Our Basenji Meet-up

was not as expected.  Was hoping we would have a large turn out, like we did last month where we had 14 basenji's.  Sadly, we only had 9 today, which I guess really isn't that bad.  There was 3 new basenji's.  One is a foster boy, and his name is Benjie.  This here is a picture of him, he is the one on the far right with the halter and leash attached. When you look at him, he is small, like a female, but not quite that small, and he looks alot younger than he really is.  He's 6 years old.





We also had a new guy join us, with 2 female basenji's.  The man's name is Chris, and he works nights, and really didn't think he would be able to make it, but he did.  One female is 13 years old, and the other one, is only 2 years old.  Mom brought her regular camera and her video camera.  She had her friend take the regular pictures, while mom was the video.  I guess her friend didn't get any photos of Sunshine and Chrissie. Which is what these two dog's name's are.


We met up with a Chi, who really took a liking to Scout (in the foreground).  Mom thought he was really cute, and he was not afraid of all of us basenji's gathered around him.  Mom had both camera's at that time, and her friend had to tell her that that would be a great picture.  This guy had his front paws up on Scouts back, and he wanted to play, but Scout is not the playing kind of dog.  But he took all of this in stride, and just kept moving so the Chi had to move also.


This here is Nancy and her husband is taking pictures of us dogs.  Nancy kept handing out treats like they were candy, and us dogs would not leave her alone.  This is Jenna that jumped up to Nancy to get some more treats. Jenna can be really pushy when it come's to food.
I don't either!  You and Dannii are the one's who are all over everybody trying to get all the treats for yourselves!

 


How many basenji's do you count in this photo?  There is actually 6. One is on the far side of Dannii, and you can barely make out part of the dog's chest. Mom is also handing out treats, so us dogs are on her like white on rice. Food, its all about the food!  Don't let anyone tell you different!  As you can see, Scout is the only one that truly stands out like a sore thumb, as mom would say.  He's the only Tri in the whole bunch, and his sister is a brindle.


 
Now here is all 9 of us basenji's looking for a treat from mom. Well, as you can see, Angus, must have gotten his already and was walking away. That's just dumb if you ask me, you always staying and hope you get more than just one treat. Mom is usually pretty good about handing out more, if everybody behaves politely.  We seem to be doing ok, nobody is jumping. Ok, so we're not sitting, but we ain't jumping either!  Which is a good thing. Right?

Here's eight of us still looking for hand outs, and they are forth coming.  We had a good day for treats, I can tell you that, cuz mom is usually stingy about handing out treats.  We don't know why she hands them out to lots of other dogs, but for us, she is really stingy with the food.  Nancy was pretty good about handing out the treats too, and it seem's to me that she gave Jenna alot more treats than she gave to either me or Dannii, or any of the other b's

Nancy said I had a cute face, and that's why I got more treats than you stupid boys! So there!
 

 Somebody came by with a 4 month old Pit Bull puppy, and mom just fell head over heels for that pup!  I have to admit, that he is kind of cute, and his name is "Pilot".  Funny name if you ask me.  What kind of name is that for a dog? This pup kept give mom lots of kisses, while her friend snaps some pictures, but she didn't get any of Pilot giving mom any kisses. It was her first time here and her owner said that she was doing real good with all the different dogs and people. He said that he was going to keep bringing her so she can get socialized real well.  Mom think's that that is a good thing, especially for a pit bull. So far, this pup is very sweet and mom just hopes that she stays that way.




Well, we're on our way back and here's all of us, except for Benji (which is on a leash). There's 8 of us here, and that is Dannii way up in front with his back to the camera, as he is headed towards the other side of the park. Mom call's him and he stops, and waits sometimes, not always.  One time, he took off and went to the cafe and by the time mom and her friend got there, he had stolen somebody's hot dog off the table!  So Mom puts all of us on the leash a little while after this photo was taken.

We had a good day.  I hope you all had a good day too
You all come back again, ya hear?

Mom passed our one year anniversary!

