@Patty:

How is Lita doing? :)

She's MUCH, MUCH more comfortable with us. Interestingly, she seemed to calm down after I purchased a doggy coat for her; just a normal fleece coat. Now she is letting her personality show, and it's very playful! She absolutely LOVES going for walks and she prances with joy! She is a little too eager for food, though. She will get in puppy play position and bark at us while we are eating to try to get attention for a morsel.

My kids tell me she cries for me if I leave the house. She's really cute and loves to have her chest rubbed. It's funny tho, sometimes she just stands with her front paws on your legs, chest, or stomach and enjoys a chest rub in that position. I don't really like to be stood upon, but if you move her legs she finds a different area to stand on. She's funny, and she seems to have taken to my son fabulously! She was most leery of him when she first came into our home, but they have been enjoying each others company playing ball in the yard. She makes us laugh, and she's so fast!

Guess you can probably guess, she's found her fur-ever home!

I should add, I think Lita would do well in a home with another dog. Sometimes she paces and cries when she hears other dogs bark. Oh and yes, she does bark, but only when she spies someone out front while in the yard, or when someone enters the house. She's not a yodeler, but her bark does get kind of howl-like when she's really excited.

@Kipawa:

I think Lita is well on her way to worming herself into your heart! What good news. :)

No, still at this point, Lita is still a foster dog. I care about her, and I wonder what her poor short life was like. It must have been hell, because this is one very anxious girl. She is exhausting me.

This morning she would not even go off the porch. She just paced and cried. I tried to engage her with her ball, but she was too anxious to distract. We came in and she paced until I started getting ready for a walk. She was so excited! She got into her little puppy play pose when she saw the lead! It was cute. ☺

After our 45 min walk, she came home and paced some more and cried. Nothing would distract her, so I ignored her for a while. Eventually, she curled up in a little doggy ball on the couch at my feet.

Soon enough, a car door slammed, and she was up pacing again. So, I ignored her again. It didn't take as long this time for her to assume doggy ball position at my feet again.

As I started to write this, she was pacing again, so I ignored her and this time she began to occupy herself with a chew toy! Yay! I'm tired!–On Christmas day, I kid you not, she played with her ball for 7 1/2 hours straight--about 5 of those hours I spent playing with her. She throws it at your feet and looks up at you expectantly--it's hard to say no.

Uh oh, now she?s pacing again....Did I say I was tired?

@eeeefarm:

The face certainly looks Basenji, other than the ears. :)

Yeah, her ears kinda remind me of a Whippet.

Here are a couple of pics of Lita. Do you guys agree that she looks like a Basenji mix?

Lita has been having a good day today! She woke me up at about 4 am whimpering in her crate, something she hadn't done before. I let her out and, without turning on any lights, she went outside and pee-pee'd outside, came back in went in her crate-with a treat waiting in it–and went back to sleep. My alarm sounded at 7 am and she bounced onto my bed, tail wagging and happy as can be! I must not have latched in correctly in the dark, but she didn't try to get out until she heard the alarm.

After breakfast, potty, and some play she laid down and got a belly and chest rub. While she was still I lifted her onto my body and she relaxed there for a while for more rubs. My daughter informed me that while I was away at yet another basketball tournament, she curled up voluntarily on her lap and took a nap. I think she's warming up to us. :)

Thanks everyone for all your advice and kind words. Time, patience, and lots of love we are giving to Lita and she seems to be responding well.

Thank you both so much for your responses. I don't have much time today to respond; my son has a basketball tournament all day today and I'll be gone until this evening. Luckily, my daughter will be home with Lita today so she won't spend all day in the crate.

I will look into the basenji rescue organization when I have more time, and moth, thank you so much for your condolences for my Cocoa. I am still in tears at times, I miss her so much. She was my first experience as an adult owned by a pet. She was fantastic.

Anyway, I'll check back later, I'm running late. I have more to say about Lita, too. She is really sweet, just VERY shy.

Sorry about all the question marks–they don't show up as ? in my word document-just copied and pasted without proof-reading once pasted.

Hello everyone. I came across this forum while searching for Basenji rescue information. I am new to this breed of dog and have found our little foster dog to be quite a challenge?that is, unlike any other dog I have ever encountered. A dog, much like a cat! In fact that?s how I discovered she was a Basenji, by googling ?dogs that clean themselves like a cat.? Let me give you a little background on how Little Lita has entered our lives.

My sweet Dalmatian/Spaniel mix Cocoa passed away quite unexpectedly on Dec. 8th, and, needless to say, I have been devastated. Cocoa was my constant companion, my shadow, and she lived to please me?I trained Cocoa using shunning as a tool and it worked fabulously. She only had to bolt out of the front door after a walking dog and his master ONCE to get the picture. The next time the screen door popped open while she was barking at a walking dog, she didn?t make a move. Cocoa LOVED attention, ignoring her for bad behavior worked like a charm?quick and effective.

Only 4 days after Cocoa passed I decided to foster a dog from a local rescue shelter. I was told she was a Terrier mix, and Lita is listed as that on her petfinder page. She is definitely a mixed Basenji, as her tail is not curly, but she has the wrinkled brow, white chest and feet and the independent, aloof attitude, along with the HIGH, HIGH energy characteristic of Basenjis.

I was told at the shelter that Lita was originally rescued at 6 mos. from a home in GA that had over 20 pups. She was adopted out from the shelter I am fostering through at 7 months. She was returned (called a bounceback) to the same shelter on Dec 9th because the person responsible?an 8 yr old boy according to the mother?would no longer care for her. (Nice lesson, huh? Just taught that kid dogs are disposable.) Lita is now 2 yrs old and was very hand shy at first. I had the impression she was hit?a lot. She was very anxious at first and fearful of ALL the new noises inside and outside our home. It seems, too that she really isn?t used to affection, and it seems she is only interested in food.

I have been very sensitive to poor Lita?s anxieties and have been allowing her to become accustomed to us and our friends on her terms. She does warm up to friends quickly if she is ignored and allowed to approach and sniff when she is ready. But, petting is still a no-no for most guests?she?ll run away and bark if they try. Even with us, if she doesn?t want petted she?ll just back away. I?ve never encountered such an independent dog who seems to only tolerate any affection.

Anyhow, please don't hate me because I?m pretty sure this is not the right breed for me, but I am worried about poor Lita being adopted out to another home. I hate to see her get comfy here?only to get shipped away to another home where she has to learn trust all over again. I wish in my state of over-whelming grief, I would have stopped to think more. I thought fostering a needy dog would help me overcome my grief sooner and benefit the doggy, too.

Can anybody tell me, would a dog like Lita, with a questionable beginning and subsequent fostering, adjust well to another transition? I feel so terrible for not wanting to keep her at this point, but am torn about causing her more anxiety. Thanks for any response. I think this forum may be helpful to us. You all seem very knowledgeable about this breed.