Best posts made by packmom

Hello everyone, I wanted to introduce myself as a new member. My name is Liz, and my husband and I have been married for 15 yrs. We have 3 kids, 1 in college, 1 out of the house, and 1 in middle school, so really just the 3 of us at home. We don't have a Basenji yet, but in a few short weeks, our new little girl will be old enough to come home, after she is 9-weeks. We've started the naming process, but don't have anything definitive yet, I'm hoping that when we go to visit her next week, the list will get shorter.
We are excited and nervous all at the same time. I've read some horror stories of misbehaving Basenji puppies ( like the one with a sofa that didn't stand a chance); but I'm intrigued by the challenge of outsmarting the animal that thinks they are the smartest in the room.
We had a Great Pyrenees, Lucy, that we rescued as a 4-month old puppy. The lady who had her was "disappointed that her personality wasn't more like a Lab or Golden Retriever". Lucy wasn't socialized at all, and she was way more than a handful (think Turner and Hooch). She didn't know how to walk on leash, she was strong, she was dangerous. She chewed on everything, at 5 - months old and more than 50 Lbs, she took down a young tree and an above ground pool.
As an adult, at 110 lbs, she was fiercely independent, stubborn, intelligent, manipulative, sweet, & loving. She had nasty temper tantrums, like when trying to go somewhere and she didn't want, she would sit down and not move, like an adult-sized toddler. If you tried to force her, she would lie down and she wouldn't budge. Unfortunately, after a long fight, we lost her to cancer, she was only 8 years old.
I've read that Basenjis have some of the same personality "quirks", just on a smaller scale with less hair and drool. It was mostly the attitude I'm drawn to with the Basenji more than anything else; even though I like the idea of not having trash bags full of dog hair or getting your "nice" clothes slimed on your way out the door. I'm looking forward to a wild ride, with lots of laughs, and lots of love.