Best posts made by italeigha

We have a new female Basenji named Millie. Dad is CH Mibrels N Corzo A New Hope 4 Bagna-USA and mom is Corzo B's Queen of D' South. She is 10 weeks now and doing great. I have tons of questions and need to spend a few hours on the forum just reading, but my biggest is can you crate train without the whining and screaming, or is that step necessary. She is waking a few times in the night but not necessarily needing to go out. I can tell because when I open the door, she wants to crawl into my lap and go back to sleep. A few times she has turned herself around and gone back to sleep, but usually she just cries until I open the door, wants to come into my lap and I just have to keep coaxing her into the crate until she is too sleepy to know the difference.

@elbrant @2RedBas @Zande @bark @NancySS @tanza @JKent Great news! We have made lots of crate progress in the last couple of days and she even slept through the night last night! She definitely prefers to fall asleep in someone's lap, but has, several times, gone into the crate on her own and fallen asleep for both naps (with door open) and the last two nights, where we have closed the door and she has been ok with it. Being sleepy definitely helps!
I am sure we will take turns having her sleep in our beds, but for now, and until she is potty trained, I am relieved that we are able to get her in there. Thanks for all the advice; it has been really helpful!!

Who has gotten it figured out? I want to hear your tricks and tips!

@jengosmonkey She came from Florida and shivers whenever we take her out here in NC; it will be warming up quick soon, though.

@zande Glad to hear it went well! I had LASIK so I can relate to being awake for eye surgery.

Yay! We will be right behind you so do keep us posted on how the potty training is going. We'll be picking up a 9 week old girl at the end of February.

@2redbas That's so cool!! Thanks for sharing!! Thank you.

Thank you, Rhonda. We will try not to get our feelings hurt that she isn't ears-back, tail-wagging at us all the time!

@italeigha I'll add that she did keep herself clean for the most part. We went camping during this time so the diaper was perfect for the night in the tent.

@sanjibasenji Encouraging, thank you. Beyond wanting her to be able to potty when it is raining, we also want to do backpacking/camping with her. Can't always stop walking just because it is raining, so I want to figure this out!

Hello, my name is Leigh and I am in North Carolina, USA. I am here because we are seriously considering getting a Basenji puppy in the next two months and I am concerned about some of the things I am reading about the breed. I am hoping our family can meet a local Basenji family and spend some time with the dog and learn more about what owning one will be like. My main concerns are around articles I read that claim that the dog is an escape artist and will run away if given the change, cannot be off lead, and that if we don't keep him or her busy (what does that mean?) it will tear up the house. My husband, who really wants a Basenji, claims that these things are true with most dogs, and that if we are diligent and patient with training we will be fine, but I also read that Basenji's are difficult to train. Any recommendations? (Or should I post this question somewhere else?)

So it is a bit over three weeks now and the bleeding seems to have stopped. The diapers above were brilliant. Good fit and after a bit of messing with it the first time, she left them alone. We didn't use them all the time, but they sure were nice to have when we needed them. If company came, if she rode in the car, if we were washing the dog throw we were protecting the couch with, etc. We are fortunate to have wood floors downstairs so just going around and cleaning up after wasn't too big of a deal. We washed the bedding as suggested as needed. IF I can remember how to post a photo on here, I will post one of her in her diaper; she wore it regally!

@jengosmonkey lol, so I was wondering about getting a rain coat, if that would help....

@pawla I appreciate these questions and while I am sure you asked them for my own benefit to think through, I will go ahead and answer: Our children are 11 and 14. The 11 year old desperately wants a dog and has studied about them endlessly as well as doing a good bit of dog-sitting for neighbors. While we wanted to find a rescue, we need a hypoallergenic and have not been successful finding one thus far. Of course we are all home right now, but I do not work outside the house (I run a non-profit but do that from home and only on part-time hours). My husband plans for the dog to run with him daily, and I and the girls are happy to walk it daily, too. We shouldn't have any trouble exercising it. We have a fenced backyard (8 foot privacy) not huge and it does have a non-enclosed vegetable garden I am worried about but it does back to a greenway (that leads to a dog park) with many walkers, bikers and leashed dogs going by. We don't mind the dog sleeping with any of us (I'd really rather not crate it at night) but I definitely have things in the house I don't want destroyed. We are on the minimalist side and buy little, but what we do purchase are quality brands that take great consideration of the environment, fair trade, etc (ie, our furniture is not cheap and I would not want it chewed on). We have plenty of friends/family who tell us the will pet-sit, but we would hope to be able to take it with us on family visits or week-long vacations to the beach or mountains. I already have two kids that don't listen to me half the time, lol, not sure how I feel about adding a dog that has no intention of listening to me either!

I see this is a very, very old post, but Millie also has new freckles popping up on her belly and legs quite quickly (she is about 17 months). She's spending more time in the sun and I'm assuming this is normal.

@basenjimom2 Very helpful and honest; thank you.

@tanza Right. I learned that at the ER, many strains. Made me feel like, why did we bother then. I am not anti-vaccine, but I think, in humans, and in the US, we over-vaccinate. I gave birth to two kids abroad in two different countries (lived in 3 over 6 years abroad) and vaccination schedules there are quite different, and gentler, there.
The ER dog did say that he was telling all his patients to steer clear of kenneling and dog parks until we get through this uptick in respiratory virus.

@zande Gotcha. Thanks for the information. My husband is a marathoner and qualifies for Boston, so quite fast (I can not keep up with him for sure) but yes, a series runner.... not sure he will want to deal with a dog that won't run alongside him eventually. I will be sure to dig some more on this.

@elbrant This is all very encouraging, thank you.

@joewbasenjidad Could be twins!