The BRAT Convention

We attended the eighth annual BRAT convention last weekend. This year it was held in Alexandria, VA. The convention site is determined by the location of the intrepid BRAT volunteer who plans it. There have been BRAT conventions in Texas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Florida, New York, and Virginia—wherever there were BRAT volunteers to plan them. J.R. Key put together this year’s convention. Not only was this convention held in a great location, but the schedule was full of interesting and worthwhile presentations.

I highly recommend attending BRAT conventions as they’re a great way to connect with other volunteers and learn a little about the people behind the emails. I’ve found most every BRAT member I meet is very dedicated to the breed. The stories of how their rescue basenjis became healthy, happy members of their families are wonderful. There are also opportunities to meet other basenjis and enjoy gatherings of many little curly tails. This is another plus: the conventions are planned so people can have their basenjis with them in the meeting rooms during presentations. These are definitely dog-friendly events.

We flew to the convention, so Ivan and Dasa stayed home with Jean, our gem of a baby-sitter. They were pampered and petted for hours on end, given any number of treats, and slept in the people bed with Jean. She valiantly prepared two different meals three times a day, and during my daily call generously reported that the munchkins were being very, very good. (Dasa is usually very good, and Ivan, well Ivan is very cute, so maybe that adds up to very, very good.)

The conventions have seminars on various topics such as diet, behavior, clicker training, doggy first aid, dremeling nails, etc. At the Florida convention Dr. Steve Gonto spoke about developing the Fanconi protocol. Although the Florida convention had much to recommend it, Dr. Gonto’s presentation alone was worth the trip.

At this year’s convention, Pam Hamilton gave a presentation about the Wimauma Basenjis in Florida. This has been a truly Herculean rescue effort by BRAT with countless hours of care and planning by Pam Hamilton, Debbi Johnson, and many other volunteers. At one point, Pam had 51 basenjis at her home. (She deserves a parade.) During her presentation, she shared slides of the basenjis, including several litters of puppies. Pam brought some of the puppies to the convention to hand off to their foster parents. These puppies are very well socialized and were a delight to be around. To learn more about the Wimauma Basenjis or how to contribute to the efforts to find happy, loving forever homes for these basenjis, please check the BRAT web page http://www.basenjirescue.org .

The photos are of Eric enjoying the pleasant task of puppy-sitting during one day of the convention. And no, even though we were very tempted, we did not sneak the puppy home with us.