Four Basenjis!

On October 25^th, 2011,  BRAT coordinator Sharron Hurlbut brought two new basenjis to us for fostering, but the minute they arrived we knew they were here to stay.  Great job, Sharron!! Who would have envisioned two more Basenjis in our small house?  We now have a basenji "four-pack!"

Our two basenjis, Gumbo and Sanji, immediately accepted these new pups as part of the pack.  The second day the new pups were here, all four basenjis had a "howl-in," which pretty much cinched the deal for us.

The new pups came to BRAT from Annie Davis in Idaho.  Sadly, Annie has terminal cancer, and it was time for her to find a new home for her basenjis.  She has bred Basenjis for many years and was the woman who trained her basenjis to be sled dogs.  Here she is in the ‘70’s with her basenjis:

Annie's two most recent pups, Angel and Jaro (original call name was "Blue"), just turned two years old on Dec. 15^th.  They are both red and white, brother and sister, and were shown a few times with nice results.  They are beautiful dogs!

Just before we got them, both Angel and Jaro were tested for Fanconi with the new test.  Unfortunately, the test results showed that Angel is positive for Fanconi, and her brother Jaro is a carrier of Fanconi.  We immediately got them both spayed and neutered, so no more showing for them but maybe we'll have them participate in some other competitive sports in the future.

Angel and Jaro

Since Angel and Jaro have arrived in our house, there have been the normal "new dog" adjustments- a bit of peeing in the house, the discovery that Jaro can easily jump up onto our kitchen counters, and they both can jump up onto our table.  We have learned to let the pups out every two or three hours, which has solved the peeing problem. Jaro occasionally still has an accident, but only if I forget to let him out. Angel was quicker to learn, and now we get no puddles from her. The counters, however, are another deal - if we accidentally leave food out on the counters, kiss it goodbye! Jaro has claimed it. 

Initially, Jaro was a little skittish around my husband, Jim, and around men in general.  In recent weeks he's already starting to become  more trusting of Jim, since Jim is the treat giver.  We'll continue to adjust and work on building trust with him as he settles in with our family. 

In addition to us humans making adjustments, the cats also needed to do some “adjustments” to get used to having FOUR active basenjis in their house!  We built a special room for the cat boxes that only the cats can get into, and the cats have left a couple of superficial scratches on both of the pups' noses as a reminder of who's in charge. 

 

Both the pups seem to have ravenous appetites, and we have been trying to put weight on them - particularly Angel.  Jaro is just about at his ideal weight now, but Angel could still use a couple more pounds on her. This is not an easy thing to do, though, since Gumbo is concurrently on a diet to lose a little weight around his midsection!  

All in all though, all of the adjustments have gone smoothly these past three months, and we couldn’t ask for more loving and beautiful dogs all around.  They love lap time, meal time, walk time, and play time.  I love the way they are responding to Jim and I.  The basenji four-pack has a great time wrestling, sharing toys, and racing through the house and yard. Angel and Jaro love their walks, and I certainly get my exercise walking them!  Even though we didn't plan it this way, we are so glad we answered Sharron's request to help Angel and Jaro, because we absolutely love having four basenjis in our life.

Marj Baker

Angel (in front), Sanji, Jaro, and Gumbo

This is "Little Angel," whom we sometimes call "Misnomer,"

since she tells the boys where to get off.

The four-pack resting