EF5 Basenji

[Randy Henry]

When you are owned by Basenjis, you learn so many things.

Some background info. Franklin loves to escape. So in our Vibe we put a barrier behind the back seats and the dogs ride in the back. The Vibe has a liftup tailgate (a hatchback?).

So Frankie, Ellie and I are at my folks, getting ready to leave. This is in town, about a block from a very busy 4-lane street. As I lift the hatchback, Frankie jumps right in but Ellie sees something and rips the leash from my hand. Not wanting to try to get her with Frankie in tow, I throw my purse in the back with Frankie and slam the hatch shut.

Fortunately Ellie only went down the street a couple of houses and came to me. I go to open the hatch. It's locked. Oh ****.

All the doors are locked. And guess where the car keys are. Yep, in my purse, in the car. Which is locked.

I take Ellie back into the house and call my hubby to please come with his keys. Thank God he was in the area and not off somewhere out of town!

Meanwhile, I go out and talk to Frankie because he's trying to figure out why we're not getting in the car. And of course, he figures out how to get through the one small area of the barrier so he is all over the interior of the car, dragging his leash. A leash which gets caught on stuff, so of course he chewed through the leash. Oh well, it's a Lupine leash so I can get it replaced free.

After my husband gets there and we're all squared away again, I really start to look around. After Franklin got through the barrier, he not only chewed through his leash, he ate half a dozen brownies on the seat, shredded some Kleenex, and chewed the passenger seat belt in half. Damn.

So after 250.00 for a new seat belt and several hours of work done by us later, we have a new seatbelt in and several lessons learned. At least he didn't get sick from the brownies.

1. Always keep your car keys in your pocket.
2. Don't assume the barrier is fool-proof.
3. Always take the brownies with you.

[jonny b.]

only a basenji. lol it wouldnt be a REAL basenji if he didnt do that.

[sharronhurlbut]

I had to replace 2 sets of seat belts….
Those basenji teeth go right through them!

[nobarkus]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune. Luckily Ellie didn't disappear or get hit. I keep an extra set of keys in a magnet hid-a key stuck in an area of my truck chassis for easy retrieval. I always try to keep that leash handle wrapped around my wrist in case of a sudden lunge or take off. I have a truck so all my Basenjis ride in the back which a camper shell. By the way Lupine just replaced a leash a had that mine chewed through 2 weeks ago at the vet while they had him in the back for x-rays.

[Kipawa]

Very good post - thanks for sharing. What you experienced can also happen with you opening the hatchback to get the dogs out. In the past, I have used the command "back back" with my sister's dog. She then knows that the hatch will not open fully until she sits patiently at the back of the hatchback area. Once the hatch is open, I go for the leash first to avoid an overly exhuberant dog taking off towards to dog park area.

Gee, you lost your brownies. That really saddens me.

[basenji_fan]

LOL sorry to laugh but this has happened to me, but not by a basenji by my boxer when he was about 18 months old in a RENTAL car :eek: I had him buckled in and he started snacking on the middle seat belt.

[nobarkus]

@basenji_fan:

LOL sorry to laugh but this has happened to me, but not by a basenji by my boxer when he was about 18 months old in a RENTAL car :eek: I had him buckled in and he started snacking on the middle seat belt.

Maybe Toyota should offer something like Lupine for their seat belts to get customers back.