There have been a week from -15 to -30 Celsius in Finland - thanks to the winds from Siberia. Therefore there have been a pause in running training and lot of frustration, because of lack of exercise. Rosa (photo hereby) is able to use dog shoes outside, but I refuse to walk in them: I rather jump with two or three paws on the ground and make the visits outside as short as possible. Meanwhile there is spring and first flowers growing in Munich: how I miss the warm weather back home!

My friend Iti (Faraoland Viking Idun), standing my left side in the picture, gave birth to one healthy baby-boy. She has been a good mother to her only son from the beginning. The puppy will stay to live with her mother in kennel Farlanders. Cami will visit them as soon as the puppy is enough developed to welcome visitors. Congratulations Iti-friend!

It is time to start training for summer running competitions! I have been running free on the ice with progressive training sessions; I started with half an hour running, next day 2 x 30 min and yesterday 30 min on ice and 1 hour running in the forest. The last training session was kept with my junior Reko (Abade), who showed being faster and power staying than his mother (me!). I have to put more efforts for my condition improvement, if I like to be my junior's trainer and co-runner in track racing/lure coursing license runs. Problem is that I just don't have such a strong enthusiasm for running anymore.

I haven't met Reko for a long time (6 months), so I was very upset, when Cami took Reko first out of the car and left me behind waiting. I showed how upset I was by giving one loud bark UF! (not WUF, because basenji bark sounds more a cough than normal barking) to Reko in Cami's lap. This was my second time of barking in my life - previous time was, when I was a young pup. Reko became upset of my bark, so he announced the happening to his landlady as soon as Cami returned Reko to his home. Reko said a loud UF! on the door and then went happily inside his home. Meanwhile my other son Khufu (Ardebil) had barked first time of his life: he said UF! for a strange cat. Until now only Rosa (Arabesk) has been the "black sheep" of our family tree by barking with the cattle dog of her home.

Exactly 1 year ago I gave birth to 2 charming boys and 3 beatiful girls in their birth order: Rita (Abrash), Mia (Afshar), Khufu (Ardebil), Rosa (Arabesk - photo hereby) and Reko (Abade). They have turned into juniors as loved family members. I may not be by your side celebrating your special day with you. But I want you to know that I'm thinking of you and wishing you the best possible future. Happy Birthday My Dearest Ones!

Today I'm looking forward to my birthday cake with five wieners. At the same time I send my warm thanks to my breeder Henriette, who has made careful choosing of me to be most suitable for my family. I wish all the best for my sisters Gloria, Mille and Alice and my brothers Roland, Seppe and Jambo (yes, there were 7 puppies born in this G-litter of Liljeborg's). We are now considered as middle aged: no more young, but not yet veterans. We are all healthy and going strong, so let's keep our tails proudly high and curl.

My dear juniors Reko (Abade) and Mia (Afshar) attended to the biggest dog show in Finland called Winner. My expectations were not high: just hoped that they behave good in the ring.

Princess Mia (photo hereby) had bad luck at the first day in the ring: she slipped and fell hurting her leg and therefore got only a "Very Good" mark. Next day no accidents happened and Mia got an "Excellent" becoming second best junior and fourth best female (of 33 basenji bitches!). Very well done!

Prince Reko got "Very Good" evaluation on both days with pleasant critique: no exceptions from the breed standard (just like Mia). Reko was measured as a ideal hight of 43 cm. He needs just more ring training as a visitor in dog shows, so that Reko would not look like that he have been doomed to Hell against his will.

Though Kerli did a great job by herself (meanwhile we were visiting in Italian Alps) with highly stressed juniors, which we are very grateful: THANKS! Cami's friend Anita has written a very good article about dog stress and it's cure methods in her Team Kenzongos blog, which we recommend to read carefully.

I wish to get fresh photos from all of my juniors (like Khufu) by Christmas, who has now turned 10 months. I had to deliver the X-mas presents for my puppies in advance, because they need them now. I hope the owners of my juniors do not hesitate to contact Cami, when they have problems related to the development of young basenjis.

On the weekend we try to get fresh photos of me as well in order to get my season greetings in the Christmas cards. The challenge is to get a good photo of me in the freezing cold weather, which is required to have good snow view in the background of the photo. Therefore we will always travel to Alps with 100 % certain snow pics.

The same veterinary, who operated both me and Nala, noticed that Nala has lower pain tolerance than I do. That information has helped my owner to understand, why Nala quit running easier than I do.

