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Tassie Play Dates.

Summer is here in the north of Tasmania.  We have all acclimatised to the weather and think 16 degrees is a lovely warm day.  Over the past few weeks we have been lucky enough to catch up with a couple Basenji friends for play dates in Launceston, and look forward to more fun times to come.

From back left we have Rune, Isabella & I, Etta, Levis & Neo.

November 17 saw us all meeting with Neo & Etta, and their lovely mum Michelle.  Levis had met Neo at a dog show once before, but the rest of the family was new for Rune and Isabella.  It was a hot day at Windsor Park, outside of Launceston…and when I say hot I of course now mean close to 20 degrees (what a softie!), and the five dogs had a good time running and exploring off-lead.  How wonderful to have found a handful of great fenced off-leash parks in and around Launceston, only half an hour from where we are living now.  Levis was his usual disinterested self, more inclined to sniff around the park than receive affection, and Rune decided to keep an eye on Neo to make sure he didn’t have too much unapproved fun.  The girls, Isabella and Etta spent most of their time together, with Etta determined to sit on Isabella to keep her still.  Thanks Michelle for bringing the dogs along for fun times!

 

On 9 December we had a great time meeting up with a gorgeous young tri Basenji named Tassie, and her owner Mags.  The duo, and Mags’ husband were tripping around Tasmania from Western Australia and were keen to meet other Basenjis along the way.  Tassie was bred by our friends Jenni & Richard Palmer and named “Tassie” by her new owners because that’s where she came from – Tassie!  Rune loved playing with her, although he had to learn how to play gentle with a girl since he is used to rough-housing with big ol’ Levis, but by the end of the day I think he was pretty smitten.  And Isabella, who never plays with other dogs at the dog park and is always stuck by my side simply adored getting rough and ready with Tassie.  Such a wonderful day!

Tassie & Rune running through the grass in Trevallyn.

Isabella & Tassie having a play.

Isabella & Tassie having a play.

From Tasmania to Queensland – Basenjis All the Way!

Oh my gosh!  We are only half way through October and this has most certainly been my busiest month of the year to date!!  There are probably three or four blogs-worth of stories to tell but as I am still recovering from a hectic few weeks, I will try to condense them down into one (or two, if I get photo-happy).

At the end of September we had our first official visitors from “the main land”, Chris’s dad, his partner and her son.  Along with Chris they planned a week-long hike through the wilderness, starting at beautiful Lake St. Clair and finishing up at Cradle Mountain (a journey more commonly known as the Overland Track).  Certainly not MY idea of fun but hey, what do I know.  It was a good opportunity to invite my mother down to stay for the week though, so the dogs and wouldn’t be home alone.  They were so excited when they saw their Grandma for the first time in over six months and I think Isabella showed Mum everything about the new house in about 20 seconds of crazed “Bichon Blitzing”!!  Levis and Rune had their bagels wiggling and were glad to find Grandma had bought them a good supply of dog treats as we

The Benson pack <3

 

 

When the time came for mum to return home, I had organised to go back to Queensland as well, to see my family and help out with some upcoming BBNA events that I was very excited for.

I should send out a big THANK YOU to the Benson family for letting me stay with them for a few nights, and to Taz for keeping me warm in bed at night so I wouldn’t get homesick.

 

 

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We spent our Saturday and Sunday at the Gold Coast Pet & Animal Expo, hosting the Basenji Breed Network Australia Ltd. stall and teaching people about our most wonderful breed.  On day one our stars were Hunter and Safari, who enjoyed lots of pats and compliments from passers by and really made our breed stall special.

The amount of people who had NEVER seen a Basenji before (and some had never heard of them) was surprising but all in all, I think the boys were admired by everyone.  What little stars they were.

 

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We even had an extra special appearance from the handsome Akua, our pure African Basenji boy whose softness and handsomeness is hard to beat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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But the weekend wasn’t over on Sunday night – oh no!  Monday was a public holiday and our chance to get along to the Dogs QLD All Dog Sports Spectacular to talk about the breed and also show them off on the “stage”.  A fabulous group of Basenjis turned up – Safari, Hunter, Lilly, Popstar, Leo, Rose, Samson & Delilah and little Inca.  How wonderful to meet them all and their owners, some of who I had only spoken to on Facebook!

Here are the girls lining up for Challenge Bitch.

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And here we have the gorgeous Safari, challenge dog and Best of Breed for the event.  He is also an excellent snuggler. 😉

 

THANK YOU to everyone who came to see us at the expo and DQ event, as well as all those who cared for me on my holiday.  You know who you are, hot chocolate makers and heat pack heater-up-er-ers!

RSPCA Million Paws Walk 2013

I’m a little late in posting about our trip to Launceston but I haven’t been feeling well this week.  It was a great day and even though we didn’t meet any other Basenjis, it was great for the dogs to socialise (and try some healthy dog treats while they were there).

RSPCA 2013

The RSPCA Million Paws Walk is a bit of a tradition for us.  We have been taking part for seven years and always have a fun time.  Considering the weather had been a little nasty leading up to the day, Launceston turned on a wonderful sunny morning and dogs of all shapes and sizes were sporting their biggest smiles.  Isabella received many compliments on her sparkling cherry and sequin dress and of course many people wanted to know a little about our Basenji boys.

 Like I said, there weren’t any other B’s there this year but we were fortunate enough to meet another Basenji owner and had a wonderful chat!  Fingers crossed we can meet her gorgeous Basenji babies Laska and Lykos!

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