Urgent situation in Iowa

[tanza]

Yes, it is, however remember these Basenji are quite possibility not at all socialized and many that BRAT has taken this year are in the same position… unsocialized, fear of people, not house trained, and come with so much baggage... And even when taken into a home situation, they may never come around. There are people that I know that took KC rescue dogs from 5yrs ago (I think it was about that long now, but maybe more) that still can't get anywhere close to the dogs... they eat because someone feeds them, they go outside to potty because someone lets them... but they have no bond with humans... so because many of these have no social skills at all, it makes placement near to impossible.

That said, have you tried contacting any breeders? Especially now with today's economy, we have been seeing many breeder returns...

[mitt]

Tanza, thank you for the info. I just received a e-mail from a gent in Jersey who is a foster home. He has a brindle pup by the name of Roo. I found out everytime I try to reply to a add[BRAT] that I get a server disconnect message! how frustrating! I hope that Bill gives me a chance to give Roo a forever home. If you read my welcoming post [erbe de crabre] you will know where we have been and where we would like to be. I wanted a sinji pup,untill I found out there is b's in need of a good home.

[tanza]

Well that is great to hear.. and yes, sometimes… the internet has it problems... hope that all works out for you and you get to give a rescue B.. its forever home.

[BDawg]

I cross posted on the Basenji Dogster site– But it might even be worthwhile to cross post on Dogster's main site (for those who are dog lovers but who do not know the love of a B necessarily.) Thoughts??

[sharronhurlbut]

Mitt, I have to say I am sorry your not getting a response from BRAT.
Is there something I can do to help you?

[tanza]

While I think that BRAT does a great job (99% of the time) this is certainly not the first time that I have heard this story from people that are looking to adopt. And sometimes I think that their restrictions on who they will adopt to is a problem… personally each person/family needs to be looked at for ability to be a good dog "parent" and family. When people/groups put restrictions such as "if you don't have a yard" or if you have "children" as a restriction, many a good home is missed. People are then turned off and go else where...
Certainly internet and email problems can account for some of the problems, some of the time...
Have you tried BCOSW? and their rescues? Also you could check out http://thebasenji.com/available/avail.html and/or go to the Breeder directory of BCOA and contact breeders that are fairly local to you. There are other source out there…

[lvoss]

Here is BCOSW's website, http://bcosw.org/

[BDawg]

I have a person who is willing to foster at least one dog - they are in Lincoln, NE. http://www.dogster.com/dogs/766082 – that's her dogster page.

Someone who is involved, please contact her to set things up!

[wizard]

Is it too late for these Iowa dogs (today is Monday)? I would consider taking a female if I could get more information (does a kennel dog mean they are not housetrained; are they totally unsocialized; are they crazy). Is there someone coordinating this fiasco?

[tanza]

@wizard:

Is it too late for these Iowa dogs (today is Monday)? I would consider taking a female if I could get more information (does a kennel dog mean they are not housetrained; are they totally unsocialized; are they crazy). Is there someone coordinating this fiasco?

Yes 99% of the time a kennel dog in these situations mean they are not housetrained and mostly unsocialized. They were being used as breeding animals, not family companions.

[sharronhurlbut]

Just a reminder.
If any of you are thinking of helping any rescue dog from BRAT, you will need to go to the web site http://www.basenjirescue.org and fill out the forms.
Even if your not ready now, if you get your paperwork with BRAT in, you will be ready to step up to help dogs in need.
As badly as we need foster homes, we also need transport and folks to do home visits for people who wish to adopt.
Sometimes we just need folks to open their home to people so they can meet b's in a family setting and see if they like our wonderful dogs behaviors.
So, getting this done now, will allow you to help with as much or as little as you wish to, for dogs in the future.

[sharronhurlbut]

My understanding is that the woman who had the b's has placed them in private homes in her area. I am not sure, maybe via the newspaper, but that part could be wrong.
Course non are fixed, so we will probably be seeing some show up in rescue down the line.

[BDawg]

I also got word that BRAT has stepped in to help. There's a Dogster user named Hunter who has said they can take a foster too.

I love dogs. And I love all you people who love them too. Way to work together!!

[sharronhurlbut]

Please pass on the BRAT info so that they can be ready to help the next group in need.
This never ends..sigh!

[BDawg]

I just got another p-mail from my Dogster pal. Thought I'd give you an update of what she wrote. Copied with her permission…

Hi!

I wanted to let you know that my husband went up to the lady's house with the intention of picking up the two Basenji's that were left, but one of them was totally and utterly scared of everyone (including the owners?) and wouldn't come out from where it was hiding. My husband said that they had tried to get her out before he got there and that she had bitten someone. So he sadly left with only one dog, Harley, a female who is 5 years old. He asked for vet records and was basically informed that she had none. He said the conditions were pretty disgusting, feces and etc. everywhere. He also said that it appeared to be a breeding operation, and that the woman sounded like she was getting into breeding MinPin's (she had three of them, that he saw at least).

