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A Barkless Life

Interview in Plus Fun by Raja Babu

The Basenji Yodels!

Talker and Banners are uncle and niece Basenjis. They live in Pasadena, California. Everyone on Plus Fun knows them from their posts on The Biggest Post Ever!


RB: How did you Talker and Banners come to your furever home?



Talker: I was born in Joshua Tree from a breeder. Mom and Dad were recently married and wanted a pup. Mom never had a pup and boy did she pick a difficult breed. She found my breeder who said she had a beautiful boy who was 6 months old and still puppy enough for her. Mom and Dad came up to see me and it was love at first yodel.


Banners: Talker and I are two years apart. His sister is my mom. Mom wanted to give Talker a playmate and she wanted another basenji. Daddy said he didn’t want to go thru the same trouble he had with Talker (snicker snicker). Mom was having a basenji play date and she invited a fellow basenji owner who had my brother “Taj”. She told my mom that Taj’s sister was still available (me). When Dad saw Talker and Taj playing, he said, “Ma, go get our little girl”. Well…he didn’t quite say it like that, but he did say, “go get our girl”, and here I am!!



RB: How did you get your names?

Talker: My breeder named me Talker because I was the most talkative in the pack. Mom and Dad tried changing it when I got home. They called me “Striker”. They called me Striker for two weeks and I didn’t respond to them. One day they were talking about my name and mentioned that I didn’t seem very responsive so mom called, “Talker!” and I turned around and came over to her. It’s been Talker ever since.

Banners: My real name is Savannah. Banners! is my nickname. You have to say Banners! with an exclamation point at the end so I’ll know you’re talking to me. Anyways, Mom named me after the savannah plains of the Kongo. She also is a big Gone with the Wind fan and named me after Savannah, Georgia cuz she says “I’m her little southern belle”. Okay, well not really cuz she knows there’s nothing lady like about me…but still, she does love Savannah; therefore she loves me.

RB: You are uncle and niece. How well do you get along?

Talker: We don’t fight. We get along well. Savannah is pretty mellow except when she growls at me when I try to squeeze next to my mom and she’s there. She also is pretty boring. She doesn’t play or anything. Frankly, I wish I had another basenji to play with. She’s also a Daddy’s Girl and gets a lot of attention from my dad but I don’t mind because I’m a mommy’s boy. There! I said it! I said it in front of all of Dogster! I’m a Mamma’s boy and I’m proud of it!

Banners: Talker only bothers me when he’s disrupting my sleep. I don’t like it when he comes to bed late and steps on me while I’m sleeping under the covers. He makes me “grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr” very loudly.

RB: Talker, your Dad did not want another Basenji after he got you. Why was that? Have you calmed down now?

Talker: Well I gave my pawrents a ruff two years. We lived in a condo when I first arrived and I didn’t like to be left alone. Basenjis don’t bark but we do scream and I screamed and screamed and screamed when they left me alone and in the crate. They didn’t want to get kicked out of their condo or have to give me up, so for four days out of the week I went to doggy day care and played all day. On weekends, they spent all day and all night with me. I went every where with them. It was great! I’m okay now and I can be left alone. My last big bad boy act was in May 2005 when I tore out the arm of the couch. Don’t tell the other basenjis about me being a good boy now because they’ll take away my Bad Boy Basenji Club Card.

RB: Tell us about your breed the Basenji. What should a potential Basenji owner know?

Talker: Well basenjis are an ancient breed. We’re one of the oldest and therefore we’ve been around the block and know a trick a two. We can be very difficult to train but we can be trained. We’re pack dogs and do not like being alone. Like I said we display our displeasure by our blood curdling scream. We can bark but usually don’t. We like to yodel to express our happiness. We can be very aloof with strangers (like Banners is aloof) but we’re loyal and loveable. We’re sight hounds and must always be kept on a leash or we will take off at the sight of something yummy—like squirrels, rabbits, cat, etc.

RB: What do you two do for fun and games?

Talker: I usually have to run outside and play by myself cuz Banners doesn’t play. I play outside with my mom and I chase her around. Sometimes mom will throw the tennis ball and I’ll chase it but I have trouble bringing it back to her so that game doesn’t usually last that long.

RB: Are you friendly with other dogs? Do you visit dog parks?

Banners: I’m the friendliest! I don’t have problems meeting other dogs. Mom has taken me to the dog park but it’s not my favorite thing to do. I like meeting other dogs one at a time. Talker has trouble meeting other dogs face to face. He needs a slow introduction. He usually snarks a few times which can really mess up my social life. Mom works with Talker on his introduction and I must say he is getting better.

RB: Talker, you recently had a tangle with two raccoons. How did that occur?

