@tanza:
I agree and it also depends on the type of "shade" and care given. Dirty pens on dirty with only something like a tarp for some shade is not enough. Consider in the heat of Africia, dogs dig holes and deep to get the cooling of the layers below. And they do not lay in the same holes day after day after day… and they dig those holes under the bush, under trees... not in a pen that they are stuck in again, day after day after day. And also consider that we in the US do not have to let our companions live in those kind of conditions.. and if you do, then you need to reconsider why you have those animals to begin with.
eeeefarm, nothing personal, but I think you are way off base here
Of course it depends on the type of shade and care given. I'm not disputing that. I have not seen this breeder's establishment and was only commenting on the contention that Basenjis couldn't deal with the heat. Where I live outdoor dogs also dig holes and lie in them (in your garden, often). My girls used to do that…..we joked that they were making a hole to China in the dog run. Many people I know have farm dogs that never see the inside of a house, winter or summer, but they are healthy and well cared for. (for what it is worth, the inside of my house in a heat wave is often hotter than outside, especially in the evening or overnight.)
Perhaps the breed has changed a lot in recent years. My current boy was raised in air conditioning and isn't nearly as heat tolerant as my previous dogs, who preferred to be outside in the heat of the day, and even in extreme heat would lie in the sun as often as the shade. (and never, ever did I see them pant unless they were exerting themselves! Yes, they would occasionally do the B500 in the heat) Usually it was my Border Collie who lay in the hole, although the girls "helped" with excavation. I took the two girls on a trip to my sister's air conditioned place once and never did it again. They were so uncomfortable inside that I had to cover them with blankets!
Heat stroke......most cases I have seen with dogs have been due to being locked in a car in the sun. Never have I seen a problem with a dog that had access to good shade and water. Another big factor is humidity, which you will know if you've ever been in a sauna. We tend to get high humidity here when we get heat. I note that the humidity in Texas hot spots at the moment is low, but I don't know whether that is the usual condition or not.
I am going to the Kingston Sheepdog trials next weekend, where very hairy dogs will be working sheep in what is forecast to be a fairly hot weekend. I go every year to watch, and the temperature and humidity are often very high. The dogs cope quite well, even though they are exerting themselves in the extreme. Water is available both to drink and to lie in after their run, of course. But on Sunday during the double lift final, they will be working very hard for twenty minutes straight. No air conditioning for the entire weekend, for most of them. When they aren't working sheep, they lie in the shade by their owner's RV or trailer. As farm dogs, many have never experienced air conditioning in any event, and they come from all over North America for this trial.
I think we have quite a different perspective on this, maybe a country vs city point of view? It's likely also an age thing. Nobody had air conditioning when I was growing up! And currently none of my immediate neighbours have the luxury of air conditioning either, so perhaps that colours my thinking as well, but nobody I know has had any problems with their dogs due to hot weather.
Edited to add, my girls would, as mentioned, be outside on hot days because they preferred it. They were house dogs primarily but loved summer and heat, not winter and cold, and of course, never rain!! The Border Collie, OTOH, was an outdoor dog, as his job was to keep an eye on things on the farm. He was my constant companion when I worked around during the day, and at night he slept in a well insulated dog house close to the back door. He would alert me if anything untoward was going on outside.
I certainly don't support the lack of medical care, but these dogs are bred to live and work in a hot climate. Given adequate shade and water, not having A/C should not be considered a hardship, IMHO. (my current Basenji was raised in an air conditioned house, and he is easily the least heat tolerant of the Basenjis I have owned. My girls would not pant unless they were working hard in extremely hot weather, but he does)
