A few more pictures

Akua and Dash plotting something. This was on Akua's last day with us. We spent part of the afternoon hanging out in the yard.

Magick (back) and Akua (front) investigating something in the grass

Akua bottom, Dash left, Magick right lounging on the stairs. For some reason the stairs are one of the afternoon napping spots. Akua lounged on the steps anytime Dash and Magick hung out there. I suspect that they like looking out the front door, and keeping track of people upstairs and downstairs.

Fostering thoughts

Fostering was fun and challenging, saying good-bye was hard. But given the right circumstances and if my youngest son is up to it I will foster again. My youngest son adored Akua, and saying good-bye to her was hardest for him. What I would say is if you have ever thought about fostering, is you should do it. Is saying good-bye hard? Yes, but knowing the quality of people that make it through the screening process makes it a little easier. Also, when you know that the little one you have will bring fun and basenji humor to their new home, you know you have to share that with their new family. After all our family is already blessed with 2 wonderful basenjis, so sharing is only right. Will Akua have exactly the same life with her new family that she would have had if she had stayed with us? No, but she will have a wonderful life. And I know that she is in good hands, and will have an amazing adventure. It won't be the same as if she had stayed with us, but that doesn't mean it will be worse. I am sure she will have a great life, and will have many great tales to tell.

12 things that fostering taught me
1. Sometimes you have to leap, and do something even if it isn't the perfect time or circumstance. (As Optimus Prime said "Destiny rarely calls on us at a time of our choosing.")
2. Enjoy each and every moment you have with your dogs even the frustrating ones.
3. Everyone/dog learns a little differently. Respect that difference. It also gave me a different perspective on my own as far as behavior and learning things. It certainly gave me a reason to dedicate more time to training.
4. 2 females in the same house won't necessarily kill each other. 3 dogs can actually co-exist in peace.
5. When you have multiple dogs you have to be the big dog. Recognize problems when they are small, and fix them then.
6. Record the moments with words/pictures. It is amazing the progress that they make, and how quickly you forget how far they have come.
7. You get more than you give when you foster.
8. Walking 3 basenjis by yourself isn't impossible. It can even be enjoyable when the appropriate ground rules are set.
9. One basenji can heal the heart and soul of another basenji quicker than any human can.
10. You should always keep a couple of spare leashes and collars around the house.
11. No matter how basenji proof you think your house is, a new basenji will always find something you missed.
12. Basenjis are really good at teaching each other their bad habits. They also help with the good ones.

Akua is adopted!

This is probably one of the final blog postings for Akua. She met her forever family on Friday night, and went home with them. I have a few more pictures of her to share, and will post them when I pull them off of the camera.
Akua was a wonderful basenji to have in our house, and we will miss her. She has left her mark on our family. And while we were sad to see her go, we are happy that she has found her forever family.

May the sun shine warm upon your face
May the rains fall soft upon your fields
May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand

Beware of basenjis disappearing and being quiet in your house

I think I have mentioned before that my 2 basenjis are expert door openers. Dash will usually get Magick to open doors for him, even though he is very adept at it. Akua wasn't here long before she too was opening doors.
Monday night I noticed the basement door kept getting opened. I watched and it was always Magick opening it with Akua beside her. In the back of my mind I thought, why do they keep going into the basement? But I would call them and they would come up, so I figured it couldn't be anything to fun, and Dash wasn't going with them. Must be they were hot, and cooling of on the cool basement cement. Right, keep thinking that human.
This morning I had to fill the dog food container that I keep upstairs, so I went down to fill it. Only to discover what was so compelling for them to go down to the basement repeatedly over Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. They had discovered the extra bag of dog food I had, and hadn't opened. They also discovered that a dog food bag is no match for basenji teeth. So they had basically had an open buffet for the last few days. What is amazing is that Dash lives to eat, and he apparently never caught on to what the girls were up to. I guess being lazy and not following them down the steps was his weak point.
Anyway, I put up the food, and closed the buffet. Apparently, all day today while I was at work they kept checking to see if the buffet was really closed. I am not sure Dash will ever forgive them for not letting him know what they were up to.
We are still under heat warnings, so we are walking at or after sunset. The are much better about pulling, although sometimes they forget, and I have to remind them. We trained inside. Tonight I tried something new with the bell. It didn't really get them hitting the bell anymore than before. But it was an interesting new behavior so they got clicked and rewarded for it. I tried putting the bell on a small step stool. I thought having it off the floor might help. They nose touched it, which I rewarded as a small step to getting them to ring it, but that was it. Then Akua and Dash started putting their front feet up on the step stool. Magick finally tried it as well. I think that could be interesting and useful, so I am clicking and rewarding it.
For some reason after training, they seem to have a burst of energy. No, I don't feed them sugary treats. I think that maybe it is their brain unwinding. Anyway, tonight it was a 3-basenji basenji 500, which is a rare sight. Usually, Dash watches as the girls run through the house. Tonight, he was in the thick of the chase.
Hopefully, this heat wave will break so we can spend some more time outside.

