Part 1 - Petite Seraph - My First Purebred Basenji

By Linda Grupp Boutin

I received a very special engagement gift from my fiancee, Gary, many years ago. She had a curly tail, sported a red and white coat, and wore four white socks with a white-tipped curly tail. Sound familiar? Yep, you guessed right. My hubby-to-be gave me my first purebred basenji girl. I named her Petite Seraph and sent her registration paper in to the AKC. I thought of her as my "little angel" and she was so very cute at 3 months old; all wrinkles and loose skin and bouncy energy. As you can tell from the name I selected, I was a classic novice basenji owner with so very much to learn about this unique breed.

At this time, Ginger, my first dog, still lived with me. She was about 10 years old when Seraph arrived and the two of them became friends immediately.

                   Ginger watching the road

Being 1/2 hasenji, Ginger had posed her fair share of problems when it came to training. You could not keep this girl in an enclosed yard because she could jump any fence. She would back up far enough to get a running start, then gallop as fast as possible to where she'd decided to jump over. She continued her run right up the fence until she grabbed the top with her front paws, then hoisted herself to the top, followed by a quick jump over. She taught herself how to do this because the cats next door sat on top of our block wall fence teasing her. The first cat who saw Ginger run up the fence to balance beside them atop the block wall must have been shocked!

So I had gone through tough dog training with Ginger, but couldn't have been more unprepared for a new marriage, in a new town, with a new husband AND a purebred basenji! By the time we married in July, Seraph turned 6 months old and had decided opinions about how she planned to spend her days. We moved to Lakeside in San Diego County and began rehabbing the house we rented while living there. Construction materials rested beside dog food and boxes containing all our possessions. The fighting about Seraph and her bad behavior started before we celebrated one month being married.

We spent one month living on our savings and wedding gifts working daily to put our one bedroom house into good order. Ginger and Seraph watched from the couch while Gary and I tore down layer after layer of wallpaper, repaired and painted walls, hung a new ceiling in the living room and redecorated both the bathroom and kitchen. Soon our little house shone like a new penny and we began to look for jobs. This is when the trouble started.

Fast approaching her first birthday, Seraph's hormones began stirring. Basenjis come into season only one time per year, typically in October. So our girl needed to be protected from getting bred by one of the local male dogs roving the neighborhood. I planned on taking our basenji girl to dog shows and competing, so I took this responsibility very seriously.

While we were away at work, we confined Seraph to the bathroom with the door shut tight. She didn't like this limitation and when I got home from work that afternoon, found our newly repaired and painted bathroom wall shredded by Seraph's iron hard teeth. I sat on the bathroom throne, held my head and cried until Gary got home. When he saw the mess, he roared.

He already had erected a chicken coop on the side of our property and filled it with several hens and a rooster. He decided the solution was to build a dog run and to save on materials connected it to the side of the coop. With no fence around the property, our girls could be safe all day in nice, new kennels while we worked. Yes, the basenji girls were safe, but we could not anticipate what Seraph would come up with next. While we worked, she did too. When I arrived home that afternoon, she had dug a nice, neat tunnel from her kennel into the coop. I found feathers flying, the dog chasing the hens, and half of our hens deceased from Seraph's attack.

This was the last straw, I had to find a solution to getting her behavior under control. This dog, my engagement gift, caused almost all the disagreements Gary and I had in our married life. I wondered whether she was worth all the trouble and strife she was causing. While discussing it with my friend, Mary Jo, she told me of a dog obedience class led by her friend Sam at a nearby mall. A solution to our problem, my iron hard will up against our "little angel's." Our basenji girl would soon be marching off to school!


(see Part 2 for the continuing story)

Baby Girl

By Linda Grupp Boutin

Alex with newborn Rudy and Star

Star has been changing lately. It seems she finally accepts that she has a place in the pack and a forever home. She always claims the spot in the middle of the loveseat between Gary and me. Depending upon how he feels, Kindu may sleep on Gary's lap or take up most of the couch, legs fully extended. He can be the epitome of the independent basenji, aloof and perfectly happy to sit by himself. 

