**_Steffie Cheng
Chiya Basenjis
Denver, CO_**
Better late than never right?? LOL
Here is the few short paragraphs I wrote to
try to explain to a new owner how to teach her
pup to free stack. Hope it makes sense to you Saba.
Some tips may have already been mentioned
in previous posts.
As far as free baiting goes,
here is what I do to train my dogs to free bait.
First you need to teach him "stand stay".
A really useful tool to teach a dog to hold a stack is by using
a tool called the "happy legs". Its a training tool that you stack
your dog on the stilts and teach him the commend "stand stay".
Once he understands what stand stay means, you practice
on the ground. Then here is how I teach him to stretch out in a show
dog stance where his front legs and his hocks are perpendicular to
the ground. I do so by using the show lead to guide him and using the
commend "step up". To do that it takes time and patient and lots
of love coz sometimes you just want to ring your dog's neck.
The concept is to teach him to only step up a step or two with his
front feet, and his back feet stay put, you do so by slightly pulling
the lead to your left and slightly knocking him off balance so he
has no choice but to take a little step.
Every time he takes a couple steps by you pulling slightly
on the lead to knock him off balance, you need to incorporate
the commend "step up", then you immediately reward him
with a treat.
http://www.happylegs.com/
This is what happy legs is.
OK, dog in video is Denver, he is already trained, the purpose
of this clip is to show his new handler how to show him the
way I have him trained.
But it is to give you an idea what I mean when I talked about
pulling the lead slightly to the left to make him step up a couple
steps while his back feet stay put. Then you tell him to stand
stay while you walk back a few steps away from the dog.
I give a commend to every move I teach my dog.
Teaching them to catch the treat in mid air is another
trick you can do to keep him paying attention to you while
you are in the ring. I use the commend "watch me" as
I am getting ready to throw him some bait to catch, and
of course use the comment "catch" when he is catching.
He will catch on to step-up, stand stay, watch me
and catch quickly!
Pretty soon you will have a dog that can free stack and paying
full attention to you with ears up and showing off wrinkles
at the end of a 4 foot lead!!
Now you know why I like my lead looooooong! 
Anyhoo…..here is my two cents worth!! Hope it makes sense to some.
Since we are discussing grain free food, I would like to add my two cents worth. I been using Blue Buffalo Wilderness for a few months now, I am extremely happy with my brat pack's soft shinny coat, they love the taste, I love that they have the life source bits with added vitamins and antioxidants, I add a little Wilderness canned for extra good taste. I can't be more pleased! I often mix in some Blue Buffalo Fish/Sweet potato kibbles, poo are nice and firm! Two paws up!!!!!!! I paid $48 for a 28 lb bag at Petsmart.
Or a Carrier.. as far as Fanconi goes… at least they will never develop Fanconi...
But unless you test, you will not know... it is important regardless of where you got your B from.. And along with others on this Forum... Chiya can tell you it is NO fun having a Fanconi affected Basenji..... period...I too would like to see Fanconi "gone" in my lifetime.. but unless we all work to get the word out and get these PM's and BYB's to test their dogs.. it will never happen.... and Fanconi is just the tip of the iceberg when you talk about health testing... it is important...... and people need to take it serious... In My Humble Opinion....
I would NEVER wish a Fanconi dog on anyone even my worst enemy!!
Living with a fanconi dog is A LOT OF WORK!!
The problem with BYB and PM breeders is that they don't care
about health testing before breeding.
So they are increasing the chances of producing more and more
afflicted dogs!
It kills me EVERYDAY to see my Fanconi boy suffering from
the disease. All he does is drinking and peeing…
He runs away and hides when he sees me approaching with
pills!!
The most important thing is that this pup be DNA tested for Fanconi…. he obviously has a loving home.... regardless of were he came from....
I totally agree.
As long as it is fanconi clear and have a good temperatment!!
No kennel name…. email me privately, this is who Michael got his boy from also.
OH NO!! I got it. Thanks Pat! :eek:
Coz I went thru my BCOA roster, no member by the name of Phil in Colorado
listed…..
He's from a reliable breeder in Colorado, because unfortunately we didn't find any nearby basenjis in my area.
And thanks for all the comments
From Colorado? What's the name of the breeder? I am from Colorado too!!! BTW, Charlie is very cute!! 
One of my kids was having seizure about once a month like clock work. My vet put him on both phenobarb and Potassium Bromide to start with. After 2 months on both medications, the vet weaned him off of the phenobarb and he is only on the KBr daily. Now his seizure is totally under control and he has not has a seizure for a little over a year now. So ask your vet about the KBr, supposed to be easier on the dog's body.
Oh Michael….. I am sad to hear you are leaving CO and moving to AZ.
Wish you lived closer to me, I would be more than happy to
work with Madjai and you in handling class.
I agree with Robyn, you can still learn about showing
even Madjai is now neutered. So you will be well prepared
when you get your next basenji.
I will try to be at the Greeley show for at least one day.
And I am trying to make it to the Loveland show at the end
of month on Sat probably. Do you plan on going?? If you are
interested, I can answer all your showing questions and give
you a few pointers on how to handle a basenji in the ring.
I am pretty sure there is gonna be a few basenjis entered
at the Greeley show, so you won't be the only one.
Email me anytime if you have any questions regarding
the breed. I will do my best to help you out, Michael!!
When are you moving to AZ??