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Happy Ending Story: Rio
 Last December I met my first
basenji when my niece purchased her girl C.J.
We had been thinking about adding a smaller dog to our
pack, and basenjis looked interesting. The more I researched the breed,
the more apparent it became that a basenji could definitely complicate our
life, so I put the idea on hold.
I discovered BRAT during my research, and volunteered to
transport a rescue dog. Most of our animals are rescues, so this was
appealing. In February, a BRAT coordinator asked me to help evaluate and
transport a dog living in a nearby town. I mentioned that I might be
interested in adopting, and filled out the Foster Contract, since I would
be picking up the dog from her present family.
She was happily living with a family who had
six children, so it was a given she was good with kids. Their cat was
another story, however, and was now residing in the garage until the small
intruder with the curly tail moved on.
I knew from the Foster Contract that a crate was the
preferable way to safely contain a basenji, so I was surprised and
concerned to learn she was being tied to the doorknob with a leather lead
and a choke chain. The hair on her neck was worn off from the collar, and
she looked a little rough, but she seemed like a happy girl. The owners
had tried to use a wire crate, but she tore her face up trying to escape
so they resorted to tying her.
I wasn't at all sure what I was getting myself into, but
decided to pick her up after work on Friday which would give us the
weekend to get her used to her plastic crate before I had to leave her on
Monday. Meanwhile, my husband had read the basenji horror stories, and
wasn't too keen on having our two older cats harassed by the "little
maniac."
 Over the weekend she was introduced to her crate, where
the meals were great and treats abounded. On Monday it was time for her to
spend the day in it. I felt like I was leaving a toddler in daycare for
the first time—the guilt. When I returned early in the afternoon, I was
relieved to see her face and toenails intact. No blood, no trauma, just a
happy little girl named Rio ready to play with the big dogs and chase a
cat or two if she got the opportunity. Boy, was BRAT ever right to insist
on the crate. What a relief to know she and our house would be in one
piece when I got home. My husband and I were rapidly falling for
this little clown. I decided to take Rio on a road trip I had planned
before she was in the picture. It was just Rio and me on the road for nine
days. This was my idea of bliss. We camped and stayed in motels where she
was welcome. She was the perfect traveling companion. She was tagged and
micro-chipped, and I was careful to keep her hooked to her seat to avoid
an escape. When we got back, we formalized Rio's adoption, since she was
now home for good. She proved to me that a rescue dog is not necessarily a
problem dog, just one who might have not been in the right place to begin
with. This weekend she'll meet her basenji cousin C.J.
— big
dogs look out!
Kathy Buckles
seahorse@bendnet.com
Oregon, USA |
