Our magical little curly-tails are amazing, and the people who share their lives with Basenjis are an extraordinary group as well. They support each other and reassure new Basenji folks that yes, your Basenji will eat paper, and yes, your Basenji will outsmart you on a regular basis. Yes, your Basenji will convince you they have to go out—it’s an emergency, and only after you rush downstairs do they let you know that they’re hungry—how could that not be an emergency—and now that you’re in the kitchen, could you please feed them already. The collective assurance that you are far from the only human who has been routinely snookered by their elegant and supremely innocent looking little dog is a balm to the bemused yet besotted new Basenji parent.
Basenji people so generously share a wealth of experience and wisdom. They can tell you about the best place to buy durable collars, dog coats, and dog beds. They can also tell you that the bed a Basenji likes best is the big one she lets you share with her. They will laugh at your babies’ antics and admire their photos. They discuss food, recipes for treats, and share their successes and failures in getting their dogs to take pills. BRAT folks are among the best in sharing information. They make sure each new Basenji parent knows about checking their Basenji’s thyroid levels and that Dr. Dodd’s lab Hemopet sends detailed and accurate results and recommendations for Basenjis’ thyroid levels. http://www.hemopet.org/veterinary-diagnostic-laboratory.html
In addition to BRAT, there are some wonderfully knowledgeable folks who generously share years of Basenji experience at Basenji Companions http://Basenjicompanions.org/ and the Basenji List, BASENJI-L-REQUEST@APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM , as well as numerous Basenji Facebooks groups who will kindly educate and entertain you. You can share photos at the B-Pix list https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Basenji-Pix/info and marvel yet again at how photogenic and downright gorgeous our curly tails are.
The Basenji community will cheer and congratulate you when you adopt a new family member. They will also grieve with you when you lose this family member who never lives long enough. When we lost Reno, our firstborn Basenji, the support of the Basenji community carried us through the worst of our grief. Basenji friends with years of experience helped us out of the black pit of despair and gently encouraged us to adopt another Basenji. These same groups comforted us when we lost Leo and lifted us up with messages of hope and support throughout Ivan’s recovery from bowel surgery. Now that Dasa is frail and ill, they once again offer words of solace and grace. The advice, encouragement, information, and compassion of the Basenji collective have carried us through many a terrifying moment.
As we share our lives with these enchanting, captivating, delightful little dogs, it is so very nice to have other humans to confide in, humans who understand our fascination with Basenjis. It’s much easier to get by with a little help from our friends.
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