I am way, way behind with keeping up with this blog!

Lots has happened. Where to begin? Well, we had one major hiccup: Mbali broke her foot. Actually I broke her foot! A couple of months back I was taking Shaun and Mbali out for a quick walk before a vet appointment when she somehow darted under my heal while I was leaning over to clean up her "business". Long story short was that poor Mabli had two minor fractures in the rear left foot. Luckily these two bones were the center bones and not the inner bones. She had to endure a cast on her leg for three weeks which was much quicker than most bones fractures. The nature of the fractures, the location and her age meant she healed very quickly. She has fully recovered and is back to her cheeky self.

Mbali and Shaun get along great. The cuddle and play together nicely. Some of the play can get kind of rowdy and really noisy, but they are great company for each other. They must be fed in separate rooms though as Mbali has a huge food drive.

After several weeks living in their new homes, Mbali and her littermate, Moxie, got together for a wild playdate. Actually, Moxie is not really Mbali's sister, more like her cousin in fact. Mbali was a singleton, born alone, but another litter was born about five days earlier at the breeder's home. So all five pups where raised together with two doting moms under the watchful eye of Katie, the breeder. Mbali was always the smallest, but she has more than made up for lost ground it seems.

So, Moxie is Mbali's cousin and they had not seen each other in more than a month. Poor Moxie is recovering from a broken leg (unfortunate puppy accident) but the bones are healing nicely. She has to wear a cast but it really does not slow her antics down that much as far as Mbali could tell.

When the two girls were reintroduced there was quite a bit of bravado, growling, teeth nashing, etc. Both Sam (Moxie's mom) and I were probably privately thinking: "well, this is not going well" but after a few minutes the girls seemed to settle down and make tentative attempts at play. We all moved inside and the leashes were removed. Then all hell broke loose!

Moxie and Mbali played like little demons for two solid hours. Both were exhausted by the time we left. In fact Mbali fell asleep while I was holding her on my shoulder while saying our goodbyes. Needless to say the car ride home was more peaceful than the ride there. 

Till next time Moxie!

Puppyhood: never ending or way too brief?

The answer to that question depends on the day: how cute and adorable or how destructive and crazy she is on any given moment.

Mbali's days are filled with meals, playing with Shaun, sleeping with Shaun, forced walks in the Seattle rain, outright naughtiness and her first puppy classes.

Anyway, lets get to some photos.

Meet Mbali!

One of Shaun's breeders dropped a bombshell on us the other day!

Long story short: After some serious soul searching the family that was first in line for this puppy felt that a puppy would be too hard on their ailing and fragile greyhound. After not even daring to dream about any of these puppies we feel so lucky to have wormed our way into Katie's backup plan. So Sherri and I now have a new 8-week old Basenji puppy. We were sort of maybe-possibly-perhaps-hypothetically contemplating getting a companion for Shaun, but this was all murky "theory" until this sudden surprise.

Her name is Mbali. Mbali is a Zulu term meaning "flower." So far she is doing great. Shaun is fascinated, intrigued and appalled all at the same time. She is tiny, way smaller than Shaun was when he came home - but he was 14 weeks old then, while this little lady is only 8.

Two of Katie's (one of Shaun's breeders) girls had puppies at the same time. One litter included four pups but Lil had a singleton (just one puppy) four days later. Katie did a marvelous job making sure that both moms shared all the puppy care chores evenly. This was critical for the little single girl. Some singletons eat too much and they lack all the developmental companionship from not having siblings. She might have been a few days behind but all reports had her trying really, really hard to catch up with the "older" puppies.

Katie kept up with a blog so everyone could eagerly follow puppy progress. All five puppies were spoken for though. It was a huge surprise to hear from Katie asking us if we wanted to take Lil's puppy. Some friends of ours took one of the other pups. They also own Kona, a 16-year-old Basenji who is Mbali's great grandfather! Both of Mbali's parents have won "Best in Specialty Show" honors and are black and white, which we understand is quite rare.

It was sort of sad seeing Mbali say goodbye to last "brother" and her fantastic mom, Lil. She cried all the way to our home, but instantly adapted to life in her new home. Shaun and her play quite rough at times. Lots of running and squealing, but they share dog beds and towels next to the heat register. Shaun now seems very smitten with his little sister. We can't wait to all go camping later this summer!

All involved are going to have to "make adjustments" but hopefully we will soon emerge as a working unit. Wish us luck!

Today is Shaun's first Birthday!

Talk about spoiled! Special treats, rubber toys, more treats and a great gift from his best friend, Cassie.

The weather finally was sunny and clear. The mountains looked incredible with all the fresh snow. Shaun enjoyed a walk in the morning and then relentlessly chased a new rubber toy stuffed with treats around the living room floor.

Later in the afternoon Cassie and her mom came over to play. They brought Shaun a nice homemade birthday card and a great soft ducky toy. The pair then did their usual crazy romp in the yard. The best was the gourmet dog treats that Sherri brought home from the Bark store in Ballard. What a day! Spoiled rotten indeed...