I always said that mom was always coming up short on things, and just maybe this proves it!  Our one year anniversary was yesterday and she missed it!  How could she do that to us?  Granted we don't get out and have great adventures in walking, though we do have great adventures at the dog park, but that's all we ever seem to write about, and now I can understand why mom is sooooooooooo boring!

Do you remember how tiny our kitties were? This is a picture of them last November with Dannii, as he was the only one who really didn't bother the kitties much. Jenna and I would like to eat them, but we're pretty sure that mom would not allow that to happen.
This here is a picture of "boycat". The kitties turned out to be brother and sister, and mom at the time, had NO intention on keeping them. Well, here it is almost a year later, and they are still here.  We have a 4 foot gate between the door and the screen door, which is what boycat is resting on. See how big he's gotten! He would make a fine dinner, if you ask me.  But no one did, so I guess I will have to let that one go.





Mom can't find any pictures of "girlcat", although there are some, but for some reason she can't find any of grilcat by herself, except for this one here. She is between me and Jenna, out in the garage. This is where us dogs like to hang out, when we're not in the house. I'm checking girlcat out, just to make sure she is behaving herself. She has these real sharp needles on the ends of her paws and she likes to use them sometimes, and they hurt. So I'm just making sure that she is behaving herself.  As you can see, Jenna is keeping a eye out on things too.


This here was mom's new car. She bought it in January 2007, it is a 2006 Mazda 6i sport sedan. We loved our taxi, and so did mom. But, can you guess what?  She totaled out our taxi on August 9, 2010!







This is what it looked like as it was being hooked up to the tow truck!  For some reason, she couldn't cry.  We all loved that car, it was a great car, and she had to go and ruin it. That just was not fair, if you ask me. Us dogs though are grateful that we were not in the car when this happened. Mom had just gotten off from work, and was on her way home. Everybody told her that she ran a red light. Since she is a driving instructor, and teaches teen-ager's how to drive, she thought this was so unbelieveable!  But, she got a ticket in the mail about a week later.  Wonder how much that's going to cost her?


So, now we got a newer zoom zoom.  Same kind of car, only a different color, plus its 2 years newer than the red one.  Mom and us dogs still miss the red one, as it was very easy for us dogs and for mom, to find it in a parking lot!  This one is exactly the same on the inside, the only difference is that this one is not a hatchback, like the red one was.  That is the only true thing mom misses on this car.  The back seats are down, so us dogs do have lots of room, like we did in the red one.

Well that enough of that stuff, I hate remembering things that we no longer have. Mom has to go to work and she wants me off the computer now.

You all come back again, now hear?

Jenna no longer has stinky breath

I have to admit that Jenna no longer has stinky breath. She has funny smells on her, but mom explained that was because she was at the vet's today and had her teeth cleaned.  They also had to pull one of her molars, but mom forgot to ask why.  You can see from this picture that she still isn't feeling up to par, maybe it's because she's hungry?  She still has the infection, but the vet told mom to start the meds up again tomorrow.  Usually, Jenna doesn't look so, what's the word I want?, down, maybe.  Mom says that Jenna had to be put to sleep, for them to clean her teeth, and then pull the molar.


At least right now, she has nice clean white teeth, but for how long is anybody's guess.  In this photo, mom is holding up Jenna's lip with one hand, while she takes the picture with the other. So you can see how nice and clean they are.  I have to say, she puts Dannii and I to shame, as our teeth aren't nearly as white as her's are. Mom say's though that Dannii and I are next, whenever her settlement come's in. Personally, I hope its very long time. I am not looking forward to having some one put me to sleep just so they can clean my teeth!


In this photo, mom's son is holding Jenna's mouth open, so mom can get a good picture of Jenna's clean teeth. I do have to admit, that they look pretty good.


You all come back again, ya hear?