Talker: Well…I was awaken from my sleep from the sound of stranger critters entering our backyard. Now I don’t live in a rural area. I live in a small city near the foothills so it’s not often we get critters passing thru. Well I shot out the doggy door so fast and ran to the side of the house where the sound was coming from. Boy was I surprise to find one raccoon on the ground and another one on the wall above me. Mom and Dad heard the commotion and ran out after me. One raccoon was a male and he was protecting his Honey girlfriend. We tangled a bit and I ran for reinforcements but Banners was no where to be found. That raccoon came after me and he wouldn’t back down. Dad got the broom and mom was trying to pull me away but I smelled victory and wanted to go back at him. That raccoon actually jumped up on our tree and snarled his ugly teeth at me. Mom finally grabbed me and Banners and got us back inside the house and slammed the doggy door shut! Those two raccoons never came back after our tangle. I had a few scratches but nothing serious. That was one exciting night!

RB: You both miss your pal Vinny. Anything you would like to share about him with our readers?

Talker: Vinny is one special little Dude. He was and is my best friend. He was small but boy that guy had the charms. He came to my house when we had a Basenji Play Date and all us basenjis made him an honorary Basenji. There will never be another pup like Vinny. I miss him and I know there are a lot of Dogster pups who miss him too. *wipes tears from his eyes*

Banners: I love Vinny!!! He was my good friend and we had sooo many happy fun time especially in our Paradise group where we all played on Paradise Island. Vinny had a magic man purse that he wore all the time. Whenever we got into a bind, Vinny would pull something out of his man purse and he would save the day. Vinny was sick for a long time and for the first time he couldn’t pull out his magic from his man purse to make himself better. He fought hard and strong to stay alive for his family and for us. I’ll never forget him. He knows that I secretly loved him but I knew he wasn’t a one woman pup and to not share Vinny, would just be an injustice to everyone.

RB: How did you come up with the idea of the Biggest Post Ever in the Plus Forums?

Banners: Reesee started the Biggest Post Ever!. One day I just found it and I found my friend Sandy just sitting there. She likes to play there and I like playing with my friend Sandy. She’s really good at sitting on the Biggest Post EVER! I’ve met lots of fun friends there while sitting on the Biggest Post EVER! Hi Post Sitters!!! Our goal is to make sure it never drops to the second page and that it becomes The Biggest Post EVER! EVER!

RB: Anything else you would like to add for our readers that I may have missed.

Banners pushing Talker aside: We just want to say that we really love Dogster and we think it’s a great place to be. It’s a great place to find hoomans and pups who have one thing in common and that’s the love they have for their PUP.

Talker: Thank you Raja Babu for giving us this great opportunity to share our stories. *gives big kiss to Raja Babu*
Sorry, I got carried away.

Maggie Girl Tagged ME! OUCH!

I was tagged by Fierce Maggie!

The object of this game of tag is to learn some more things about your friends. You are supposed t list 7 things about yourself & post it in your diary. Then pick 7 friends to pass it on to and have them do the same thing.

7 things about me

1. I was gonna tell everyone that I'm a mamma's boy but everyone already knows that. I'm a talker and love talking to my mom.

2. I love long walks in the rain...well maybe not long long walks..but I don't mind walking in the rain.

3. I wear eye liner...everyone thinks it's natural but it's not.

4. My toes smell like kettle korn.

5. I hate the way toothpaste smells. It makes me sneeze.

6. I love rubbing my face on mom's towel.

7. I only sleep on my mom's side of the bed.

I shall tag some buddies of mine:

Dewey, Cloud, Cowboy, Spike, Sprocket, Hunter and Maxx (Doc)

You're it!

My Tangle with 2 Enormous Raccoons!

Oh my gosh! I tangled wiff two raccoons at 3:00 a.m. this morning! Gather around and hear my tail.

Mom heard a hacking/hissing sound coming from outside. Big Daddy thought I was throwing up. Mom couldn't find me and ran outside! It's dark on the side of the house and she heard me and this strange sound and she got scared and kept calling my name. But of course I didn't come to her.

Then the big big big male raccoon ran from the side of the house towards my mom and she freaked. It was on the wall. I came running out all excited and Savannah was there, but she was scared and getting in the way.

Then Big Daddy was yelling, "get them in the house!" Mom was trying to catch me and then I got away and went back to the side of the house. Then THE FIGHTING STARTED AGAIN CUZ THERE WAS TWO OF THEM!!!

Mom didn't know there was two and then she saw the male go running back to the side of the house and I got into it wiff the female one. I came running out screaming cuz she scratched me. Dad got the broom and was trying to chase the big one away and it ran to our tree and the other one took off.

Mom picked me up cuz I was now holding up my front leg cuz it hurt. She got me inside and got a towel to wipe me down cuz she couldn't see any blood or where I was hurt. I just kept limping.

BUT this morning, Dad inspected me and found some scratches under my leg next to where my doodads should be! Dang that raccoon. She was calling me a name and saying I wasn't a BIG BOY and she swiped me there. I got mad and that's why we tangled. Dang!

Mom is gonna give me a bath today to wash the area. I just have a slight limp but it's going away.

Whew! That's my story. I almost had me some raccoon soup--actually with the size of those things, I could have had raccoon soup, stew, and a nice casserole.