Our basenji girl prefers to be with someone, preferably touching in some way. Of all the curly-tailed basenjis I've shared my home with, Star is the only one that I have nicknamed Curly. And she loves it when I call her this or sing a song about her. Sometimes the name gets stretched to Curly Girly and that's when she acts especially cute. But by far and away, she loves to be called Baby Girl. And I like calling her that too.

Dog trainers advise owners to name their dogs one-syllable words. Simple, concise and easy to call, like Star. Nicknames don't come up because you aren't supposed to use any other name but their usual name. However, basenjis are smart enough to respond to many words, including nicknames. So Star and Kindu know many different names and can often read my mood by which name comes to mind first.

I love seeing Star finally finding confidence and her place in our little pack. She is relaxed these days, often dancing around the house, play bowing to get Kindu to play, just enjoying life. I've seen this happen before with other dogs we've rescued. It is almost like she realizes that her life has taken a turn for the good and embraces the joy in it.

I look forward to a day when I will go to my forever home with the Lord. I understand and share in the joy Star feels as she dances freely and happily around our home. Some days I dance in the joy of that same knowledge, knowing there is a place where I am accepted by Our Father just the way I am; sins, scars, bruises and all. I hope some time in your life that you can share in the joy of this knowledge too!

Living Free or Choosing the Settled Life

By Linda Grupp Boutin

Sometimes Kindu lies on the floor striking the pose of a lion; smaller of course, but fierce and tough and unpredictable. He makes me think along those lines with the regal uplift of his chin and the contemplation in his deep, dark brown eyes. At times Star looks a bit like a deer and other days they might both remind me of foxes. Friends have described them as all of these other animals.

Our basenji boy joined me tonight as I enjoyed a special by Nature on PBS. It explored the true story behind the "Born Free" book and movie released in the early 1960s. I turned 10 the year the movie was released and wished so much that I could go and see it at the theater. Alas, I never got to see it on the big screen, but I read about the story and came to love Elsa through the National Geographic magazines that arrived in our mailbox each month. This was the first magazine I came to love as a child. Great photographs, interesting stories and travel around the world, all included in one gorgeous publication, usually accompanied by a large, folded map of some part of the globe.

My dogs were not born free and have lived their whole lives in a comfortable domesticated state. Star came into this life on a cold January night in a shower lined with newspapers and softened by blankets and towels.

Star, between her brothers, with Mom Noelle

I know they would like experiencing the freedoms of living without boundaries, but there would be much from our life they would miss as well. Soft beds, regular meals and ice cookies spring to mind. Although Kindu is more impetuous and willful, I believe that Star would be well able to fend for herself living wild.

She has the heart and instincts of a hunter. Nothing is missed by her watchful eyes and she catches on quickly to new situations and circumstances. While Kindu jumps in with four feet flying, Star assesses the situation then decides how she will react. Both strategies have advantages and pitfalls, but I must agree with Star that a measured approach is often best. People tend to choose different strategies for how to try new things too.

I just read an article about dogs and how the bond with their owners shares much in common with how people bond with their infants. When we picked up Kindu at just 8 weeks old, he epitomized the image of a confident pup. Over the months I learned from the breeder that his puppy name at his birth house was "Truck," but I believe that "18-Wheeler" might have been more appropriate. Obviously the breeder was thinking of a "Mack Truck" when she named this basenji boy!

We decided to share our new pup with our family, so rather than driving straight home after we picked up Kindu, we headed over to my brother's house. My 13-year-old nephew, Alex, connected immediately with the pup and rough-and-tumble was the name of their game. Soon they were skittering across the kitchen tile floor, grabbing, chasing and teasing one another. Even 5 years later the two of them have a great time when they get together.

Alex and Star resting up after a play session

So I must admit I'm pretty tightly bonded with my dogs. They bring comfort and joy and a healthier lifestyle into our lives. Some researchers say canines and humans have worked and lived together for over 15,000 years. I don't know about that, but I am grateful for my 4-legged friends that have been a part of my life since I was small.