We got a new Zoom Zoom

This is our new zoom-zoom. It looks exactly like the red one mom used to have. The only thing is that this one is two years newer (2008) and its kind of gray in color. Actually its more of a purplish gray. You can't tell in the photo tho. But standing outside in the sunlight you can tell.  Also, this one is not a hatchback like our red one was. But, the salesman laid down the back seats for mom and there is lots of room, just like with the red one. Little things, no fog lights, no hatchback, no back windshield wiper, but mom can live with all that. Inside of the car is exactly like what our red one was. This one has neat looking head lights, more sleek than the red one.

Mom was trying to get us dogs to put our head out the window, but as you can see, only I (Zak) complied, but I'm not looking at mom. I'm looking at the cats that I would like to eat sometime.  We had just gotten home from the dog park, and this was the first time we got to go since mom totaled out the red zoom zoom.  It rides the same if you ask me, and coming home, we all curled up in what you would call the trunk, since the back seats were down. It's cooler back there, even with tinted windows.  Mom's son went out to look at the car when she brought it home which was Friday, and all he said was that "you got the same car"!  Mom only wishes.  Yes, she wanted a red one like before, but there was none to be had. This is 2 years newer than the old one, and has less miles on it, only 39,668.  She bought an extended warranty for an additional 60,000 miles on top of what is already on the car. She just doesn't want to take any chances.

We got to meet some guys that had two dogs, both of them are basenji mixes.  This one here, his name is Houdini, he's 7 months old, and they think he's mixed with a sheppard, since they got him from a shelter, they don't know for sure, but we sure think he looks like half basenji.  We can't remember his brother's name, but they also think he is part basenji mixed maybe with a pitt bull. Both of these dogs were very nice and we liked them.



This here is a picture of Houdini with his brother. Makes me mad that mom can't remember this dog's name!  Maybe she's getting old or something. This one is a bit more shy but since bringing Houdini home, he has opened up more, and is getting alot more exercise, which is always a good thing.

Next Sunday is our basenji meet-up at Point Isabel, and for one, I can not wait.  I hope we have as many basenji's (which was a total of 14) as we had last month.  Mom told the owner's of these two about the meet-up and asked them to join us.  So hopefully they will and then I will make sure mom remembers this poor dogs name!




You all come back now, ya hear!

Jenna has stinky breath

Poor missJenna has an infection in her mouth, and it is spreading to the other side.  Mom took her into the vets yesterday. So the vet gave Jenna a shot for the pain, and told mom to give her some pills twice a day. Then Jenna has to go back to the vet next Wednesday to have her teeth cleaned and such. The vet also said that there is a possibility that she could loose her canine teeth, but he won't know that for sure until he gets in there and checks everything out. He's even willing to work with mom on the bill. That's very nice of him, since mom said that it could cost alot of money.  Does that mean we won't have our dog food or treats? I hope not. Mom says we will still get our food and some treats. That hopefully it won't cost her a arm and a leg. How can it cost an arm and a leg, if is actual money? That doesn't make sense to me.


Jenna, along with Dannii and I, are always out for food, we don't care who has it, we want it, and we want it now. This here picture is showing how much Jenna is after some food that someone has. If you notice down at the bottom of the picture, Dannii and I are just standing there looking for a hand out. We haven't figured out which method works the best, but we all got something to eat.

Dannii and I will have to have our teeth cleaned too, but not right away, as mom will have to get Jenna's bill paid off first. She's hoping her settlement will come through very soon, so then she can get us dogs into the vet before Christmas.  Personally, I could care less.  Basenji's in the wild don't go to the vet's, even when they have bad rotten breath, and teeth!  Why should we have to go?  Jenna, I can understand, her breath is so bad, that nobody wants to be around her. But, Dannii, and I, we don't have bad breath, so why do we have to go?

You all come back again, ya hear?

We're on the hunt for another car

Mom was suppose to try and go and check out a car today, down in Oakland. That's near the dog park we go to. BUT, her son's car was over heating, so she didn't get to go.  She was looking at a Mazda 3s hatchback.

This here is a picture of it. She really likes the color and such. Lots of room for us dogs, too. They were asking a bit much for it tho. 