Beer Disaster?

The other evening I was getting some work done in our dining room. I was working at the table with my 15" MacBook Pro. Shaun was sleeping nearby in his basket.

I stepped into the kitchen for a second. I was standing at the sink when I heard this "ka-thunk" noise coming from the dining room. I simply froze. I rushed into the dining room and sure enough: that nice glass of northwest ale was cascading down from the top of my MacBook onto the floor! 

I guess Shaun was attracted to the smell of beer. He must of stood on his hind legs to reach the top of the table and knocked the glass over. Yikes! I rushed and got a whole roll of paper towel and mopped up the spill as best I could. There was beer all over the left and bottom sides of the keyboard. I did get it mopped up very quickly though. 

I then called the Seattle Apple Store and they recommended that I open the MacBook facedown in a bin filled with a couple of inches of uncooked rice overnight. They also said not to attempt to power up the system for at least 24 hours. The rice is supposed to help absorb moisture. 

I went to the store the next day and the Genius Bar guru powered up the MacBook with their new ethernet powered OSX system. This enabled the guy to run all kinds of fancy diagnostic tools. All seemed fine with the logic board. The guy cautioned me that I might need a new keyboard though. Spending hundreds of dollars on a keyboard replacement on the last pre unibody MacBook Pro was an expensive option though. In the end I did some web research and it looked like I could buy a new replacement keyboard from eBay for like $45 and replace it myself. I already had the two specific screwdrivers from working on previous Apple Powerbooks. 

I used a plastic ice-cube tray to keep all the zillion screws in order as I followed the excellent instructions I found online for replacing the keyboard. About 45 minutes later all was well again and the MacBook seems to function perfectly!

I now know that beers, MacBooks and a Basenji named Shaun really, really do not go together...

2010 EBC Annual Specialty

Well, Shaun got his feet wet with experiencing his first dog show. And it was a biggie: the 2010 EBC Annual Specialty held in Auburn, Washington. This is the major three day event that everyone connected with the Evergreen Basenji Club looks forward to.

Prior to that we had been taking Shaun to "puppy classes", a series of training sessions where young dogs get to practice all the moves they will be expected to do in the show ring. These were sort of fun actually. We got to meet some other great Basenjis as well as some fellow anxious "stage parents".

The EBC show was held at the Agrus Ranch in Aurburn, which is an hour away. So for three days in a row Shaun's bleary-eyed parents somehow got out of bed at the crack of dawn, gulped down some coffee, shoved him into his kennel and drove him to the ranch.

Once there we roamed around with Shaun and gaped at all the wonderful hounds on display. This was not just a Basenji only event. All kinds of great hounds where there: Bassett Hounds, Salukis, Pharoah Hounds, Blood Hounds, Irish Wolf Hounds, Rhodesian Ridgebacks and more. Very cool.

Shaun then had his date in the "grooming parlor", which was part of the extensive tent village that Shaun's breeders, MaryK and Katie, had organized. Shaun was brushed, buffed and shaved. The day before poor Shaun also had to suffer through his first bath. All of this was new to Shaun. He seemed to go with the flow as usual. He emerged looking very handsome indeed! Gone was the scruffy, red and dingy gray dog. He was now looking clean and stunning. His white fur was pure white again. His fur felt so soft as well.

It looked like there were over a hundred Basenjis in attendance: Basenjis getting walked, groomed and fussed over. You could tell that most of these folks do this all the time. There was a certain look of routine military precision with all the different groups and their gear.

The actual competition was broken down into groups and sub groups with names like "futurity", "maturity", "junior showmanship", etc. Sherri and I pretty much left everything to MaryK and Katie. Both were extremely busy with a million details and multiple dogs to contend with.

We met some more of Shaun's litter mates, some of whom had traveled long distances to be here. They also had previous show experience. This was to be Shaun's first show though. We were a little nervous. We knew MaryK was a pro but we still worried that Shaun would do something wild to "distinguish himself".

The big moment finally came: Shaun's first time in the ring. Not a good time to realize that Max's aging 70-200mm lens has serious issues. The lens would not autofocus and both the manual focus and zoom controls were very stiff.

Well, how did Shaun do? Uhmmm, well, he came in last in the two events (third and fifth) on the Friday and Saturday. He did come in first place in one group on Sunday before getting knocked out in a later round. We thought he looked great though. He did not make any errors as far we could see. But all these dogs looked so good. What do the judges see that we mortals do not? MaryK seemed pleased. Hopefully she was not letting us down gently.

There are so many variables: extensive blood line, litter quality, litter rank, luck, training, responding well to judges, moving well and dozens of other details. It also looked like dogs have "good days", "great days", "bad days", and "terrible days". Some dogs get disqualified and excused for the day for infractions like growling at judges.

While there are lots of smiles and celebration there is also disappointment and tears. It was heartbreaking seeing some of the new junior competitors not doing well after all the time and training they put into working with their dogs. Again, our untrained eyes had a hard time figuring out who should have won. This really is a sport and the rule of "well there's always next year..." applies. Or the next competition anyways.