Let's Go Surfing!

By Linda Grupp Boutin

Recently Gary started calling Kindu "Surfer Boy." This does not mean that our basenji boy has taken a sudden liking to water, rather it refers to how his very thick coat this summer is now highlighted blonde by the sun. His daily sunbaths in Southern Californa has changed his coat color from completely red or white to a nice shade of blonde highlighting the red beneath.

Note the blonde highlights at the back of Kindu's leg!

So our boy has a nickname and Sunday at church a friend said the basenjis are our "fur babies." It was Father's Day and family and children were on everyone's minds. Since we never were blessed with children of our own, our pets get tons of TLC from us. Kindu's favorite outdoor spot is watching out the back gate checking on all the comings and goings of Flora Lane. Sometimes neighbors occasionally give our kids some treats. The dogs are happy, but when they get upset tummies from the unusual food we are not. But it all works out and everyone around us know Kindu's happy "Barooo" when they stop by.

Our fur babies are noticed wherever we go. People see a dog they don't recognize and want to know what they are. Many a passerby has gotten the short answer about our "barkless dogs" and how they clean themselves like cats. Those who show more interest learn about their origins in Africa and how they are only semi-domesticated. The long lecture includes a bit about their pictures being carved into the Egyptian tombs and the fact that leopards kill barking dogs in the vicinity of Africa where they come from now.

So Surfer Boy is enjoying the summer sun and continues to make a splash wherever he goes. I can't imagine life without him and his sister, Star. They bring such joy into our lives, along with the occasional challenges and trials. I guess you could say our pack is now melded together and we are a cohesive unit. Five years with our basenji boy have flown by and I foresee many more happy days ahead. I am so grateful that Our Creator took the time to give us humans the dog. They are one of those creations that make my heart sing, even if a bit off key. Just like Kindu's Baroooo!

Singing in Her Sleep

By Linda Grupp Boutin

Adopting an older dog who has been working as a show dog can be an intimidating experience. Sometimes they are inscrutable and learning their signals and needs frustrating to the extreme. Over time, the adopted dog gains confidence in their new home. They begin to predict what will happen when, what is allowed and what is not, when meals and bedtime can be expected.

We are now 18 months into the saga of bringing Star home and integrating her into our pack with Kindu. She still can be very insecure and unsure of herself despite our best efforts to help her understand that this is now her "forever home." Occasionally she jumps when the unexpected happens or draws back afraid when someone new stops by. So at times I wonder whether she has come to feel at home or not. It makes me sad to realize that she feels so out of place...

After years of having our furry babies sleep beside us, we have seen many dogs experiencing dreams and even nightmares. Most every dog we have ever had will be sound asleep beside us with all four feet twitching and we know they are having a blast running through a field in their dreams. Once in a while we will hear them crying and obviously suffering fear in a nightmare; we always wake them up from those times.

What we had never had happen before the other night assured me that Star is now happy in her new home. Kindu had been restless all night with a tummy ache and the dogs kept waking us up. Then Gary realized that Star was humming as she slept. Now normally she is a very quiet basenji with just a little bit of whimpering when she wants to come in. But this night she was making the happiest and most unusual sounds that we have come to call humming. We let her sleep and enjoy whatever it was she was dreaming about, but it's been obvious that recently she feels more comfortable with the environment we've provided for our little companions.

So the saying goes, "Let sleeping dogs lie," and on this particular night we did let Star lie and enjoy the feeling of finally being at home with Kindu and us.

Can Dogs Smile?

By Linda Grupp Boutin

Have you seen the posts on Facebook and YouTube, dogs smiling with their pearly whites glistening? I must say, those particular shots were never what I considered a smile. Being pragmatic about canine nature, teeth showing on a dog's face usually signals a snarl to me, not a happy dog. So when Star began flashing her odd "smile" at me, I tried to convince her that when she did this I didn't like it too much. I called it her "ugly face."

