Basenjis Party Too Hard!

Last night Toni + Calvin had some wild shenanigans. New Christmas toys were played with too hard and they each ate a foot long bully!!! Even Happy did a lot of pacing indoors and exploring in the snowy yard. This morning none of the basenjis wanted to get out of bed as visions of cookie plumb fairies were still dancing in their furry heads.

Santa!!!

Santa Paws came last night and my were the dogs excited this morning! Calvin unwrapped ALL the presents (even those not for him)!!! Toni + Calvin each got 2 toys from Santa and Toni got some additional chewies and a lovely reindeer from her mommy #1 (Sondra). Happy got some "gourmet" dog food and a pint of vanilla Haagen Daas which she will be eating later this morning.

FYI: Happy + Toni have the Santa hats on, Happy is the one who is gray and longer in the face; Toni has a darker and smaller face. Calvin is the lighter basenji with the red bandanna.

Here comes Toni Claus!


Toni + her big gift from mommy #1.


"Is that for moi?"


Calvin + Toni.


Calvin the unwrapper of presents.

Toni being a goober and wanting belly rubs.

Santa Happy

Like mother, like granddaughter -- neither one wanted to take a photo with each other!

We three basenjis of African kings.

Toni yodeling up a storm!!!

The Saddest Girl in the World

There is an old song that goes "Did you happen to see the saddest girl in the world?" Well, we have been getting snow storms back to back and painfully cold weather for over a week -- which means no walks for Toni, Calvin, and Happy. Poor Toni has been taking this the hardest as she lives for her daily walks. I took this photo of Toni after she had been looking out the window at all the snow filling up her precious sidewalk. Thankfully, Toni wears her booties and we were able to do a short walk today (Calvin stayed home as he has an ear infection).

Oh, and I have no idea how that pillow got onto the back of the couch. Perhaps Toni brought it up there with her!!!

Toni's Birthday Bliss!!!

Technically, Toni's birthday isn't until tomorrow. But we decided to throw her a little party tonight. Toni got a special beef and cheese "cake" topped with a cookie. She grabbed the "cake" off of the plate before we could even sing Happy Birthday to her and ate it in 10 seconds!!!

Toni also got a present that Calvin picked out for her. It is a big silly looking dodo bird stuffed toy. She no sooner got it out of the bag that Calvin jumped up and tried to steal it from her. Toni gave him a big nasty growl and Calvin flung himself on top of the dodo bird and wouldn't let her have it! Gary consoled Miss Toni and gave her a hug and the dodo bird was long forgotten.

1 basenji birthday down, 2 more to go!

Brrr...It's Cold Outside

The days are starting to get colder here and I had to breakout the matching coats Sondra sent for Calvin and Toni. They look so darn cute! Now when they go out trying to catch the wrasscly wrabbits (or squirrels) they are the most stylish little hunting dogs.
Plus the dogs get sooooo many complements which they love!

Halloween Hound

In the true spirit of Halloween, I made the dogs do some tricks before they got their treats. And by tricks, I mean I dressed them up. Miss Toni got to wear the pumpkin hat and Calvin went as a spooky bat! Toni was a little concerned by the constant stream of trick-or-treaters (some who came by to check out the dog's costumes) so she ended up hiding out in my bed. Calvin had a blast and was soooooo excited by the trick-or-treaters he kept trying to escape to greet them. I ended up taking him out to stop by his furry friends' houses and the little devil ended up with a bag of snausages, dried chicken, and bacon strips! When we got home I made him share his loot with Happy + Toni.

PuppyPower!

Toni's "mom" sent me a BUNCH of photos of Toni when she was a wee little puppy as well as a wonderful package of Toni's toys. Toni's mom (Happy's daughter) is Simba. It is amazing how similar Happy and Simba look! Toni also had a little friend named Shelby who is the red and white basenji in some of the photos.

zzz Sleepy Heads zzz

Now that the mornings are cooler and the sun comes up later the dogs have turned into lazy little sleepy heads! Even Miss Happy (who is usually up before I am) has been sleeping in almost every day this week. What a life these dogs lead!

Looking Good!

