Posts made by lighthouseparkB

Just wanted to say a quick hello and say that our basenji girl turned 13 today! Vi is almost toothless after surgery a few weeks ago, but is still trotting around with energy…not bad for the equivalent of a 90+ year old human!

Merry,

Welcome to the forum! We are "rookies" at having had Basenjis in our lives just under a dozen years (our girl Vi turned 12 earlier this month) but look forward to each one's special personality and presence!

Regards,
Elaine

Yes, if you have both Explorer and Firefox/Mozilla installed, you can vote once on each browser!

Hi all,

No yodels yet from the "new guy", but Hakeem (renamed from Dream) & Vi will share the sunny spots now! Unfortunately I let them outside before dinner Sunday to do their business (and thought Vi had caught sight of a squirrel) and they did their B group hunting on a young skunk which was attracted to our freshly mowed lawn…Hakeem got a little on his back which went away with the first dose of Natures Miracle, but Vi got some along the right side of her face around the mouth/muzzle/nose and into the ear...that takes way longer to clear out. She has been skunked once before about 4 years ago and it took weeks for the smell to completely dissappear as it was around her right eye then. So, all you folks loving the wildlife in Vancouver, there IS a downside!

BEK,

Good questions. Our first 2 B's as pups were crated when we were not at home, but when they got out of the puppy chewing stage and mellowed a little we gradually let them have more run of the house and they were fine from about 2 years/onwards. Our new guy seems okay so far too but is crated when we are all out and will gradually get more "privileges" as he proves himself. That being said, the house is pretty much baby and basenji proofed (as much as possible).

On allergies, I am allergic for most dogs but am fine around Basenjis. Many people we know in the same situation have come over and not reacted either. The time we have gone on vacation and come back, I do usually get stuffed up for about a day. These guys do shed, especially spring time when the winter coat comes out, but other than the hair you will probably not react.

BEK,

Congratulations on adopting the little cutie! I'm so glad to hear someone who is obviously concerned enough about getting as much information about your new dog adopted this little guy from the shelter and found this forum online. We're in Vancouver, BC and while we haven't had a Basenji pup in the house for almost 11 years, we had 2 at the same time (littermates) - we lived by the old adage that "a tired Basenji is a good Basenji", and with the recent addition of a 3 year old brindle boy we have rediscovered the benefits of beef/veal chews…they provide something that takes time for them to work through with their teeth that isn't yours!

There was little to no information on the Petfinder posting that I saw, and Basenjis are hard to come by in Canada.

Regards,
Elaine

Welcome! You are so lucky that you will be able to visit with the pups from a week old until you take yours home with you. We were able to view our first Basenji pup (ended up plural as we took home 2 littermates but didn't know it at the time) at 3 days old, and visited about every 2 weeks until they were old enough to come home with us. Wouldn't trade those early glimpses of their personalities for anything!

Does BRAT have someone in the Canadian prairies area that can help? He's a 3 month old brindle cutey!

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/16420346

Now if I can just get a yodel out of him!!!

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to send out a quick update - Dream has been with us about a month and is fitting in very nicely to the household. He loves stuffed toys but has become more selective about the ones he plays with…mostly actual dog toys, and will even "fetch" his favorites Basenji style. While we still have the belly band on him indoors, he has not attempted to mark for several weeks and has been fairly good on leash during walks. He is very patient with the kids and is quite a snuggler. He and Vi still really won't have much to do with each other but there's very little snarkiness.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. We lost our own tri boy Tucker last October to liver complications at age 11, and I'm sure your boy is as dear to you as ours was. My one regret was that we did not return to the vets in time to be with him as his passed - his condition went downhill very quickly and he slipped away before we could get back to say goodbye to him.

Thanks for your comments & suggestions on this issue! After a little over a week, Dream seems to have settled down and figured out this is "home" now. We have limited his access to most of the house unless leashed with us, and while he is still wearing the belly band when indoors and not crated, he has not peed in it for 3 days now.

I think I've been trying to acclimatize him too fast as I have this week working from home to get him used to his surroundings & our home. There's usually someone home, but it's not the ones used to handling the B's so I'd hoped to keep him confined to the main living area. We have doublegated the upstairs but will have to close off access and get the 10+ year old long/laundry line out which we used to tie to the pups when training them. The belly band does not seem to deter him much even though it should feel wet to him. The plan is to crate him during the day when no one can supervise, and at night until he's a little more used to everything. Great suggestions and feedback, everyone - it's very much appreciated given we never dealt with it with the first 2 Basenjis…and I thought it might have come up with fosters or other adult dog placements for someone else.

