About Us

WHERE WE STARTED

The road to our first basenji started in a used bookstore where the picture of a
basenji just jumped out at me while paging through an AKC breed book. After
reading the information in the book about basenjis I knew that I wanted to know
more about this unique breed. So I began my research on the internet searching
for any and all pages I could find about basenjis. There are now several good
websites that can point you to the many basenji websites maintained by breeders
and owners from around the world. After several months of research about the
breed I knew that I had to meet these dogs. I attended a dog show and was able
to meet several basenjis, talk to breeders and owners, and just watch them in the
ring. At this point I knew that this was the breed for me and so I turned my
research to what things I could do with my basenji and how to find a responsible
breeder. When I finally chose a breeder I contacted her and discussed my
expectations. After several conversations, many questions asked by both of us,
and much planning, my first basenji came home in May 1998 a little more than a
year after I had started all my research.

Nicky has been my introduction to basenjis, conformation, lure coursing, straight
line racing, oval track racing, clicker training and so much more. He earned 9
points toward his conformation title with me and my husband handling him but
really shined with our friend Pat handling him and got both his majors with her to
finish his championship, he is an AKC and ASFA field champion, he earned his
Canine Good Citizen certificate, he is my first rally novice title holder, and he
completed his junior oval racer title. We had Nicky for two years when we started
to think about getting our second basenji. We brought home our second basenji
in March 2001 after much planning. Rally has continued our education about
basenjis.

OUR THOUGHTS ON BREEDING

Our goal is to breed to produce Basenjis that correctly represent the breed
standard with careful attention to both temperament and health. I feel it is
important that basenjis maintain their ability to be "all around hounds" and so I
participate in several different activities with my dogs, conformation, lure
coursing, straight line racing, oval track racing, as well as taking obedience
classes with my dogs. Our basenjis are part of our family and often go for day
trips with us, come with us when we visit family, and enjoy camping with us.

There are several health concerns in the basenji breed and it is important that
any basenji being bred have health testing performed. It is important that all
basenji owners educate themselves about the health issues in the breed. Without
genetic marker tests for many of the health issues in the breed there is no way to
be 100% sure that a dog is not a carrier but we can use the health information we
do have to make informed breeding decisions . The more information that a
breeder has about the basenjis in their line, including information about brothers
and sisters that will not be bred, the more informed their breeding decisions will
be.

Responsible breeding also includes responsible placement of puppies. This means
that all pet puppies (ones that will not be shown) will be placed on a spay/neuter
contract with "limited" registration and we require co-ownership for show
prospects. If a puppy cannot be kept they will be returned to us no matter how old
they are