I finally made Calvin and Toni new collars. Toni wanted a glamorous collar to be more like her Grandma Happy but she didn't want to look too prissy so she got a brown and blue-green bohemian collar. Because Calvin is a sneaky mischief-maker and when he growls it sounds like "Arrrrgg" he got a pirate collar! Poor Miss Happy is so neat and tidy that she did not need a new collar so she got a cookie instead.

Rooster

Toni is very vocal and here new "thing" is that in the morning she will sit in the kitchen wait oh so meekly for us to feed her. Since Toni can be a bit dominant and pushy around food, Happy gets fed first, then Calvin, and then Toni. Toni has such a hard time waiting for her turn and will usually let out a loud rooster-like crow to let us know that she is here and is HUNGRY!!! If she keeps doing this every day, our neighbors will think we got a rooster!

Friends!

Toni and Calvin are FINALLY at the point that they are buddies. Don't get me wrong, Toni still like to be the "boss lady" and bullies him to get her way (which may I add has resulted in much better behavior for Calvin). But at least once a day, usually in the evenings, they will play for a bit. Toni has also become more willing to share furniture with Calvin and I frequently see them cuddling in bed or they will both be up on the couch with me. When we take Toni to the dog park she will often "check in with" Calvin as she explores the park.

That is right, Toni now goes to the dog park! We try to bring her and Calvin late in the day when there are not many dogs there. She and Calvin do well alone in the small dog area chasing balls and greeting dogs between the fence. When we let her out into the big park, she doesn't bother much with the other dogs. She still does not like it when other dogs sniff her bottom, but she sure does like to sniff the bottoms of other dogs! She also likes to sniff their ears and their eyes and will really give a new dog a thorough once-over when she meets him!

Miss Toni is such a wonderful girl who is full of so many surprises!

Snoozin' in the Sunshine

Toni is really starting to adjust well.

Toni has yodeled 3 times.

She appears comfortable when roaming around the house and trying out the comfy furniture.

Toni seems more at ease in general and is more self-confident.

The past 2 nights Toni + Calvin slept in the same bed together WITHOUT any grumbling.

And (drumroll please), after I got back from a short walk around the block with Happy, Toni greeted me with a mini-yodel and a super-duper tail wag (this is the first time I had seen her wag her tail).

She's No Angel!

We really love our little Toni -- but she sure is no angel!

Yesterday was a dreary rainy day so I was a little bored and put Happy's angel costume on Miss Toni. The top photo is of Toni (age 9) and the bottom photo is of Happy when she was around 9 years old.

Toni has been very silly lately and we think her true basenji personality is starting to come out. She is now fully comfortable exploring in the house. She figured out how to use a chair to climb onto the kitchen table and then climb up a shelf to get a bully stick. She would have gotten away with it if she hadn't knocked down a bowl of jelly beans making a large crash. I guess basenji's do not like jelly beans as no one ate these.

She is also getting more tolerant of Calvin and the two of them have been wrecking havoc in the living room. When Toni runs she is like a bulldozer and knocks over everything in her path!!! She bulldozed the living room rug under the coffee table. And then bulldozed over a small folding table I was using to do my crafts. Nothing fazes her! Well, nothing except for Happy. After Toni knocked over the table Happy got out of her bed (which had also been pushed under the coffee table with poor Happy in it along with the rug). Happy went right over to Toni and Calvin and let them have it with a loud crow-like squawk. Calvin and Toni looked absolutely mortified and each one quietly retired to their sleep spots. After Happy scolded the "goons" there were no more shenanigans that night.

Oh, and yesterday Toni bulldozed all the covers and pillows off of my bed!!! Calvin was very intrigued by such bold naughtiness. The only difference between he and Toni is that when he is bad he knows it and has a sneaky smirk on his face. Poor Toni clearly has no idea what she is doing is wrong and always looks so surprised when I yell or laugh at her (I often find myself doing both!). :)

Calvin + Toni are in Deep Doo-Doo!

Calvin + Toni have been in rare form the past 2 days and keep getting in trouble. Ironically, this coincides with Gary's vacation to visit his mom. Here is a list of all the naughty things they have done while Gary has been away.

- They both twisted my arm by trying to chase a DEER down the bike path.