Also of note is that he said Harley's teats were enlarged, and when he asked the lady if she had just had a litter he was informed that she had not had a litter for 2 years. We are taking her to the vet tomorrow to be fully vetted/heartworm tested, etc. and hopefully they will be able to determine if she is pregnant or not, and if not then we will schedule her for a spay too. If so, then we got more than we bargained for but at least the puppies will be well-cared for and not used for making money! He said Harley has a great temperament and just acted as though she were exhausted. She has slept most of the way home. They haven't arrived home yet but I expect them within the next few hours.

I'll keep you updated!

**
She also said that once the dust settles, she'll probably set up a dogster page for her too.

[tanza]

From what I have been told, all the dogs were going to be taken by Animal Control, however due to and overload of the shelters, they had put it off… It was said that she was more of a "horder" then a breeding operation...
I also was told that she (the woman that owns the dogs) put an ad in the local paper and people local came and took the dogs... I had heard that there were two left... must be the two that your friend is talking about.

Nice to hear that one was taken to a good home.... and a nice surprise that not all of them were scared to death of humans... that is super to hear... I hope that she checks out OK with the Vet....

[achandl2]

@BDawg:

I just got another p-mail from my Dogster pal. Thought I'd give you an update of what she wrote. Copied with her permission…

Hi!

I wanted to let you know that my husband went up to the lady's house with the intention of picking up the two Basenji's that were left, but one of them was totally and utterly scared of everyone (including the owners?) and wouldn't come out from where it was hiding. My husband said that they had tried to get her out before he got there and that she had bitten someone. So he sadly left with only one dog, Harley, a female who is 5 years old. He asked for vet records and was basically informed that she had none. He said the conditions were pretty disgusting, feces and etc. everywhere. He also said that it appeared to be a breeding operation, and that the woman sounded like she was getting into breeding MinPin's (she had three of them, that he saw at least).

Also of note is that he said Harley's teats were enlarged, and when he asked the lady if she had just had a litter he was informed that she had not had a litter for 2 years. We are taking her to the vet tomorrow to be fully vetted/heartworm tested, etc. and hopefully they will be able to determine if she is pregnant or not, and if not then we will schedule her for a spay too. If so, then we got more than we bargained for but at least the puppies will be well-cared for and not used for making money! He said Harley has a great temperament and just acted as though she were exhausted. She has slept most of the way home. They haven't arrived home yet but I expect them within the next few hours.

I'll keep you updated!

**
She also said that once the dust settles, she'll probably set up a dogster page for her too.

Thanks for the update. It sounds like such a sad situation. It is good to know that your friend was able to help at least one of the dogs.

[BDawg]

Another Update from Harley's new Mom:
Here is an update on Harley!

The vet visit went surprisingly well. They said Harley looks really good, considering where she came from. They said she has an umbilical hernia and should never have been bred (big surprise!) and that when she is spayed they can take care of that. The doc felt for pups and didn't feel any, and said that an ultrasound isn't reliable until the puppies are 30 days old. So I guess we will wait a little bit longer since we have no idea. She said that they could go ahead and do a spay and just, uh, remove any puppies along with everything else, but I am not sure how I feel about that.

They gave Harley a distemper shot and want to space out her other shots so that she will hopefully not have any reactions, took blood for a heart worm test, and said that Harley could stand to lose a few pounds. They also suggested that we give her another bath.

As a side note, she has doggie dandruff! It's really bad and looks kinda gross, but she doesn't scratch herself anything. I don't know if a poor diet could be causing it or maybe her skin was irritated from having who knows what on it for so long. So we will probably do one more bath here in the next week and maybe start her on some fish oil to see if that helps at all.

She is still just hanging out in her crate most of the time. She has started to stretch out rather than just lay curled up in a tiny ball, so I think she is feeling more comfortable. Her crate is in the living room and we have been allowing her to stay in there, hoping that she will become more comfortable and maybe start to come out on her own. Also she woke us up at 4 a.m. last night to go outside (she makes such funny noises!), so that is really excellent. I was afraid potty training might be really hard. She has had one accident in the house but that's really to be expected.

So I guess that's all for now! Here are two pics:

http://members.cox.net/titan8813/cheney/harleyup.JPG

http://members.cox.net/titan8813/cheney/harleydown.JPG

[sharronhurlbut]

She is so lucky to have found you.
Do keep us updated.

[lvoss]

Though I agree Harley should not have been bred, an umbilical hernia is not reason not to breed. Many basenjis have umbilical hernias, as long as they are closed and just trapped fat, there is no problem with them.

When was Harley in season? Many shelters do spays on girls that are early in a suspected pregnancy to prevent more puppies from being born. It is a tough decision but make sure that the new owner also considers that you don't have any health testing results like Fanconi test results and could produce puppies that will have the disease. Also pregnancy will put a lot of stress on her body so if she is not in good condition then the pregnancy will exacerbate some conditions.