By the end of the third day we were all ready for a rest, especially Shaun, who slept like an egyptian mummy for several hours once he got home.

We did see a lot of great looking Basenjis and get to meet some nice people. We learned a lot more about this whole venture as well.

As for Shaun? He seemed very happy to get all dirty again playing with his pal Cassie the next day. We are not sure what comes next? But that's sort of part of the fun of this whole adventure...

Life's a beach

Summer is finally here in Seattle. The entire region offers many great areas for camping. We decided to squeeze in a couple of days into a busy schedule and see how Shaun would hold up on a tent camping trip.

We decided on Whidbey Island as the travel time from Seattle is very reasonable (Shaun is still not keen on car rides.) We left on a Wednesday (avoid those weekends) and headed up to Mukilteo to catch the Puget Sound ferry to the south end of Whidbey Island. The island is served by two ferries and a major bridge on the north end at Deception Pass.

We did not have any campsite reservations but were hoping that we could find a decent site at South Whidbey Park. Getting to the park was a pleasant car ride from the ferry terminal. The camp ground looked nice but all we saw were posted reserved signs on every camp site as we slowly toured the windy roads around the grounds. Fearing the worst we very much relieved to find that the last thee or four sites were indeed available. Funnily enough the site we chose seemed like one of the largest, most private sites in the entire camp ground.

Sherri took an excited Shaun for a walk while Max set up the tent and the chairs. This would be Shaun's first "vacation" away from home and he seemed to be going with the flow nicely. Shaun had his own bed, toys and a huge new beef chew to gnaw on.

We then took a walk down this short trail to the beach. Once we turned north we had the entire beach to ourselves. The actual beach was a mix of sand and small rocks. Overlooking the beach was a steep bluff with dense vegetation. We decided to go for it and let Shaun run free as there really seemed no where for him to escape to. He stayed close and was just fascinated by the beach smells, washed up seaweed, and the salty ocean lapping at the edge. Shaun had never seen the ocean before and he was very curious. But getting wet was out of the question. Basenjis and water just don't seem to mix well. Some sneaky waves almost surprised him a few times though.

We enjoyed a nice, long, slow moving walk up the west coast of the island. We stopped for a rest under some trees with the entire beach to ourselves. Shaun was quite content to sit, watch the waves and enjoy the sun on his face. After a while he did a little digging and destroyed a few sticks. He seemed very happy with this new adventure.

We then walked back to our camp site for a well deserved beer (plural for Max.) The camp ranger then pulled up in a tractor with a brand new replacement picnic table for us.

Our main concern was the air mattress. Shaun was going to sleep with us in the tent and we were worried about him chewing or clawing at the mattress. To prevent this catastrophe we covered the mattress with a thick industrial moving blanket we always keep in the car. He took great delight exploring the tent and kept running in and out the window opening.

By then it was beginning to get dark. We made a nice fire and cooked up some BBQ'd chicken, italian salad and washed it all down with some red wine. Shaun was very intrigued with the fire. He was quite content to cuddle into his mom's lap and be part of the whole camping scene.

We then decided to call it a night and hit the sleeping bags. Shaun opted to sleep on our bed instead of his own. As this was a camping trip we let him get away with it. He seemed more than happy with this arrangement. I guess it got colder during the middle of the night as he woke both of us up and demanded to be let in under the sleeping bags as well. Once in he he slept like the proverbial rock until morning. He was so buried down into the bedding I thought he would suffocate but he seemed quite happy.

In the morning the little brat actually kept sleeping while Max got the stove working and made coffee! Sherri then took him for anther beach walk while Max packed up. We then explored the island while slowly making our way northwards. We stopped of at Fort Casey and explored the WWII era canon batteries that were designed to protect the island from an invasion that never happened. We also enjoyed yet another off leash beach walk near the Fort.

From there we meandered up past Penn Cove to Oak Harbor were we enjoyed a picnic lunch overlooking the water. We then drove north to Deception Pass. This is a fantastic park that includes multiple beaches, forest trails and lagoons. We explored the campsite and noted the best spots for a future visit. While on the beach we came across a tiny elephant seal pup. His mom and left him there while she had gone hunting for food. Retired senior volunteers would spend the day looking out for the pup and making sure that curious onlookers did not get too close. We then enjoyed a wonderful hike along the parameter trail before slogging all the way up to the summit on Deception Pass itself. Ancient glacier minerals add a wonderful clean looking aqua color to the water around the pass. Shaun seemed to love the hike through the forest to the summit. We were all a little tired by the time we had walked back to the car though.

All in all this short trip was a wonderful success. All of us got some warm sun and enjoyed the beauty and relaxed pace of Whidbey Island. Shaun seemed to really enjoy the experience as well. We plan on doing some more short trips to the North Cascades just south of the Canadian border as well as the Olympic Peninsula.

The best thing is Shaun has shown himself to be a willing and welcome companion on such trips...