Hello everyone, I wanted to introduce myself as a new member. My name is Liz, and my husband and I have been married for 15 yrs. We have 3 kids, 1 in college, 1 out of the house, and 1 in middle school, so really just the 3 of us at home. We don't have a Basenji yet, but in a few short weeks, our new little girl will be old enough to come home, after she is 9-weeks. We've started the naming process, but don't have anything definitive yet, I'm hoping that when we go to visit her next week, the list will get shorter.
We are excited and nervous all at the same time. I've read some horror stories of misbehaving Basenji puppies ( like the one with a sofa that didn't stand a chance); but I'm intrigued by the challenge of outsmarting the animal that thinks they are the smartest in the room.
We had a Great Pyrenees, Lucy, that we rescued as a 4-month old puppy. The lady who had her was "disappointed that her personality wasn't more like a Lab or Golden Retriever". Lucy wasn't socialized at all, and she was way more than a handful (think Turner and Hooch). She didn't know how to walk on leash, she was strong, she was dangerous. She chewed on everything, at 5 - months old and more than 50 Lbs, she took down a young tree and an above ground pool.
As an adult, at 110 lbs, she was fiercely independent, stubborn, intelligent, manipulative, sweet, & loving. She had nasty temper tantrums, like when trying to go somewhere and she didn't want, she would sit down and not move, like an adult-sized toddler. If you tried to force her, she would lie down and she wouldn't budge. Unfortunately, after a long fight, we lost her to cancer, she was only 8 years old.
I've read that Basenjis have some of the same personality "quirks", just on a smaller scale with less hair and drool. It was mostly the attitude I'm drawn to with the Basenji more than anything else; even though I like the idea of not having trash bags full of dog hair or getting your "nice" clothes slimed on your way out the door. I'm looking forward to a wild ride, with lots of laughs, and lots of love.

@sass7656 We've been scouring the BCOA site and AKC to see if we can find another breeder with puppies available. It's not easy, and the ones we've found are not close. I feel like we've already been waiting forever for her, and I'm starting to wonder if it just wasn't meant to be. Emotions are still raw, so it's not easy to think rationally right now. I figure we should sit back and regroup before we jump into something that may not be right for our family or the puppy. Because of the distance involved (and I'm squeamish about shipping puppies), the cost quickly becomes prohibitive when you figure in travel.

Sadly I was told she passed away this morning. I don't know exactly what happened, but it sounds like all of the pups had a reaction to the vaccine and our little girl along with a 2 of her siblings didn't pull through. This has devastated our family. We were all very attached to her, my daughter wanted to name her Opal. We will miss her without ever getting to know her.

I want to thank all of you for welcoming me into the group. We were waiting on bringing home our new puppy in a couple of weeks. We were so looking forward to watching her grow up and being a silly basenji kid. Unfortunately, I was just told that our little girl had an adverse reaction to her vaccination this morning. We are heartbroken and completely devastated, I don't know what to say. Thank you all so much.

Thank you all so much for the kind words. We are starting scent introductions next week between our current dog and our new girl while she is still with the breeder. We purchased her a blanket that we can use to get her scent, then bring home to Buddy to start getting used to. Have any of you had any issues with bringing a new family member into the house? I've read that Basenjis can have problems in that area, but hoping that starting young and taking things slow will alleviate those problems.

@sass7656 Hi! Crate is a must. All of dogs have had separate crates and areas of their own. We currently have a 7-yr old all-American Mutt named Buddy, who likes to hang out in his crate to relax. I haven't talked much about him, but he's always been so easy. We got him as at the animal shelter when he was around 6 months old, he's never had an accident or chewed anything but his own toys. We don't have any funny stories, he's a very polite mild-mannered, stable guy. I love him dearly, but he's kind of boring in that way.
What are your thoughts about antlers? Our Pyr was a monster chewer, the only things that could keep her from chewing everything, including the air conditioner (yes, she chewed on the outside air conditioning unit) and the siding on the house, was frozen stuffed Kongs (they had to be stuffed or she wasn't interested) or large antlers that I had to run under warm water.
How is training? Thoughts on the clicker?

@tanza Hi. It's nice to meet you. I don't have the sire and dam information with me here at work, but can get back to you with it. My husband and I both work full time, but I'm one of those lucky people whose office is less than 2 miles from my house, and I go home for lunch; and I go to work in a "dog-friendly" environment, where dogs are welcome. I'm thinking that this is a great opportunity for socialization once she has all of her vaccinations.
In terms of your advice on using a crate, it is a definite. We have a large area next to the kitchen for her to call her own where we will keep her crate. Our Pyr was a crate training nightmare, she actually broke the welds on her first crate and got out. Thankfully we were just at the store and not gone long enough, but we still had to replace what once was a Lazy Boy recliner.

Hello everyone, I wanted to introduce myself as a new member. My name is Liz, and my husband and I have been married for 15 yrs. We have 3 kids, 1 in college, 1 out of the house, and 1 in middle school, so really just the 3 of us at home. We don't have a Basenji yet, but in a few short weeks, our new little girl will be old enough to come home, after she is 9-weeks. We've started the naming process, but don't have anything definitive yet, I'm hoping that when we go to visit her next week, the list will get shorter.
We are excited and nervous all at the same time. I've read some horror stories of misbehaving Basenji puppies ( like the one with a sofa that didn't stand a chance); but I'm intrigued by the challenge of outsmarting the animal that thinks they are the smartest in the room.
We had a Great Pyrenees, Lucy, that we rescued as a 4-month old puppy. The lady who had her was "disappointed that her personality wasn't more like a Lab or Golden Retriever". Lucy wasn't socialized at all, and she was way more than a handful (think Turner and Hooch). She didn't know how to walk on leash, she was strong, she was dangerous. She chewed on everything, at 5 - months old and more than 50 Lbs, she took down a young tree and an above ground pool.
As an adult, at 110 lbs, she was fiercely independent, stubborn, intelligent, manipulative, sweet, & loving. She had nasty temper tantrums, like when trying to go somewhere and she didn't want, she would sit down and not move, like an adult-sized toddler. If you tried to force her, she would lie down and she wouldn't budge. Unfortunately, after a long fight, we lost her to cancer, she was only 8 years old.
I've read that Basenjis have some of the same personality "quirks", just on a smaller scale with less hair and drool. It was mostly the attitude I'm drawn to with the Basenji more than anything else; even though I like the idea of not having trash bags full of dog hair or getting your "nice" clothes slimed on your way out the door. I'm looking forward to a wild ride, with lots of laughs, and lots of love.