I always wanted a dog, but my stepfather was allergic. My husband grew up with basenjis in the 50's in New Bedford MA. They never showed, just had them as pets. They did everything wrong– let them run loose, bred them without planning, but he had great stories about them, particularly one girl named Congo.
His family had a rescue B named Rusty, who was a great character (also loose, but luckily a homebody) when I met him in the 70's. I liked Rusty's aloof confidence, and got my first B in 85-- Kenji. He was backyard bred-charming but turned very dominant and difficult at adolescence, but we worked with and had him until he was 13.
We got our second dog from Matahari B's, and Caddie was a tricolor sweetheart for 15 years.
Now I've got the gentlest, most outgoing B I've ever met. Sol was raised by someone else, and they did a great job-- thanks Eldorado!
I adopted him at 5, and after a few weeks of thinking about it, he decided to stay (he jumped the fence twice, but came when I called the second time). He's my best friend, and even goes to work with me in the winter. And sometimes I wonder if he's really a basenji, because he wags his tail so much-- but only for me.
Basenji Measurment Ideas
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I'm curious what the measurements so to speak would be for an adult basenji for the following things, I know each dog differs, but whats the average?
Collar?
Crate?
Harness?
Gentle Leader?
Coats?
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Collars, GLeader, and Coats I usually go with small. Many times they usually have the sizes based on weight so it makes it easy.
The harness I believe was the only one that mine didn't fit into a small so I had to get a medium which is a little big on them. So it's annoying because it looks like they're in between sizes.
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Collar? 10 -16 inch size.
I really like the brands that sell this size in the 1 inch wide.Crate? 200 Vari Kennel for the car and a 300 Vari Kennel or equivalent sized wire crate at home.
Coats? Sizes 14 and 16 in Fido Fleece
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Collar: I use 16".
Crate: I use the Medium Vari-Kennel for travel and home. {27x20x19}.
Coat: Couldn't tell you. When absolutely necessary I use a wool sweater that used to be my sister-in-law's. She dried it in the dryer, and now it fits Jazzy perfectly except the sleeves are too long and we just roll those up. LOL {I've posted a photo in the photo section. She looks ridiculous, but stays oh! so! warm!}
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I shouldn't say it fits "perfectly" because it hangs loose, but it does keep her very, very warm.
We don't use it here, and only needed it while at my mom's, in the mountains, when it was in the 20's and Jazzy insisted on walking down the road and over a hill to potty. -
Jazzy's Mom,
That right there is the answer to what I can do with things that get shrunk in the dryer! That is great, LOL!
Jenn