I'm tardy, but thank you to everyone who chimed in on this thread. Thanks to Pat, I was able to reach out to someone who knew my breeder and found out there was an unusual circumstance concerning our breeder. I won't go into all of the details, but I will share the happy ending: we did bring home our sweet little Moki in February. She is growing and thriving. She is so smart and sweet and cuddly and our family is completely in love with her. Everywhere we go she makes new friends and she is a little ambassador for the breed.

Without this message board, I think we would have given up and probably would not have gotten our pup. Thank you!

Thanks for the response. I am assuming (hopeful) she is just too busy to respond to my emails and voicemails. I did try and find her on social media. She has a page but it hasn't been updated since 2016. However, while searching I found another woman who posted a photo of herself 2 weeks ago, holding a newborn puppy, in this breeder's kitchen. The woman posted she was so happy to meet her basenji puppy, so clearly some people have been notified.

The breeder wasn't directly recommended by anyone I know. I don't want to post her name because again, she has an amazing reputation, and I don't want to appear like I am sullying her reputation - especially if it is just a communication hiccup. Is there a way to message you privately to see if you know her?

Supposedly we were at the top of her list when I made the deposit. Maybe there won't be a puppy for us after all, but I would just like to know one way or another so we can start researching/reaching out to other breeders.

Thanks for the response, though. It does give me a little hope that all may not be lost.

I just sent her flowers with my name and contact info on it - hopefully it will prompt a response!

I'm new to this forum, is chat a direct message option?

Thank you for the response. I'm hoping the flowers will do the trick and she can at least give me a quick update. My husband was nervous about the deposit, especially since it was 6 months before a litter was expected, but it was refundable until the birth of the puppies. I sent it as a show of good faith that we were serious. We told her we didn't have a preference on sex, coloring, etc. She does breed show dogs and after meeting us suggested we should consider a show dog. She said she was impressed with how well my daughter followed her instruction and how well she interacted with all of the dogs. But we just want a new member of our family. I figured with our early response/deposit and our flexibility on preferences, we would most certainly get a pup. In my mind, knowing basenjis are only available once a year and knowing how popular they are, the deposit seemed reasonable. I don't even really care about the money at this point, I just want to know what's next. I'm trying to remain optimistic and hopefully I will hear one way or another soon.

I'm tardy, but thank you to everyone who chimed in on this thread. Thanks to Pat, I was able to reach out to someone who knew my breeder and found out there was an unusual circumstance concerning our breeder. I won't go into all of the details, but I will share the happy ending: we did bring home our sweet little Moki in February. She is growing and thriving. She is so smart and sweet and cuddly and our family is completely in love with her. Everywhere we go she makes new friends and she is a little ambassador for the breed.

Without this message board, I think we would have given up and probably would not have gotten our pup. Thank you!

She cashed the check in July.

I did speak to someone on here privately. They do know the breeder and said this isn’t typical at all, leading me to believe there might be something personal going on. I hope everything is okay with the breeder. I’m going to step back for awhile unless I hear something else. If she is dealing with personal stuff I don’t want to add to her stress. Just taking a deep breath and praying everything works out for the best.

You are all an incredible group of people. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me about this and trying to provide a little guidance.

Hi Tanza,

I will send you an email soon.

When I say stellar reputation, I mean a significant portion of show dogs are bred with a direct lineage to her kennel. I'm not sure she has actually posted here, but a number of people have discussed her dogs and their experience with her. She was anticipating 3 litters when I last spoke with her in November.

She is a member of the Basenji Club of America.

She has been doing this a long time, and after visiting her, I do believe she is incredibly good at what she does.

I just feel like we fell through the cracks somehow.

Thanks everyone. I guess the flowers didn’t work. Still no word. I tried calling again, no answer.

Thank you for the response. I'm hoping the flowers will do the trick and she can at least give me a quick update. My husband was nervous about the deposit, especially since it was 6 months before a litter was expected, but it was refundable until the birth of the puppies. I sent it as a show of good faith that we were serious. We told her we didn't have a preference on sex, coloring, etc. She does breed show dogs and after meeting us suggested we should consider a show dog. She said she was impressed with how well my daughter followed her instruction and how well she interacted with all of the dogs. But we just want a new member of our family. I figured with our early response/deposit and our flexibility on preferences, we would most certainly get a pup. In my mind, knowing basenjis are only available once a year and knowing how popular they are, the deposit seemed reasonable. I don't even really care about the money at this point, I just want to know what's next. I'm trying to remain optimistic and hopefully I will hear one way or another soon.

I just sent her flowers with my name and contact info on it - hopefully it will prompt a response!

I'm new to this forum, is chat a direct message option?

Thanks for the response. I am assuming (hopeful) she is just too busy to respond to my emails and voicemails. I did try and find her on social media. She has a page but it hasn't been updated since 2016. However, while searching I found another woman who posted a photo of herself 2 weeks ago, holding a newborn puppy, in this breeder's kitchen. The woman posted she was so happy to meet her basenji puppy, so clearly some people have been notified.

The breeder wasn't directly recommended by anyone I know. I don't want to post her name because again, she has an amazing reputation, and I don't want to appear like I am sullying her reputation - especially if it is just a communication hiccup. Is there a way to message you privately to see if you know her?

Supposedly we were at the top of her list when I made the deposit. Maybe there won't be a puppy for us after all, but I would just like to know one way or another so we can start researching/reaching out to other breeders.

Thanks for the response, though. It does give me a little hope that all may not be lost.

Hi,
After two years of research my family decided a Basenji is the right dog for us. A little over a year ago I contacted a breeder near by with a stellar reputation. Seriously, she’s even mentioned in a number of posts on this forum praising her and her dogs. I reached out to her and asked if we could visit to make sure we were making the right decision and to introduce ourselves to her. We visited last February and spent about two hours with her. fell in love with her puppies and her adult dogs and we hit it off with her.

We kept in touch with her and in May she said she would start taking $200 deposits in June for the next litter. I sent her a check on June 1. It was never cashed and I reach out to confirm she received it. Two weeks later she responded and said she didn’t receive it. I send another check immediately certified mail. It was cashed a few weeks later. Then end of July she said she found the original check. I didn’t hear from her again until I emailed in early November. She responded quickly and said the litters were due mid December. That’s the last time I ever heard from her.
After the due date came and went, I decided to wait until after the holidays so I didn’t seem like I was bugging her. I emailed last weekend to inquire about the puppies-no response. I called today, voicemail.

I now have a bad feeling about everything. Is it normal for breeders to not contact buyers after the litter has arrived? I’m guessing the litters are about a month old. I will be heart broken if we never hear from the breeder again, and knowing we will have to go through the process again and wait another year is going to crush my daughter.