Monday Night

It is devilishly hot here in central Illinois. My basenji boy Dash (black and white) really doesn't like to be outside when it is over about 80 degrees especially when the sun is out. My girl Magick and Akua both seem to have the basenji gene for laying out in the sun no matter what the temperature is. They both laid out in the grass in the sun for a while yesterday. Then they discovered that the sun spots in the house had air conditioned comfort too, so they then moved indoors.
We didn't train outside, as I couldn't focus, so I didn't think that it was fair to ask any of the dogs to do so. So we did some training inside. I have been working with the clicker and akua seems to get it. We have also started working on "go on". Although at this point it usually means all 3 basenjis are on the same mat! We also worked with ringing the bell. All three get that if I hold it in my hand, they should try to ring it. Once I drop the bell below their front "knees" they seem to not acknowledge its existance. So I am working more slowly towards getting the bell on the floor and them ringing it. I should have worked on this years ago with mine.
After some training the basenjis laid around on the steps. If it hadn't been so hot, I would have taken them running with the bike, but it was still to hot for that.
We waited for the sun to go down, and it was a long walk for all. My human boys refused to go outside. So it was me and the basenjis alone on the walk. I have to admit that I have let the basenjis get by with murder when I have been walking them alone. I just felt it was easier to deal with them each pulling one way or another than dealing with the pulling. I don't know if it was the heat last night, the fact that my arm was hurting or what, but I decided the days of me being pulled around by 3 basenjis had to come to a halt. So rather than going for distance, we went for "quality". By quality I mean me enjoying the walk as much as them. So anytime anyone pulled we stopped. I became a tree and waited for them to come back to me. We then moved forward again. The first few times, we only made about 2 steps before we started all over again. By the end they all got it, and when they pulled they quickly came back and stood by me. My goal for the next few nights is to get this pulling under control. After all, I feel guilty that I was lazy and let it get out of control, so I really feel obligated to at least have it on the road to being fixed.

Various thoughts/notes from the weekend

Akua continues to be a very nice basenji to have around. Although she does still occasionally surprise me. Saturday night I turned around and was doing some dishes, when I turned back around there she was standing in the middle of the dining room table. She looked at me like she has been doing it her whole life, although when I did say "Akua!" she quickly found her way down. I tried to explain to her that we don't do that in our house, but it didn't take. She again was up there on Sunday afternoon. I hope that she doesn't teach that to mine, and I am trying to find a way to teach her to not do it any more. She is short enough that counter surfing hasn't been a problem with her so far, the table thing is annoying.
Azizi, my youngest, also insisted that since the basenjis sleep in his bed it was time for their annual bath. So Sunday was bath day. Akua went first, and she actually seemed to enjoy it. She held still for me in the shower, and when I was giving the other dogs their baths she was actually trying to get back in to the shower. Of course, after the baths we had lots of running and chasing in the house, yard, house, yard, house, yard, house. Finally, they all settled down for a nap. None of the dogs really needed a bath at least I couldn't smell them, but since they don't sleep with me, I thought it was fair to let Zi make that call.
Akua's coat continues to get softer and shinier on the no-grain kibble. I hope that her new parents can keep her on a no-grain diet.

Lounging on the steps

Akua obviously lost deep in basenji thought.

The steps are a place where the basenjis will often hang out in the afternoon. It has wonderful sun spots, which were all the more attractive since Mom turned on the air conditioning.