So, now she thinks that she will have to rent a car this week some time, and try and get Friday and Saturday off, so she can go look for a car.  If the car dealer still has this one available, she'll go check it out, if not then she has to start all over.  For some reason she is intent on getting another Mazda. Of course, it would be ideal if she could find another car similar to our red taxi. As much searching she has been doing online though, I don't think that is going to happen. But this purple thing will do just fine.

The only other thing to report on, is us dogs need to get our teeth cleaned, especially Jenna's!  Her breath is so bad, it almost makes you want to up-check.  Mom has to wait till she gets her money from the settlement in first, unless the vet is willing to work with her. Jenna is in the most need, and would be done first, then Dannii and I could wait till the settlement come's in, or until hell freezes over, which ever one come's first.  Why do I have the feeling that her settlement will come in first?

You all come back again, ya hear?

She had another one!

Accident, that is.  Mom was coming home from work (a good thing too, since us dogs were NOT in the car), when she hit a SUV right behind the right rear tire. TOTALED out our taxi!!  This here is a picture of the car in the junk yard when she went to get the rest of her stuff out.


Us dogs would like to cry, but we don't know how. We lost our taxi, and mom lost her car, so now she has no way to get back and forth to work.  Her son has been kind enough to let her use his car the last two days, but she doesn't think he will do that much longer. He doesn't work, and he sleeps most of the day, so I don't see why he wouldn't let her use it. That's my thought on this, but I'm just the dog and nobody listen's to what I have to say.



Mom thought she had a green light (which mean's go, since she's a driving school instructor), so she entered the intersection and right smack in front of her face, was the SUV. She tried to swerve to the left but it wasn't enough, and hit the car. Her airbag went off, and when the cover came off of the steering wheel, it hit her right in the sternum. Now she has a bruise there. She was not hurt like from the last accident 4 months ago (which was NOT her fault).

The guy who she hit, came running up to her car, to see if she was alright. She said yes. He then told her that she ran the red light.  A few seconds later, another guy came up, and said that he was right behind her, and that she ran the red light. Unbelievable, she says.  She still swears that the light was green. They will probably find the fault lies with her. No she did not get a ticket.



She found out this morning that her insurance company will pay off the loan on her car, and that there will be some money left over, that will go directly to her, so then she can buy another car. Hopefully not wreck the newer one!

You all come back again, ya hear!

The view from our back and front yard

Since I am always writing about our favorite dog park (Point Isabel), I thought I would treat you all to something new.  I thought that maybe you would like to see where Dannii and Jenna and I live, along with mom and her human son.



This is a picture from our backyard, looking east. Not much to see is there?  Those tree's house all kinds of birds. Anywhere from starlings to hawks and owls. We usually hear the owls in the early mornings, like around 5a.m.  Don't they know that us dogs like to sleep in? That's too early to wake up.  Mom sometimes call them our alarm clocks and she says they are much easier to listen to, than to roosters that crow really loud. Thank goodness we don't have any neighbors that have roosters. I would try and eat them!










This picture here, is looking west from our backyard.  Now do you see why we get so excited when we get to go to our favorite dog park?  There is just nothing here to do. This farm land belongs to someone else, and we are not allowed to go out there. Tho Dannii and I have gotten loose a few times, we have gone out to the trees in the above picture, and once or twice we have chased some cats in this photo here. But for the most part, its pretty boring out here.

This picture here is looking east, down our driveway.  Several years ago, those windmills weren't even there! Just those hills. Now all those hills are covered with windmills!  Our driveway is just about a football field to the main road.  Our taxi is the red car, and human son owns the silver car parked behind mom's.  When Dannii and Jenna and I have gotten out of the house a few times, we would run down this road. I am careful not to go out onto the road tho, cuz I could get hit by a car or a big bad truck. Mom gets really nervous and scared when we dogs happen to get out of the house and take off down this road. She come's after us right quick, and yells "cookie" at the top of her lungs. But we dogs don't care, we just want to explore and smell all the smell's that other animals leave behind. I think mom call's it "pee mail".