For a time, she got the message and stopped that particular behavior much to my relief. However, when you pet her in the way she loves, it seems Star cannot help herself and her toothy grin appears. I shake my head and wonder how in the world she ever came up with this odd way of doing things. I've never captured this look in a photograph and I doubt I will ever try.

After a year and a half, Star remains unpredictable for me. When I tried to introduce her to Gary's uncle last week, she shied away and responded very negatively. Just a few days later at our house, she would not leave his side to the point that when they went walking Uncle Bernie carried Star's leash! She had the best of times while he visited because the more she snuggled up to him insisting on constant petting, the more he obliged. We call this around here, "Star Heaven." She sparkles while receiving those pets around her ears.

Tonight she and Kindu both got washed by Gary. When we brought Star home that first day, we bathed her at a friend's before driving home with her. As I have mentioned before, basenjis abhor water. Our girl approaches it like it is dangerous. She has learned however the benefits of bathing. The payoff comes in the form of less itchy, more comfortable coat and skin. So tonight she fought less and enjoyed the sensation of having shampoo massaged into her coat. She still detests water in her face, but seemed to enjoy some of the rest of the cleaning-up process.

After drying off, she snuggled up with me to enjoy a concert at the White House of Carole King music. Sometimes she glanced over her shoulder at my sour notes (yes I sang along with every song), other times she flashed me that smile of hers this time in an effort to keep my hand petting her. And it finally came to me, while preparing for the show ring dogs do learn to show off their teeth to the judges. Tonight I just enjoyed her shenanigans and didn't judge what might be going on in that basenji brain of hers.

There is a process we go through while learning about our pets. We get to know one another and begin to be able to predict how the other will respond. Our furry companions learn our habits too. Kindu knows when I am preparing to leave the house, take him for a walk, or prepare a meal. He watches me and Star keeps an eye on him and is learning fast. She knows keys are used with doors, leashes precede a walk, and most evenings we stay home.

So we continue the getting to know you process around here while Star gains confidence that she has found a forever home that she loves. I will always wonder about what happened to her during those years before she came to us. But every positive experience leads to a more confident, relaxed basenji girl. And that does make me smile!
 

Cuddled Your Pet Today?

By Linda Grupp Boutin


    
     Over the last two weeks, we cuddled our basenjis more often and with appreciation for the special role they fill in our lives. Kindu pretends that he doesn't like to be held, petted and cuddled. But late at night before we retire for the night and early in the morning, our independent boy loves to be held like we did when he measured only 8 pounds. On the other hand, Star makes no bones about loving every pet, stroke, or word of affection. Gary has taken to calling her "Skin" because whenever she is in the house she is nuzzled up beside one of us for sure. And let me tell you, this basenji girl really radiates the heat; perfect for those really cold nights!
     On April 15th while watching the chaos in Boston, I had one dog snuggled up on each side of me. The mere act of petting a special animal friend lowers blood pressure and releases stress-relieving chemicals for both the human and the animal. So doctors have learned that owning a pet can promote health and well being. I love sharing my home with my 4-footed friends. They make me laugh, they keep my secrets, they keep me company no matter how bad a mood I might be in, they are there for me whenever I call.
     The down side of pet ownership is that they require some things too. This week I am planning a visit to the veterinarian for annual vaccinations. I am hoping to learn what the vet recommends for a supplement to help both dogs with hip soreness. With both Kindu and Star over 5 years old, they are officially senior dogs. Coupled with the fact that both dogs are fixed, I must keep a close watch on their calories and weight to keep them in good health. Teeth need to be kept clean. Fleas must be kept off the dogs and out of our house. And of course, there are the 3-4 walks per day, picking up after the dog waste, and taking care of Kindu's inevitable upset tummies.
     Although the money part can get tight, I find the sacrifice to feed and take care of my pets to be 100% worth it. If you want a friend loyal to the bone, get a dog. You know my preference is a basenji dog, but I must admit they are tough dogs to raise and train. But now, with 2 adult animals that listen when I insist they do, all those years of chasing Kindu around the dining room table are paying off. When I see the bliss on their faces when I pet them just right, I smile and love them all the more.