Posts made by Nerthin

Hello,
I am pretty new to the forums and I have been researching and checking out this wonderful breed of dogs for about a year now. I first encountered a basenji through my grandfather. He had them after WWII (still trying to find out how he acquired them). I would really love to get into Lure Coursing and Agilities and my g/f wants to show.
I have been researching breeders and been talking with one here in NM for almost a year. I have finally decided it is time! I am going to get a little tri-girl. I went and visited with her and her parents and the breeder last night. I got there at 5:30pm and didnt leave till 9pm so we had the opportunity to talk about everything! I have started basenji proofing…everything in my house/yard and surrounding areas . I currently live in the metro area of ABQ NM, however there is not much traffic in our neighborhood. I have a 6-7foot wooden privacy fence with a HUGE backyard. I do have 2 rescue/adopted dogs a husky/wolf-hybrid , she loves other dogs but is well...skiddish around people, and my g/f's pitbull, he is a total push over for other dogs and the biggest lap dog you'll ever see.
Anyway I have read up on the introductions to other household pets. So I am going to follow those instructions, but if there is anything else you can think of as far as introductions I would be happy to hear about it. I was also thinking about leaving my current dogs food and water dishes where they are and feeding the new girl in a seperate room (since she is on puppy food and they are on adult food). I feed the two older ones a cup in the morning and a cup in the afternoon. I have read that the puppies need at least 3 times a day this will not be a problem since there is always someone at the house. She is currently eating Purina Pro 1 for puppies. During competition the breeder was telling me she uses the same dry food as well as "Red Barn" meat roll. Any thoughts?
I have already signed up for puppy beginners class at Petsmart, my girl friend works there so she gets a free training class. Then I was told after about a year is when you can really get serious about lure coursing and agilities.
I have not decided on a name yet and I am having a little trouble with that. My husky/wolf's name is Zaria, which is Russian for Dawn, at least thats what I read, and the pitbull is named Ozzy. I was thinking about something egyptian or african and I have no clue what to name her.
I also just had a question about the crates. Now, I have never crate trained any dog, I have a four-runner and the dogs usually stay in back and just hang out. I have read that Basenji's learn to love their crates and think of them as a safe place. The breeder also told me that it will make life A LOT easier when I decide to travel. What size crate should I get, she is 16 weeks old still pretty small compared to her parents. Should I get a crate that she will ALWAYS have or get a smaller crate now and go up in size later? I was told that they get REALLY attached to their crates and can get fusy if they are not given their crate! She is going to be an inside dog as well. I have never had dogs that always stay out and I dont really plan on having one any time soon.
Well I go to pick her up in about 7 days, which is to long to wait. However it does give me time to panic and try to find every little thing I can to make her life and my life easier. Thank you for reading and I look forward to reading, posting, and listening to all the advice all over these forums!
-Dan