Posts made by torchsong

Yep, we saw that one, too (the coffeehouse one). I'm guessing the animator or someone involved with the show has really good taste in dog breeds!

Apologize if this has already been posted somewhere (I looked where I figured it might be but didn't see it).

On Cosmos: A Spacetime Oddessy ep. 2, there was an animated feature that talked about the domestication of dogs, and showed a group of primitive hunters in yurts with their faithful hunting dogs. Couldn't be any mistaking the markings, curly tails and shapes of our favorite breed as they chased down prey with their people.

Wish I could find a clip to share if you missed it, but understandably the show's too new for anything to be up. Just keep your eyes out if they ever repeat it…it's right at the beginning.

Good to know. Thanks for all the responses. She'll still have the other side of her mouth to chomp on stuff. And yes nkjvcjs I'm sure they do an x-ray at this place before proceeding.

I know one thing…next time around I'm gonna be an anasthesiologist (sp?). That's like half the bill!

Well, Shera had her checkup and everything looks good except…she's cracked one of her back teeth pretty bad and the vet would like to extract it. Said she could go on fine with it as is but it might also get infected. It's toward the rear of her mouth and I have to admit, it looks pretty bad.

So the real question is has anyone else had to deal with something like this? The vet said there's little to worry about. The wound should heal up no problem but I figured I'd ask the pack here if they had any experiences they'd care to share.

Almost got thrown out of the gym. I'm on the elliptical and they have a tv in front of the machine. Saw the dogs trotting around and did my usual mental "Guess what breed WON'T be shown on this ad?" and then lo and behold - A BASENJI! Which is pretty much what I hollered out loud. Got a couple looks. Trying to find it for the wife to see…if anyone can find a link to it and post it, please do so!

And yes, he looked very regal standing on his boulder.

We've had She-Ra for four years now, and the following is some of the stuff I "warn" people about at the dog park/on walks/ etc. when they ask about our dog:

• She's spoiled my wife for all other breeds. We've talked about other dogs but only Basenjis will do.

• You will get a bath every night. No exceptions. The pack doesn't sleep until everyone gets a "good night" kiss. Or three. Or eight.

• If You Leave It Out She Will Get It. <- The Cardinal Rule.

• If She Gets It You Will Not Have It Anymore. <- Corollary to the Cardinal Rule.

• And of course the rule we all know by heart now: A Tired Basenji is a Good Basenji.

They just opened a new park built on a retired landfill that has not one but TWO areas for dog parks, so when one gets run down, they'll open the other and close the first to allow grass to regrow, etc.

She-Ra loves it, too, because unlike the other parks this one is wide open and has TONS of running room. Dream come true for us, but it'll still get hot in the summertime, I'm sure.

She-Ra could care less about the tree unless it's time to go walk and she wants our attention. We put the ornaments on about 3/4th of the way down, but really she doesn't seem to care about any of them.

The garland we've hung over one of our blinds? That's another story.

She-Ra goes to our local park at least twice a week. It's a nice area with a sectioned-off area for smaller dogs or if a dog is having "behavior issues" you can take it in there if there's no other dogs. A lot of "regulars" maintain law and order if a dog owner is getting out of line (allowing their dog to bully, etc.). She enjoys it.

1. Runs in to do her business really quick.
2. Sniffs everyone, but hates it when other sniff her. There'll be the occasional "give me space" growl if too many dogs get around her at once and sniff.
3. Spends most of the time sniffing and standing in the middle of the park staring like a statue at something. Then you get the eventual chase going - those are always fun because the other owners are like 'Oh, She-Ra's gonna get caught!' and I grin and say 'No she's not.' as she runs circles around all the other dogs. I love watching my dog run…it's poetry in motion.
4. After about an hour she's pooped and ready to go back home. We've had very few incidents with her that haven't been swiftly fixed. She seems to enjoy going quite a bit, and we're making friends with some of the regulars...I guess we're fairly regular now by this point as well.

When we see other dogs on our path, I tend to move off it and let them "play through". Every now and then you get someone curious about the breed and we'll instigate a meet and greet, just to see how far either dog will go.

I tend to look for the "mohawk" - those bristled up back hairs that let me know she's on edge. Plus She-Ra's a growler, so you can usually get a little forwarning if she's not happy about the situation. Generally that's enough for both me and the other owner/walker to realize we should pull back.

I get more incidents at the dog park than we do on walks, but I think that's almost to be expected. Never anything bad, though…She-Ra knows to run like hell if it gets too hairy, and she can pretty much outrun anything that's shown up in the park (so far).