This picture here, is also from our front yard, but its looking south east.  If you look closely, you can see some mountains in the background (after the tree's), that is a long way from where we live, and there is a very deep river between us and those mountains.  Its called the Sacramento River. Some big ships come up the river to go to Sacramento to unload their freight or to pick up some freight. Mom's human grand-daughter lives over there, in a town called Antioch. She can not get there from here. It takes about 40 minutes to drive over there, as they have to go up and around. Human son wishes that they would put in a bridge or a ferry, to cross the river here, then it wouldn't take him so long to drive over to see his daughter.  But, that will never happen, at least not in our dogs lives.

.Well, its getting late, and mom wants to go to bed, so we can all get up and go to Point Isabel tomorrow!

You all come back now, ya hear?

I'm a first place winner!

Mom is on this list for Basenji Companions. Its an email group where everyone writes about some antics or what have you, that their basenji does or is doing.  Anyway, once a year they have a photo contest for everyone to enter. I won first place in Devastation.

This is the picture that won. Human son and I was in his room. He got up to leave for work, mom was already at work, and he forgot about me, shut me up in his room.....ALL day, with NO water, or food!  I was trying so hard to find a way out, but I was stuck there, until mom came home from work.







This is a picture of me with my head stuck in the door from trying to get out of the bedroom. I can not tell you how long I was stuck like that, but I can tell you that IT WAS NOT FUN!!  Course first thing mom had to do was take a stupid picture!  But hey, I won first place for being in trouble.

Zak got honorable mention for this picture of him with his head in the toilet. Human son caught him drinking out of the toilet and just happened to have his camera phone and snapped a picture.

Also, Zak and Jenna came in first place with their picture with one of the kitties.  There is only one kitty in this photo however. Their momma is a feral cat. That mean's she is very wild and can not be tamed, let alone, touched.  She had some kitten's last year, but we had a big bad storm with lots of rain and wind. Human son heard mewling and went out to find two kittens, which the momma cat forgot about.  It took a long time for mom to teach us dogs not to bother the kitten's.  She had to put muzzles on us, and for me that was very shameful. But as you can see now from the photo, we like the kittens. Course I think Jenna would still prefer to try and kill them. She doesn't look too happy in this photo does she?

Any way we are very happy about winning.  Dannii especially since I am the one who mostly gets into trouble. Every year it is always between me and another basenji, named digger jones. Its always gone back and forth, except for this year. Dannii usually doesn't get into trouble, so digger and I conceded to Dannii.

You all come back again.

the kitties grew up!

Hope you all remember those little kitties that mom's human son found last year. They were so small, that I just wanted to chomp on them.

In case you forgot, this is a picture of them.  When the human son found them in the storm, there was only two. So we don't know which of two of these we have.






This what they look like now. All growed up. We dogs get along with them.  Thanks to mom.  Course in the beginning it wasn't fun, as mom had to put the muzzle of shame on us, so we wouldn't try and bite them.  I have to admit, Jenna was the worst. She wanted at them in the worst way, but now she accept them, as the rest of us do.  They are in and out cats, which mean's they go outside whenever they want to and come back in the eat and play.  Mom wasn't going to keep them, so only named them "girl cat" and boy cat", as they are brother and sister.  When they were tiny, mom couldn't bear to part with them, so when she did decide to find homes for them, it was too late, as they were not the little bitty kitties they once were.  They are brother and sister, and the girl cat is more into investigating things than what the boy cat is. He seem's to be a bit on the skittish side. Mom got the girl cat fixed, so she wouldn't be having any kitties of her own, and now she need's to get the boy cat fixed.  He has gone out at night, and mom thinks he mated with every feral female that is around. She says that if white siamease kitties start showing up among all the feral cats, then he's the dad!







Well, I gots to sign off now. We're going to Point Isabel today. There won't that many b's there today as our meet up is only once a month, but mom's new friend and his dog Ramses are suppose to come also.

You all come back now, ya hear!