Unfortunately my owner is not good at noticing when her dogs are sick. I enjoyed the dog shows until in international dog show in Austria, three years ago, my owner put me into dog show ring without noticing that I had a serious stomach pain caused by eating poisoned treats at the previous dog show day. The judge made the situation worse by forcing me to stand by lifting me from my sore belly on the table, when I tried to sit. After that experience I have been very fearful standing on the dog show tables - I'm not anymore sure, if the judge will make me hurt or not. Since that painful happening I have lost the appetite for the dog shows.

Some of my junior kids (Mia and Rosa) have already started their dog show career. I started visiting dog shows when I was 1,5 years old and though had time enough to gain the champion title with the first try at the age of two! I very much hope, that the owners of my juniors are more wiser to notice, when their basenjis are sick or at very bad mood and keep then them away from dog happenings on those days. Remember that I have warned you: If you once break the trust of your dog, you will never have that back!

Happy Father's Day RUBEN (Faraoland Xcuse Me Desmond)! Yes, you are the one who stole my heart and made me proud mum of 5 puppies (Kennel Aittakankaan A-litter) almost 10 months ago. Ruben is equally proud father for all of his puppies round the Europe!

We made a marathon walk of 44 km with 800 meters mountain climb by lake Walchensee, Bavaria. The warm sun shine with + 18 Celsius temperature made my master underestimate with 10 km the length of our route and with 1 hour the duration round the lake Walchensee. It took 7 hours instead of 6 hours with refuel breaks, so the last hour we walked in dark - luckily it was still +13 C warm. I was put into dog leach so that I won't be lost of my folks - actually the risk was opposite!

My puppies turned to junior older (9 months) today. They are now allowed to visit dog shows officially, but they will suffer the fact that they are 1 month younger than other basenjis in the same ring and class.

Photo hereby is taken on the same day with 4 years difference: I was 9 months and my son 8 months old. Reko is following my footsteps both in running competitions and dog shows. I hope he avoid mistakes I did: too early too much, even if he is more mature than I was in his age.

I had a nice dog-pair (my master's brother from Finland) last weekend, so I did not mind the idea that my folks visited UK without me, when it was bad weather (cold and rainy) here in Munich. Timo taught me new tricks with a toy and I helped him to keep his feet warm during his sleep. I heard that Nala and Simba had also dog-pairs (my master's cousins) in Finland, because their folks attended to the same session with my folks.

Now I'm considered to be at a normal weight of 9 kg I attended to the last running training in Mammendorf in the beginning of October. I loved more to play when waiting our turn with Tsula, almost 10 years old, than running on the track (Tsula won!). Meanwhile my puppy Reko (Abade) showed his first steps in lure coursing competition (unofficial of course!) at puppies under 12 months category. The judge said he is ready to official competitions, so he managed it well. Many thanks to Anne that you have taken so good care of Reko. Photo by I. Vinha: Anne and Reko in LC competition on 9th Oct 2010

When we are enjoying the last normal warm days of autumn between +10 C, it has already got winter in Finland. Rosa (Arabesk) has already tested the first snow of this winter.

The Results from Basenji-Cup 2010 in Hünstetten was published this week. It seems that the Finnish-Owned-Swedish-Basenjis were the Tailends of the competition. That did not matter, because we were there just having fun, when others tried to run seriously! My diet has continued and I have tried to increase the length of running rounds with my personal trainer Tsula. Even so I have lost only half kilos in a week with half of meal and double of exercise. In my turn I have been the personal trainer for Munich rabbits. With the help of other dogs, we have tried to increase their condition so that they will not be caught by predators. The theme of this week was: "The Basenji - Rabbit's Best Friend!" Photo by Matthias Kreutz

We left on Friday for a long lasting (due to weekend travel jams) journey to the Taunusmountains near by Frankfurt. At the hotel dining I noticed a familiar face (Jangua basenji breeder and dog show judge) next to our table. She remembered immediately me (she has chosen me Best-Of-Breed both times, when we met before in dog shows in Finland and Austria) and said that luckily Cami did not register me to the dog show on Saturday, because I have gained some extra weight (thanks to lack of exercise on rainy days and Cami's flu session). So we went to the dog show just as visitors (for my relief!) on Saturday. I was warmly dressed and my old hand knit overall got a lot of attention by basenji owners. I was hoping that my boyfriend Ruben would win, but Echo won the males with better head look. Though Ruben was the best mover of the ring (our own opinions, of course). Cami spotted a lot of familiar faces in the dog show, but I was only interested of Ruben.

