In my experience with my basenji, he had a very high thresh hold for pain and I know that if something was on the other side of the fence that he may have wanted, nothing would have stopped him. The breed is a hunter and can do amazing unexpected things. They are also very swift and quiet.

For My Little Boy Damian

I hear the drums echoing tonight
But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation
She's coming in twelve-thirty flight
Her moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards
salvation
I stopped an old man along the way
Hoping to find some old forgotten words or ancient melodies
He turned to me as if to say: "Hurry boy, it's waiting there for
you"
It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had
The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless longing for some solitary company
I know that I must do what's right
Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti
I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that
I've become
It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had
Hurry boy, she's waiting there for you
It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had.

thoes are beautiful. My grandmother actually got the statue of the red and white you have on the bottom. I keep it on the fire place mantle so I am always being watched over. I am sorry for your loss.

I am sorry for your loss and you are in my thoughts and heart.

my prayers and sympathies are with you. My Damian went through similar symptoms before he passed.

I am sorry for your loss. IM sure he misses you just as much as you must miss him.

16, that was the age of Damian when he passed. Lots of love and a happy home can do that. Maybe it's just the breed, but they love you right to the end.

I was reading all of thoes poems and I started to cry. They are exactly what I feel and think. Thank you for sharing them.

I have many stories I could tell you about my little man, however, right now I really just need some support. Damian was put down November of 2006, he was 16 years young. I have had him since I was 13 just turning 14. I cannot begin to tell you the pain and extreme loneliness I feel without my pack.
He was my first dog and my very best friend. There were times, many actually, where he was the only one I could trust. He never let me down and he was always on my side. Where ever I was he was, well assuming I could manage to keep his attitude under control. His temperment wasn't the best, but he loved his family and those close enought to him to be considered his "pack".
Oddly enough, we found Damian in a pet shop. He was cooped up in another cage with another dog at the mall of all places. Initally we left him there, but just moments later rushed back to take him home. We knew that he needed us just as we discovered we needed him.
As you may or may not know, when you buy a dog from a pet shop they refer you to their vet for shots and a check up. Well their vet paved in a beginning for Damian that was rough. This vet gave Dame his shots while he was sitting down eating a dog traet. No harm right?… wrong, my dog yelpped so loud you would think that some one had stepped on his tail or something. Turns out that the vet hit one of his hind quarter muscles and paralized him for about a week. We found that out that night. Damian was having trouble walking. It progressively became worse to the point where if he was even touched, he would scream in pain. My mom and I rushed him to the emergency vets. He was given pain killers and asked for the information on the vet who initiated the shots.
Well, the first vet was prosecuted and the pet shop was closed down. Turns out that all of the dogs the shop had came from puppy mills out of Nebraska and Nevada. Damian came from Nebraska puppy mill. My mom was able to track down this particular puppy mill, and tried to get Damians mother. Unfortunatly, by the time she was found she had been bread to death and thrown in a wheel barrel like she was nothing. This was so heart breaking. My mom fought to get that mill torn down and the owners prosecuted. For Damian, his mother and all of the other mistreated dogs. She was successful and Damian I think some how knew what she had done for him and his mother. We also found out that Damian was taken from his mothe too early and was never taught how to yodel. He sure figured it out soon enough though. This was just one of my many adventures with my little man. Fortunately his life gets better, but not until a few more trials and tribulations. Funny enough, we knew NOTHING about basenjis when Damian joined our family. We were in for a wild ride, but a ride that was the best 16 years of my life. All this in just the first month. Damian was betwee 6 and 9 weeks when we brought him home. I think about him all of the time and I would give anything just to spend one more night listening to his snoring and fighting with him because he takes up an ENTIRE full sized bed. I miss his head laying on the pillow next to me and we would actually spoon. He was so funny how he had to be touching me all of the time. My mom would tell us how pathetic we were then take a picture of us cuddling, dancing, playing, or just of him hearding me from the hallway to our room.
I miss him getting car sick on the way to Santa Barbra for Christmas, or to Tiburon for Thanksgiving. I miss his wiskers and his silent ways of arguing. I miss him waking me up at 5:30 am to walk him and then have me out there for 30 minutes and him not even go potty. I miss him having to be drug down the stairs because he hated the rain. And I miss putting on his jean jacket with the wool lining that he actually liked to wear when it was cold out side. More than anything though, I miss my family member and my best friend.

She is beautiful. I can see the basenji in her. Looks like shes smiling for the camera.