• Hi Tana and welcome! It sounds like you've done a lot of research, but you might also want to check out the Basenji rescue and Transport site's "reality stories" page…
    http://www.basenjirescue.org/REALITY%20STORIES/default.htm
    It will give you some information about potential trouble with owing a B. As someone here once said, if this doesn't scare you away then the Basenji just might be the breed for you! They really are amazing dogs, but they seem best suited to folks with a sense of humor and a lot of patience! Good luck in your quest!


  • Bewler- Thanks for the welcome. I actually have already read those pages, in fact I began with the Ugly and worked my way back to the Good. And no, it doesn't scare me! I love Dobermans and Siberian Huskies, but in our current living situation we can't have any big dogs so I specifically looked for a small breed with a similar big dog personality. I'm already working on my fiance to not leave stuff he doesn't want destroyed in an easy to reach place, though I'd be doing that even if we planned on getting a breed which wasn't prone to "modifying" items. He's used to his dog Blacky who only ever wanted to destroy his stuffed toys and any stuffed animals within sight. I'm used to my Beagle who had the philosophy of "if I can get it, I can bury it" as well as my aunt's Bloodhound, who I've often dog-sat, who is a goat in Bloodhound skin (and she has the vet bills to prove it). My philosophy is it's just stuff and it's not like we have expensive stuff; except for this giant armoire his mother bought us…but we don't really like it anyway :p


  • You must have visited Midge? Good breeder and lovely Basenjis. Is Midge planning a litter this year?


  • Welcome to the forum…

    ...good luck in finding your basenji companion.


  • Yes, we visited Midge; lovely woman and lovely dogs. Two litters actually, 1 is due right about now if they haven't already made their appearance and the 2nd is due next month. My fiance was quite taken with her tricolor girl who is due next month and I thought it was the cutest, funniest thing when her male came right up and began rubbing all over my legs. On the way home we joked that we'd have a cat-like dog and see about eventually adopting a Savannah from the Savannah Rescue so then we'd have a dog-like cat!


  • @TMartin:

    Yes, we visited Midge; lovely woman and lovely dogs. Two litters actually, 1 is due right about now if they haven't already made their appearance and the 2nd is due next month. My fiance was quite taken with her tricolor girl who is due next month and I thought it was the cutest, funniest thing when her male came right up and began rubbing all over my legs. On the way home we joked that we'd have a cat-like dog and see about eventually adopting a Savannah from the Savannah Rescue so then we'd have a dog-like cat!

    Is the Tri's girl name Zuri's Ti-Chardonnay At Serengeti (I forget her call name)? If so, I have known her since she was born, as she was born in California. Her breeder is/was my mentors when I started in the breed. She is a very pretty girl. And she is related to my C-Me (Ch Klassic-Tanza Color Me Tri), you can see a picture of C-Me on my website. You will find many of us are related by our Basenjis. Who did Midge breed her to, do you remember the sire's name?

    And my very first Basenji, OJ, who lived to the ripe old age of 17yrs, 4 months was sired by Midge's great boy, Ch Music City Serengeti Jazzman.


  • For the life of me I cannot remember her name or call name. Midge said she had loved her mother when she saw her at a show and knew then that she wanted one of her girls especially since the tri girl is related back to her own lines. The sire's call name I can recall off the top of my head, Potter, he was the one who promptly gave me a rub down. I'll be sure to ask Midge their registered names again when I email or call her. C-Me is beautiful. And over 17 yrs! If only we were all so lucky as to have our pets around that long.


  • Yes, Tri Girl's Mom is Zuri's Mugabe (Gabi), her Mom is Zuri's Matuko and her Mom is Zuri's Sauti who was sired by the same sire as my OJ, Ch Music City Serengeti Jazzman. Gabi will be 11 in December and Matuko will be 16 in January. Sauti I believe crossed the rainbow bridge at 15 or 16.

    Tell Midge that Pat Fragassi says HI!


  • Sounds like you're doing all the right stuff! If you started with the ugly and didn't stop reading you are probably a great candidate for a Basenji! As folks here will tell you - you begin to adopt an attitude where the awful things they do are really pretty funny as opposed to horrifying! In fact, there is a kind of sense of pride that comes from surviving Basenji antics. Again, welcome - most of the people here are far more knowledgeable than I and I have learned SO much from reading these posts.


  • If you get a Potter pup, it will be closely related to my Zoni on both the Jerlin and Serengeti sides, so we'll be related by dog too. He also sired a litter with Zoni's sister. They produced some nice dogs.

    Welcome, can't wait to hear more!


  • Welcome to the forum, Tana.


  • Hi TMartin, If you want to see a bunch of basenjis in action, you are welcome to join us at dog park in Tampa on sunday mornings. we meet up at West Park in Hillsborough county (6 acres) and have anywhere from 6 to 18 basenjis. We are very informal, some days only a few of us come, other days everyone in the very-loose-group shows up, then we have a mob of basenjis. It is great fun to see them all play and socialize and we would love to meet you, with or without your pup. If you are over this way, google Hillsborough county parks and look for West Park dog park, they have great maps and directions.


  • If you would like to see basenjis run agility, there will be three basenjis at the Eukanuba Invitational in Orlando Dec. 16,17&18th at the Orange County Convention Center. There will also be a meet the breed booth and there will be basenjis doing conformation too.


  • @sinbaje:

    If you would like to see basenjis run agility, there will be three basenjis at the Eukanuba Invitational in Orlando Dec. 16,17&18th at the Orange County Convention Center. There will also be a meet the breed booth and there will be basenjis doing conformation too.

    I'm actually getting married on the 17th down in Ft Myers where I'm originally from and where most of my immediate family still lives. Otherwise I'd be all for stopping by and meeting some Basenjis since it's right there! I joked with my fiance that if I had looked up that info a few months ago we'd have adjusted our date a week earlier 😃

    Macpack- I may try to swing by there some Sunday. We have passes to Busch Gardens that expire in Feb so we want to go a few more times between now (or more realistically after the wedding) and then. So hopefully we'll get to meet a few semi-local Basenjis and their people soon.

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