@BART:

What works for a breeder with multiple show dogs will not necessarily work with the family of 4 or 5 with one pet, or the single person, or the single mom or dad with kids, or the lure courser,etc., etc. It's all very situational. Like I said, my humble opinion.

I agree with you. The beauty of these dogs is that while they have traits that are unique to them, I've never really seen two behave the same way.

At the dog park we take ours to, we've had more than a few people ask about her, and I try and tell them the complete story because once you tell them she's "barkless" you see their eyes light up. So I'm quick to add the "negatives" with all the good stuff so they know what they're getting into with one. I tell them they're like switching to black coffee…once you get a B, no other breed will do, but there's a definite learning curve.

I would love to see Cesar take on a 'Senji! We always joke about it on our walks with She-Ra.

Update: How's this for a fun move?

She-Ra had NO problems adjusting to the new home. She got used to it quicker than me or the wife I think. What was fun was the movers. When they came into the old place they were checking out the dog and of course they came out with "That's one of those quiet dogs, right?" I just nodded and said "Wait and see".

So at the new place we had to put her in the backyard for a bit, so she wasn't in the movers way. Most of the time one of us was out there with her, but every now and then I'd have to leave her to go move some stuff or answer a question, and the screaming began. The movers were all like "What?!?" and I just said "Yeah, she's one of those QUIET dogs, remember?" and we all had a laugh.

So all is well that ended well. Sadly, my eldest cat, Booger, (20 years old) didn't make the trip with us. We had planned to euthanize him that evening (he wasn't moving and was having trouble breathing), but he passed on during the move itself, which in restrospect was probably for the best. So there was a little confusion I think with She-Ra and our other cat, Monkey, as to why Booger didn't make the trip with us and where he was. We like to imagine his ghost is haunting the old house, and is even now tripping up the new owners whenever they open a can of tuna.

The old adage - "A tired Basenji is a good Basenji" - comes to mind.

Last thing we do at night before turning in is either walk ours or take her to the park. Then she gets a chew to keep her busy while we're getting ready for bed, then everyone's under the covers (she burrows).

Even then, there are nights…especially if the cat is out and about being adventurous.

You have my sympathy...

Had a Corgi at the bark park come up to me, look at me with the cute face Corgis have, then lift his leg and pee all over my shoe.

I gave him the same line I give She-Ra: "You're lucky you're so damn cute!"

She-Ra pulls sometimes on our walks, at which point we stop walking (I'm stronger than she is). Takes her a minute to figure out she's not going anywhere until the leash is loose again, then she stops.

Other than that, as long as the leash isn't tight, we let her go where she wants to go, sniff where she wants to sniff and (within reason) do what she wants to do. If other people start coming into view, we revert to the "Heel" position and go on short leash until they pass us by.

Took us a while to get to that point, but walks are a lot easier than they used to be!

The treat issues haven't been too horrible. Most of the time the people who bring them quickly learn the downside of it and don't do it again.

She's been doing a lot better, and I've been determining when it's okay to discipline and when not. If she's doing a "give me space" where three or four dogs are sniffing her at once, I hold back, but occasionally she's gone after just one dog and I put her down for that. Next thing you know she's just playing with the dog, chasing or whatever. So it seems to be working.

She's gotten a lot better at coming on command as well, even from across the park. It's tough to break that ADD that most 'Senji's have :), but of late she's gotten really good at breaking away from what she's doing if I call her.

Who knows…we may make a dog out of this "cat-dog" yet!

Hey gang,

End of the month we're going to be moving into a new home. Same city, better walking areas, safer, and closer to She-Ra's favorite bark park.

Any ideas on stuff we should do when we make the move? She's going to be spending a day crated (for the most part) at the in-laws as we close, then the next day heading to the new place. She's not a crate dog (tried it, didn't work out), so I'm really more interested in what we should do when we bring her to the new place.

Only thing I've heard for sure is the first thing you do when you bring her in is take her directly to the back door and put her outside so she knows where to go when it's time to "go".

Any other ideas? It's going to be a completely new environment for her so we're pretty much expecting accidents (from both her and the cats), but if anyone's got any other ideas we could try.

Update: We've had better luck of late. There's still a few growling incidents but based on the situation we've been putting her down until she calms down or letting it slide if the growl was "justified". So we're kind of handling it on a case by case basis.

And she's become more playful at the park - getting involved in group chases/runs, being more sociable, actually letting other dogs sniff her, etc.

Our new hurdle is when people bring in treats to train their dogs. All of a sudden they have more than just She-Ra commanding their attention. I'm thinking of bringing some of our own just to keep her attention away from the poor guys who are just trying to train their dogs.

Haven't seen She-Ra sit that way, but lord knows she has a bunch of other weird positions she likes to get into.