I think you're right about too much freedom at once…most rooms are babygated but with 2 kids and me trying to work from home this week to ease the transition, Dream's gotten more access to "real estate" than I had intended for the first week. He has kept his crate dry every time he's been in it, whether overnight or for a short time when no one is in the house during the day, so if it were a UTI he wouldn't he also have soiled there?

He was checked out by Deb's vet before coming to us and was neutered just over a month ago so it's most likely marking as it's only a small amount vs. the full on pees he has once outdoors. We are using Nature's Miracle to clean up the pee and he has not hit the same spot twice (yet). 2x family room carpet/furniture, 1x hardwood family room, 2x living room rug, 1x den rug, 1x dog fleecy pad in prime sunny spot, 1x guest bathroom rug. So different from Tucker, who would NEVER do his business while in the house or even on our property unless there was no choice!

Hi everyone,

Dream, a 3 year old male (neutered in Feb 2010) joined our family a week ago and has been doing very well adjusting from life with his breeder to a family home with two toddlers & a 11 year old spayed Basenji female. We're working on learning how to sit, not pull, etc., but the big thing to date has been peeing/marking in the house. It's been a couple of times each day, mostly on carpet/rug…we have bought a belly band and have been using that for the past 2 days but he is still wetting that even though he is let out quite often and goes consistently out there. My question is, have people found belly bands to be effective and how do we phase it out over time? We have a water spray bottle on hand just in case he goes after the kids stuffed animals (while the kids have them in their arms) and plan to spend time with the "diaper" off when we don't get distracted by kids/work, etc. and spray him if he tries to pee in the house. Dream's breeder recommended trying the belly band as he is probably trying to assert ownership of the house over Vi and any remaining scent of Tucker (who passed just over six months ago). He did not mark at their home so this is new behaviour. Any recommendations?

Dream was in the backyard doing his business this morning pre-walk and there were 3 bald eagles circling above. I think that helped him decide not to explore much and bolt back indoors! All the rocks I lugged in to reinforce the base of our chain link fence has not been put to the test yet, and the squirrels are wisely staying clear of our yard for now. Even if the dogs never test it, if it stops the occasional skunk from coming in it was worth it! Vi was skunked in our backyard about 4 years ago when I was just getting over morning sickness w/child #2.

Dream is from Orru Basenjis in Ladysmith (Vancouver Island). They have retired from breeding but we used to lure course against their Basenjis when Tucker and Vi were competing. I knew Vi would not take as well to an "all on" pup so if we got another Basenji, it would need to be an adult male, and one that Vi could meet and get along with, which would make taking in a rescue a bit of a challenge. The Verzyls had two that fit the bill and the family met both around Christmastime and Dream was the best personality fit. Tucker & Vi's breeder has also retired from breeding, and the newer breeder when we were lure coursing moved to PEI (I think). The only one I'm aware of locally now is Terrarust.

Dream has decided one of his missions in life in this household is to take my 3yr sons favorite stuffy toy (a monkey that's seen MUCH better days) - my son can't sleep w/o Tico so this should be interesting. Dream pulls like mad on leash as he's not used to regular walking but we've been going through the house with a leash clipped and doing the foot stomps at the stairs & doorways to reinforce who is alpha. He is starting to learn the sit too so all those obedience courses with Tucker and Vi are still rattling around somewhere in my brain!

We used to take our B's to off-leash parks, and up in the mountains where there were no other dogs or vehicles. Had to be careful in open areas where bears might lounge, but otherwise there were some nice routes that woud take around 2 hours…you'd never see the dogs again for the rest of the day after getting home as they'd be out cold (much like after lure coursing). You can never stress enough that a tired Basenji is a good Basenji!

The dog shows in Chilliwack run all weekend through Monday at the Heritage Park just off Hwy #1 - Google the site & April 2010 dog show and I think you can pull up a link to the judging schedules. Not that many Basenjis entered (4-5 each day).

Dream was good overnighting in his crate and Vi didn't even bother coming upstairs to ask for a spot in bed (not cold enough). Vi is still snarking but was fine when we started them on their walk this morning as I made sure she went through the door first and then handed the leash over to my husband. The kids are learning that a younger Basenji wants to be more involved with them, AND their toys so they are learning fast that picking up after themselves is not just to keep things tidy, but a survival issue for their stuff : )

We took our B's to Ambleside Park once in a while, but preferred to go up into the mountains and do hikes around Cypress Mountain instead.