- Last week we planted a tree in the back yard and Gary put mulch and a little brick decorative border around the tree. Calvin dug up all the mulch and then knocked down the brick border. Calvin was especially pleased to get a large piece of wood from the mulch and pranced around the yard with his prize.

- Toni got a "pee-pee head" when she decided to get a closer look when Calvin was doing his business. She then needed a bath and was very silly in the tub + got me all wet.

- Calvin ripped a hidey-hole in a $50 dog bed. In his attempts to get inside of the hole he threw stuffing EVERYWHERE and now the front porch looks like the north pole!

- Toni removed one of my expensive Gluten-Free meals from the kitchen counter, spilled it all over the floor, and ate it faster than is possible.

- Happy keeps removing her vitamins from her food and refuses to eat them (no matter how well I disguise them).

- Toni slipped her harness in the backyard and I caught her frolicking naked in the sun!

- Calvin made a big stinky fart in the living room just as I had gotten my laptop and work set up. I needed to evacuate to the back porch until the smell subsided.

- Toni decided it was taking me too long to feed her and helped herself to the food in the food caddy. She then got so impatient when it was time to feed her that she nosed her bowl too hard and food went flying everywhere. Calvin and Happy rushed to the scene and my floor was cleaned in no time.

-Oh, and last week SOMEONE pooped on the rug in front of the door. Thankfully this was one of the small washable rugs. No one has fessed up to this yet but a certain brindle girl whose name rhymes with Doni looked very guilty and submissive after I found it.

Hey it could be worse! At least they haven't been fighting!!!

What a goofy girl!

I was in the house doing some vacuuming and this is what I saw! Miss Toni on top of one of the picnic benches (which I also use as a side table). She loves to be up high-- it must make her feel like she is watching down and surveying her new kingdom.

Toni + Happy

In honor of Mother's day I thought I would post some photo's of Happy and her granddaughter Toni. To our surprise they have been getting along quite well. They do so many of the same things it is downright eerie!

They both like to fence fight.
They yawn the same with a "boooooof" at the end.
They both get out of control with tricks when they get treats.
They are both busybodies and like to follow me around.
They both open the bathroom door the same way to spy on me.
Toni points just like Happy did when she was younger.
They eat the same -- loud, crunchy, and a little messy.
They both do not like those uncouth slobbery hyper dogs.
They are so pretty and have beautiful brindle coats.
And......
They are both just a little bit bitchy!

p.s. If you can't tell which is which, Toni has the red collar.

Someone is Feeling Her Oats!

Someone sure is feeling her oats today!!!

Miss Toni is starting to feel more comfortable. This morning I apparently wasn't feeding her fast enough and she started spinning circles around me and gave out a goofy little whine. This was clearly not the sad cry she has been doing, but was a silly confident "I want it now" whine.

More hijinks: Happy still needs to get spoon-fed in the morning. Today, Toni and Calvin pestered me so much when I was feeding Happy that I had to feed her outside. After about 5 minutes outside SOMEONE in the house was fervently scratching at the door. Now I know that Calvin doesn't scratch so I wonder who that could have been????

Calvin is also all wound up to today. He started goofing around with the stuffed octopus I bought for Toni and before we knew it Miss Toni was also goofing around!!! They played for a good 5 minutes of pure basenji wild n' goonieness. This was wonderful to see as Toni hasn't wanted to play much (On Sunday the briefly played for 30 seconds).

Walking Toni and Calvin together has really helped them get along. So far she has only grumbled once on a walk. After each walk Toni is so tired that she is grumble free for a good hour.

Yesterday was a beautiful day in the 70's and I took Toni and Calvin on the bike path and along some paths that are behind the elementary school. They explored trees, chased squrrils, and said "hello" to many human admirers.

Tummy Rubs for Toni

Toni is such a sweet dog. She loves her tummy rubs at night! And she thinks nothing of it to crawl onto mylap and throw herself into my arms.

Good Days, Sunshine!

4/18/08

We have been having beautful weather for the past couple of days. I think Mother Nature knew Toni was coming so she made some days that were sunny and in the 70's! Very unusual for Vermont in the middle of April.

Toni sure loves to climb. Here she is outside on our table.