Top Poster?

[Quercus]

<<it is="" my="" sincere="" hope="" that="" this="" breed="" become="" well="" known="" as="" any="" retriever.="">>

AAACCKK!! Noooo! I know what you mean, but we REALLY, REALLY don't want to be any more popular than we are right now. Popularity is bad, bad news for rescue, unfortunately…It is also bad news for the genetic health of a breed as irresponsible breeders start to breed to put money in their pocket. Popularity is particularly dangerous for a breed that advertises well...for instance: small, doesn't bark, doesn't smell....imagine how many people would think 'what a perfect dog!' And as we all know, Basenjis are definitely not the dog for everyone!</it>

[Duke]

I think the term "well known" was misinterpreted as "popular". We definately don't want any breed or animal to be popular as in trendy. Such as the little tea cup and purse breeds popular as a fashion accessory; or the trend for Dalmations upon release of the movie "101 Dalmations".

I should clarify I meant it would be great if the Basenji is recognizable to the general population. That being said, recognizing a breed would bring an educated interest in the breeds characteristics. As such, not all breeds are for all people. ie. The Retreiver breeds are known as being quite docile, and a great dog for kids and family and are great hunting dogs. I for one have never heard of a breed called Basenji. Very few people I talk to know what this breed is either. If they have heard of this breed, some ask "Is that the Egyptian dog?" (3) veterinarians didn't guess this breed. Who knows if the people who abandoned Duke and his brother knew what kind of puppies they maimed and threw away. Duke's looks were deceptive. He was cute but was a "handful" when we brought him home. I can see why some people can not handle a wild and not very cuddly puppy if they weren't educated on the breed's characteristics. Now that I have Duke and am educated somewhat of Basenji character, I absolutely love this breed. Without learning about this breed, I probably wouldn't have ever owned one. But we came thru the back door into this breed because I had a weak moment for an abandoned puppy.

Amazing how interpreting things said and read can get scewed. It's all about communication.

It isn't a contest sheesh. If that were the case people would just be replying with messages like "Okay." or "Cute!" and that's it!!! That would be annoying!

Yes, that would be annoying! No, this is not a contest. As the admin stated:

Thank you to the top posters for contributing so many great discussions!

"Contratulations" is not in order, but "Thank you" is.

[Quercus]

<_>

Good point…there is a difference between "well known" and "popular"...I misinterpreted what you meant with the term "well known." Indeed, it would be nice if more people recoginzed a basenji, and knew the good and the bad about them. Sorry I misunderstood you, Jill :)_

[Lenora]

Dear Jill, I understood what you meant and thank you for your contributions. Everybody who posts here has something to offer, whether it's a question to start discussion, health info, or just a good laugh. I have loved and been owned by basenjis for 36 years and welcome questions from curious people who don't know anything about the breed. If that makes them want to go out and get a basenji, that's okay. Basenjis are tough little cookies to raise but if you share information about them with other people they are less likely to be abandoned or mistreated.

[Alex]

I agree about the extreme "popularity" of this particular breed being bad for the rescue. Some people don't realize what they are getting themselves into and just don't want or can't invest their time in proper research and training that are "required" to own a Basenji.

We created this forums community to make Basenjis more known, help educate prospective owners and allow easy information exchange between current, new and prospective Basenji owners in an open interactive format.

The top stats and other new features that we plan to implement on these forums, are intended to make this community more fun and interactive for the users. Other community enhancements will follow in the coming months and soon the active contribuitors in our community will be recognized and maybe even rewarded. Shouldn't they be? We think so.

Personally I would have appreciated a resource like this before getting a Basenji and we intent to build this into the biggest self moderated online Basenji community on the web.

Thank you again for making this community the way it is today!

[Lenora]

Dear Administrator: Thank you for giving us this forum! It's a great place to learn about this wonderful breed and responsibilities of owning basenjis whether you already have one or not. Proper education will prevent basenjis from being tossed away or abused because people don't understand them. We're all basenji owners but we don't have exclusive rights to own or love them.

[Quercus]

Great idea admin! The site is really fun and active, I love it!

BUT….who *are you? We have never seen an intro from you, have we?

[Alex]

Thank you. We will post our intro soon.

[JoeyQ]

Now call me crazy, but I clicked on this chat for the first time today to see what it's about and found that NO ONE can talk about anything other than our Bs!!!! I think you should change the discription!! LOL

[Quercus]

OH NO!! I am the top poster…must shut up for awhile until Jazzy's Mom catches up

[Duke]

Hey JoeyQ -

NO ONE can talk about anything other than our Bs!!!! I think you should change the discription!! LOL

Yes, the thread topics don't always represent current posts. I think that is because the posts flow and sometimes change direction away from the thread topic. There is a Chit-Chat thread. It would be nice to take our minds away from these dogs. My observation in the forum here is basically Basenji owners supporting each other. A self-help forum for raising this "stubborn" breed. (Is there a forum like this for parents raising babies/kids?)

I am editing this because:

Oh, I just realized we are in the Chit Chat section. Gosh - yes! We should be able to talk about other things in this section. I'm laughing as I'm typing.

[JoeyQ]

I tend to be very sarcastic and it doesn't always show through in an email format. I actually see nothing wrong with talking about our Bs everywhere! I am hooked already and Joey has been with us only 2 weeks!!!
Very humorous response, Jill!!!