Hi everyone! I'm Michelle and I've just adopted our new baby Roux! My hubs and I are new to the breed, but so far, BEST PUPPY EVER! We live in Taipei, Taiwan where there are only 17 adult Basenji and we're excited to have one of the pups from this winter!
Thank you for the opportunity to join your community!
If you feel like following our little family, we're on IG @coconutroux

@jengosmonkey
LOL this is a really important convo to be having! I'm honored that it takes place on my thread and yes, I absolutely agree with the points y'all are making.
People do need to know where their pups are coming from and whether they were responsibly bred. To think of it coldly, I wouldn't buy a house without looking into its history and possible problems, or I might face ridiculous stress, expense, and emotional trauma from subsequent issues that come up later. As a consumer, one should do their homework not only on the breed but on the breeder.
A breeder who produces puppies carelessly is basically a horrible human being in my book. It was a huge, thoroughly thought out moral decision for me not to adopt but to buy a purebred puppy, as I've worked with rescues before. I took this step with the possible goal of being a custodian. If a breeder is irresponsible in all the aforementioned ways, not only are they producing dogs with a higher possibility of suffering, muddying this ancient breed, and swindling people, they are needlessly taking potential homes away from dogs that need one AND frequently causing dogs to be abandoned! If there weren't any PMs or BYBs, imagine how many people would get schooled by rescue folk and responsible breeders into taking dog-parenting seriously before they ever took one home!
Sorry for the rant; I COMPLETELY understand the internal screaming that happens within some of you when you find out a pup is from a mill or crap breeder. If people like you and I keep yelling about it, we will change a few minds, which make all the difference to a few dogs which is better than no dogs

@zande Agreed! See if you can find a source for natural raw bones? Some boutique pet stores stock frozen, and if there are butchers in your area, they'll be able to get some for you! I have seen some specialty markets stock bone for dishes like Ossobucco which would work too.
Don't cook them, the temp increase hardens them and often makes them brittle so they break off in shards. Raw bones are soft enough for teething and onwards as they'll wear down slowly over time and they'll last just as long if not longer than your standard bully sticks and stuff

@Kembe CONGRATS ON THE NEW PUP!

I have nothing to add, just that Roux, at the tender age of 4 months, figured out that if she has a running start, she can get on the kitchen counter. 4 months. I suspect when she's grown she'll be able to fly!

@jengosmonkey Goodness I'm so glad my attention was drawn to this post! I spent a good long while reading through here, feeling your emotions as you raised your first litter from birth to new homes, and I have to thank you so much for sharing your experience. Sparkle, Logan, and the monkeys of your household did a wonderful job raising those babies and I hope you do get to see them again often!
I completely agree with the highest priorities being health and disposition and I'm nervously looking forward to the results of Roux's testing so I can do my part of continuing our custodianship of this wonderful breed in my corner of the world!
In the meantime, I'll be showing Roux once she gets a smidge bigger; I've got to get some ribbons and a title for this pretty girl!

@kembe @JENGOSMonkey @basenjimom2
Yep she's a girl and so very sweet!
I've raised a few other breeds and I have to say I've been completely won over! She's def difficult to train, losing interest quickly unless I have the most delicious of treats, but even with shorter sessions, she's learned sit, shake, down, bang (fall over), and wait (about 5 seconds so far) and she's just 4 months! Also completely housebroken though there's an occasional accident that's mostly our fault for not paying attention to her communication, which is very quiet. Compared to my ex-roomie's rottie or even my mom's poodle, that's fast!
She's very good at reading faces and voices and even comforted my godson when he fell down and was crying! I'm getting used to having her constantly sit on my foot while I'm cooking or working at my desk, and she's actually very responsive when being naughty and told no. My husband's favorite time is most evenings after playtime when she curls up on my husband's belly while he watches TV
Is this how all basenji are? I'm hooked LOL

Little Miss Roux is five days into her first heat and the diapers were a huge success! It seems she really doesn't mind wearing clothes at all; in fact, she'll move her head or lean into putting things on, as if she wants to wear them! So, I bought some washable panties to stick liners on for the sake of the environment, and the husband began insisting that she not walk around the house "topless" his exact words being, "It looks like we're running a titty bar in here!" which meant I bought some tops too.
Enjoy! I'll sporadically post outfits as her heat continues!