On Sunday it was my turn to attend to the track racing competition, even if I was not in good shape (overweight). I met my Roland-brother and Gloria-sister: they were very friendly to me, but I showed the opposite character towards them. Cami noticed that I was in very bad temper on Sunday, so I should have worn a T-shirt with text "I HATE BASENJIS with few exceptions". The few exceptions are Nala, my puppies, Ruben the father of my puppies and my Munich friend Tsula. I get along very well with all other dog breeds: I meet hundreds of different dogs daily in Munich with no problems. Thanks to bad experiences from basenjis in the track racing competitions has made the basenjis the only dog breed I hate - especially on track racing areas. Therefore I get very stressed immediately, when I hear the lure machine and see other basenjis around. The stress gets over only when we have left the area totally by car

The first start went badly from all of our team of four ( = the Swedish basenjis by Finnish owners), because the sand track looked so unfamiliar to all of us. Gloria and Roland (running together) was at track racing area first time of their lives, so they did it well as new beginners. I was the weakest link by crashing to Ruben (sorry!) in the start, when I tried to catch the lure from our left side: the hand slipping technique when you see the lure moving on your left, instead of the (official) cage start when the cage opens and you see the lure first time when it is in front of you, made me more confused.

On the next round we all did it very well (now I started from the left side and did not crash to Ruben anymore), but that did not help in the end results, because the both rounds were calculated together. We all got so excited after the second run that we were longing to the third round (Ruben tried even climb over the fence back to the track); Gloria was the cleverest of us and did the third round without asking the permission from her owner. So Gloria won the "Funniest Basenji 2010" trophy, arranged by me to the competition. People applauded to Gloria's third round: it looked like my sister is really fast (we are looking forward to find out her running time from the second round when they are published in the internet). At the end of the day I offered (involuntarily) lactose-free milk to the basenji team and Cami offered (voluntarily) sparkled wine to their owners. I was very tired at the end of the day!

This week I got over 30 stitches by mosquitoes. They were very painful and I look awful. I just have to cope with mosquitoes about a month until the night frost kills them.

I have found again the fun of running after the lure. My happiness to run after the lure disappeared during our visit in Finland on August. Maybe the last weekends short hunting session with real bunnies by Feringasee helped me? Basenji's hunting instinct and hunting passion is very vulnerable, due to the reason that basenji breeders has not cherished the original quality ( = African hunting dog) in their breeding lines like it has been done with other hunting dog breeds like greyhounds. Next year shows if Cami has succeeded in her plans and my puppies will be better (more confidential) hunters than I am.

Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. Little things make me happy: hunting bunnies (met 5 of them last weekend!), meeting friends (especially the Tsula-basenji), eating good food (raw meet) and day dreaming in my own sofa. My hostess has had an autumn flu, thanks to cold evenings, but she still managed to take me to long free walks in English Garden and track racing training in Mammendorf.

I have started to seek daddy candidates for my second litter in Munich. I think I was such a good mother that I deserve another basenji litter. There are only some problems with my plans: 1. the daddy candidates, I like the most, are beyond my means (no puppy seeds available) and 2. I'm sterilized. I haven't (yet) found a solution for those (minor) obstacles, but that does not stop me planning.

Our month summer holiday in Finland is coming to the end. I visited two running competitions (lure coursing and track racing) with no success. I spent two long and boring weeks in North-Helsinki, where my hostess was packing her mothers belongings and helped her to move 200 km to north to a little town called Mikkeli. On that time, I managed to increase my weight and weaken my condition. The next two weeks in Espoo were happier: I had my old pack of Nala and Simba round me.

Cami took contact to all my puppy owners and rewarded the active ones. Reko (Abade) has been the most active this summer: trained track racing, lure coursing, dog swimming and dog shows. He got a new jacket (Back On Track - model), leather leash and collar, chewing bones and lot's of time with my company. Before these activities, Reko had done some destruction. Rosa (Arabesk) has been the second active with obedience, agility and dog show training, so she got a leather collar and a new jacket (BOT). Mia (Afshar) has been the first one to attend to official dog shows (in puppy class, of course): she got my first year winter coverall and a new car safety belt for dogs. Mia gave me a chewing bone: THANKS! Rita (Abrash) has trained a little bit to dog shows, so she got a leather collar. Khufu (Ardebil) without any useful hobbies (?) has done some destruction. My girls will begin their first heat next month on September (my first heat started 1st September), so please keep them in leash and safe from other dogs!

