Breed online tests?

[lvoss]

IME those online tests are good when you are very first starting a search but not really good once you are at the real information gathering/research phase. They are based on general breed descriptions and don't really get into the real heart of a breed.

The best way to see if a basenji is for you is to start visiting them at home and spending time with them. In the end, part of dog ownership is a leap of faith because no matter how much research you do there will always be a curve ball.

[kingvelox]

I see . I figured that there are already several characteristics about B that is appealing to me:

Clean
affectionate
not too loud(there are always exceptions)
catlike
easy to maintain(grooming)
not too big in size
big wrinkles on the forehead…

[kingvelox]

I know of a breeder in Riverside, but anyone knows of owners in the inland empire area in California where I might be able to pay a visit?

[lvoss]

I am not good with my Southern California geography. If you contact me, I can send you contact info for some breeders in Southern California. You can also find some listed in the following places:
The BCOA Breeder Directory: http://www.basenji.org/PUBLIC/BreederDirectory.htm

The South Coast Basenji Fanciers
http://basenjifanciers.com/Breeders.html

[nobarkus]

@kingvelox:

I know of a breeder in Riverside, but anyone knows of owners in the inland empire area in California where I might be able to pay a visit?

Medfly Brigade Basenji Rescue is in Acton off hwy 14 (near Palmdale). Karen has some that are hers that live in her house.

[kingvelox]

thanks! I think I have found some close to me.

[curlytails]

I've taken a couple of those before, just for kicks (never been happy with or used the results). This one that attempts to match the "canine-ality" of the dog (non breed-specific) to your preferred lifestyle:

http://www.tlr-arf.org/animal-programs/adoption/canine-ality.php

But I don't think you'd want to follow the lead of any online quiz that tells you what breed 'best' suits you, since the results are far from scientific. And neither is the process of choosing the right puppy!

Most of those online quizzes suck anyway because they stick to the dozen or so most popular breeds.

[kingvelox]

I just thought it might be interesting to see if those quizes took anyone to the b breed they have now..

[tanza]

@kingvelox:

I just thought it might be interesting to see if those quizes took anyone to the b breed they have now..

Nope, mine never came up with a Basenji…..:D

[lvoss]

I discovered the basenji breed when browsing an AKC breed book. After reading their breed description, I wanted to learn more about the breed. Spending the day with several basenjis at the BCONC specialty pretty much had me hooked. The whole process of breed research took over a year and really I had a planned to wait longer but after watching Nicky's litter grow up online, when he was available I just had to ask. That was 12 years ago and now I have 5 because for me they really are like potato chips, you can't have just one.

[tanza]

And I discovered Basenjis way, way back when I was a teenager. One of my girlfriends family had one and I never forgot that dog or the name. When I moved to California from the East Coast, I knew I would never be able to afford a home with land for horses, so turned to dogs to show and maybe someday breed…. That was in 1990... and still at it!

[Basenjimamma]

Hours and hours of research brought me to the african dogs, like Rhodesian Ridgeback and Basenji, basenji won out because of their uniqueness, smaller size and no barking..wow, with two really jappy dogs that one was my favorite.
We have a friend that has two Rhodesian Ridgebacks and as much as I love'em, they are just really big dogs..hers are very well mannered, conformation competes and is darling, but with already two dogs at home we decided to go for the smaller breed, the Basenji…I think we made an awesome choice, although our first basenji, Otis doesn't live with us any longer, we really love the uniqueness of the breed, the fact that they are not like the common dog, more of a "I come to you if I feel like it" kind of a dog..we are currently looking high and low for that perfect breeder, so we, hopefully, will have another basenji in our life soon again.

[curlytails]

I guess I came by the Basenji by way of my first dog, a Shiba, another purported "ancient breed." The two breeds sound, look, and behave similarly, so I'd always kept my eye out for Basenjis. I realized that I had a neighbor growing up in the '80s in Michigan who had a Basenji. Not that I knew this breed back then, but it was impressed on my childhood mind that that's just what dogs were supposed to look like. (Actually, there were a lot of purebred dogs on the block I lived during those few years – I distinctly remember the basenji, which I think lived with a Scottish terrier, then there was an ill-tempered mini schnauzer, a pair of Doberman sentry dogs with vicious barks [which scared the crap out of me], my best friend's Samoyed [which I also loved, even though she was always running away]…)

I didn't really get to meet any Basenjis until I moved out here to northern California. Found that our Shiba, who tends to dislike certain dogs by breed (he is always snarling at Huskies and Boxers, for example), would greet every basenji he saw with a full wagging tail and curious sniffs. So they made the shortlist of breeds we were considering when we decided a couple years ago that we wanted to adopt a second dog.

It took until about two months ago to find "the one", and she happened to be a Basenji. So that is how I found my way to the breed. And to this forum.