as much time training them as we do with the children! I plan on getting a crate for the times when we are not home, especially during the puppy phase. We used a shock collar with our Lab because it gave him more freadom to run than a leash but still gave us control to keep him safe. Has anyone out there used a shock collar with their Basenji for control in keeping them in their yard? We have three acres of land and from what I have read about Basenjis, fences don't keep them in.

Hi to all. I am hoping to get any information I can about adopting a Basenji puppy. We are hoping to get a new puppy in early May and and have our hearts set on a Basenji. We had a Lab for 11 years and had to have him put down a year ago because of cancer. He was a great dog, excellent with the kids but the shedding drove me crazy. He had skin conditions that made him itch and smell, not nice for him or us! From what I have read on Basenjis they are low shedding, which would be great. We have a lot of allergies in our house and bad dander can be a problem.
So…I have starting looking in my area and there doesn't seem to be any Basenji breeders. Grand Rapids, MI would not be too far for us to drive to to get a puppy. What do we look for in a puppy? Are there genetic problems/issues we need to be concerned with. I know with our Lab we had a certification on his hips because that was a common problem of the breed. Any advice,info. would be very helpful. I would like to go into this with some education!
Thanks, Toni:)