My sister and brother lost their hostess on June. That's why Cami contacted to her friend Päivi & Franco in Luxembourg, in order to arrange a new home for them. We had met the couple last year in Luxemburg at a dog show with their basenji Rairai (who moved to rainbowbridges on October last year). Päivi & Franco decided to open their hearts and home for these orphans, so my siblings moved from Sweden to Luxembourg in the beginning of August. Cami has showed their photos and read their diary for me weekly from Basenjisisarukset tarinoivat -blog. Finally I'm able to communicate (with the help of humans, of course) with my siblings. They are now in very good hands and live the happiest moments of their lives!

We have spent our summer holidays in Corvara (IT), where we made a hiking trail of 15 km up to 2400 meters and back. This time I followed my pack very closely. Check the new photos fromPictures of Ciara .

Meanwhile Reko has spent his holidays in a summer cottage nearby Mikkeli with basenji Muusa and thairidgebackdog Jimi. Aittakankaan A-litter turned 6 months on 20th July, 2010: CONGRATULATIONS!

On weekend we visited Mirja at Hessdorf (DE) again. There I gave Mirja presentation, what kind of dog breed basenji really is. You couldn't tell by the clean-cut, cropped appearance, but the Basenji is a sighthound. Sighthounds are a type of hunting dog that has intense, fervid vision, super speed, and an overpowering takedown move. That kind of moves I showed, when I first hunted the rabbit in the field and on the next morning the deer in a forest. On Sunday, when it was turn to track racing training, I could not show my best, because the hunting sessions with game animals on previous days had made me exhausted.

I got a photo greeting fromKhufu, who is enjoying with the company of Capo the staffordhireterrier. Khufu has made some destruction in the owner's city apartment (too little exercise outside, I believe). Basenji is more active dog breed than a terrier, otherwise it wouldn't be so good hunting dog.

This weekend has been very hot in Munich: from plus 37 to 38 Celsius. Therefore we went to the Dogsporthotel in Oberammergau, where was only +30 C. Because of the warm weather the agility training sessions were very short. But the new experience for me there was swimming in a pool. I did not voluntarily get in the pool, but when I got out, I realized, that the pool was very refreshing experience in the warm weather.

On Friday afternoon we made 2 hours hiking to Kitzbüheler horn up to 2000 meters and back, total 10 kilometers. I found marmots and made a quick hunting session with them: Cami almost got an heart attack, because there was very deep fall where I run.

On Saturday our hiking trail was 20 km long with altitude difference of 3000 meters. I met some nice dogs (a golden retriever and a mixed-breed) hosting the Alp-restaurants along our wandering route. Now there were no risks of deep falls or marmots, so I was enjoying the life without the leash about five hours.

On Sunday we visited the Wild-park of Kitzbühel, where I was most interested of game animals. There were no fences between people (+ a basenji) and the game animals, so the only thing preventing me to get our supper by hunting was the stupid dog-leash.

This weekend the people from the North Europe celebrate the longest day of the year. Many Finns leave the cities for Midsummer and spend their holiday in the countryside. Rituals include bonfires, sauna and spending time together. That's why my hostess made an ex tempore decision to visit our Finnish friend Mirja in Hessdorf (200 km drive by car). I enjoyed the evening with grilled food with them on Saturday. On Sunday we made an one hour walk where I was introduced to a small rabbit at meadow: an excellent hunting training! After that we had fun with Tsula at track racing training in Mammendorf.

This week and weekend has been so rainy and cold that I have just stayed inside in bed. I have done only some visits in restaurants with my folks. My puppies turned 5 months old: congratulations! Mia (Afshar) has been in the show ring in Estonia, with very promising estimation from the judge. Rita (Abrash) and Rosa (Arabesk) has been visitors in dog shows, because the puppy class age limit is higher in Finland than in Estonia. We got a lovely photo hereby of Rosa at the dog show: thanks Aira and congratulations once more for the Finnish Championship of Wera - Rosa's playmate!