@zande Well I for one, am super impressed by how we're all only slightly separated by one or two degrees! History and connection are important and I hope more people contribute their information!

Hey just saw these four Bs on IG, figured I should post it here in case anyone knows about them or is interested in adopting:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CcV1LV3P6rV/?fbclid=IwAR31t7hmdKAW6I8FZZ2nD1P4ln-h45sPkXLBedzU76iSYLLP7ve4Drh4cMY

UPDATE! So it's been two weeks after switching over to raw lunch and kibble dinner, and all this time Roux's poop has been completely normal!

The pellets she makes from raw food is surprisingly compact and low odor. She's had chicken wings, beef, pork, mackerel, tilapia, and salmon, plus side dishes of egg, veggies and fruit, with a sprinkling of BARF supplement powder.
I did wind up taking her off of Orijen Puppy, which seemed to be causing more soft-serve than Nutram, and now she's on Wellness Core and Nutram T25 with pinches of Castor & Pollux, Spring Naturals, Merrick, and other grain-free formulas (I get sample packs free from the shop ). The kibble poop is a little softer than the raw poop, but completely normal and easy to pick up.
For treats she gets dried meats, a small amount of cat food kibble for training, and human goodies like yogurt or kitchen scraps like zucchini ends. For chews she has a dental stick once a week and every day I'll give her a hunk of frozen raw lamb or pork femur to alleviate the teething pain. And that old yak cheese stick is still there, even though she works on it in her crate sometimes. That thing is shortening very, very slowly.

I'm just happy we've finally got control on the number 2 situation... I was worried she was uncomfortable or at least wasn't absorbing properly. Perhaps it was just too much rich kibble? Not sure what the reason is here, but thanks for the help and support everyone!

Hahaha loved this story! I was definitely expecting something along the lines of teeth-on-nose but this is amazing!! CONGRATS on being able to breathe again!

@kristiesad Ah, you have to resize the photos (with any photo editing app) to upload them here! I had some trouble figuring that out myself when I first arrived. Also, WELCOME DOLCE and her older sibling!

@jengosmonkey Indeed!! Such a wonderful breed, I must make sure people know about Bs!

Congrats!! I'm also constantly surprised that my B girl isn't that difficult! Bs have a reputation

Thanks guys! Turns out I'm that owner who dresses her dog up in ridiculous outfits

Little Miss Roux is five days into her first heat and the diapers were a huge success! It seems she really doesn't mind wearing clothes at all; in fact, she'll move her head or lean into putting things on, as if she wants to wear them! So, I bought some washable panties to stick liners on for the sake of the environment, and the husband began insisting that she not walk around the house "topless" his exact words being, "It looks like we're running a titty bar in here!" which meant I bought some tops too.
Enjoy! I'll sporadically post outfits as her heat continues!

I have nothing to add, just that Roux, at the tender age of 4 months, figured out that if she has a running start, she can get on the kitchen counter. 4 months. I suspect when she's grown she'll be able to fly!

@tanza THANK GOODNESS! They just looked so scared and lost in the pictures/video my heart was breaking
I do hope they find homes for them soon! Thank you for the update!

Hey just saw these four Bs on IG, figured I should post it here in case anyone knows about them or is interested in adopting:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CcV1LV3P6rV/?fbclid=IwAR31t7hmdKAW6I8FZZ2nD1P4ln-h45sPkXLBedzU76iSYLLP7ve4Drh4cMY

@jengosmonkey While looking for a B breeder here I was subjected to SO MANY SCAMMERS! They were mostly on Facebook and I reported as many as I could. It's frustrating the number of cons but also frustrating the number of fools. Why don't people do their homework? Scammers are easy to spot as long as you know what questions to ask! Obviously if it's some sort of master con-artist, that's one thing, but those are few and far between from my many months of searching.
Anyway, THANK YOU GOOGLE for shutting that guy down! Win!