On Friday we left to Seefeld in Tirol (Austria). We were the last ones taken up to the 1850 meters by cable railway and there we had one hour mountain hiking. Mika took some photos of me by mountain hiking. We stayed in a hotel, which was situated 500 meters from the cable railway station.

On Sunday it was time for lure coursing training in Ingolstadt. The sighthound club is very efficient: it took only 2 hours for 15 pairs of dogs and 2 rounds of lure coursing training. The track was about 500 meters. Here is videos from the start and the end of my run. My folks was pleased that my condition has improved from our last visit on May.

My hostess and I had a wonderful weekend. First of all the weather was excellent from +22 C to +29C. We went to the dogsporthotel in Oberammergau, where we trained some agility and then relaxed in the Finnish sauna. I love them both nowadays! Then on Sunday I tried track racing first time of this year. The training master came after my run to wonder where are my muscles. Cami had to explain, that we had just trained about a month because of my maternity leave. We got advice to start swimming training with me. Better said than done with a basenji breed, which does not normally love water.

On Saturday we wandered 8 km in Natural park of AltMühltal. I was more exhausted than my people, thanks to the stimulus-rich environment. On Sunday it rained every two hours, so I did not run in the park or sighthound track. Anyway, the weather on weekend was better than on weekdays this week: now it is raining all the time until Friday. So my fitness condition does not improve in such pace than Cami has hoped.

This time I had my personal trainer Tsula (Jangua G'Tsula) with me, when we visited Ingolstadt sight-hound club for lure coursing training. Cami tried a positive energy method to me in the first round and now she believes that the inspire of the hunting mood is important before a run. There is still need for speed-durability by daily exercise for me, before I can attend to any official competitions. We have to admire the 9,5 year-old veteran Tsula's amazing condition and hunting instinct: this was his first try in lure coursing as it was competition with me and he had no problems at all - even if he was wearing a race muzzle for the first time in his life! We had qualifying heat and final run, both on 600 meters long lure coursing track. Mika took some photos of the session.

Rita's (Abrash) owner sent some new photos, which you can see from the Photo Gallery. My children are growing fast!

Thank you for the lovely photos and greetings from my puppies! I'm very happy that my children have found their place as loved family members. Remember, I'm always there to support you (even if I don't live by your next door) whatever challenges the life brings with. Hopefully you will bring lot of happiness and comfort to people and dogs around you and live healthy and easy life like I have done.

Due to the cold and rainy weather in Germany (the worst weather in 60 years history at this season time in Middle-Europe) my host took our visitors from Finland to the Italian Dolomite Area for the weekend, where was not raining, but not so hot either. Mika drove about 900 kilometers, so you can guess that most of my weekend was spent sleeping in a car. Meanwhile it was the hottest weather in Finnish history at this season time (even +28 Celsius!) and the Finnish Basenjis enjoyed their weekend. We got a lovely photo from Rosa (Arabesk) by sea, which explains more than 1000 words.

After the long pause I finally started the lure coursing training. I'm in quite bad condition, but some day one should start from zero in order to get better. Still my waistline has returned to the same measure (37 cm) what it was before my motherhood. Here are the videos from my training sessions: the first run and the second run. Today it was 17 Celsius warm - the warmest and sunniest day of the whole week from average temperature of 10 C and humidity.

We got some photos from Khufu (Ardebil) and Rosa (Arabesk). Photo hereby: Khufu is enjoying his life with jackrusselterrier Felix. Khufu's no 1 hobby is running. Rosa (Arabesk) has trained successfully agility: that's her main hobby. Mia (Afshar) and Rita (Abrash) have been registered to dog shows in puppy class for summer. Abade (Reko) has done some PR-work for basenji breed at his masters school.

Yesterday I arrived back to Munich by airplane. The journey lasted 4 hours for a dog (1,5 hours delivery in and out of the plane), but as always, I took it very calm. Even if it was dark, when we arrived at home, I recognized my neighborhood easily. I made very deep check by nose inside the house after four months absence. This whole week will be rainy in Middle-Europe, but I still believe that I get more exercise here than in Finland, due to the reason that dogs are allowed to run free. I'm looking forward to meet my German basenjifriend Tsula!

When Rosa (Arabesk) left for her long journey by train to her new home on Friday, I had some odd feelings: finally free from that Little-Biter, but at the same time I felt very lonely: I had to play by myself. On Saturday morning I seeked the whole house through for Rosa, but then accepted the idea, that she has left me. Luckily Cami took me to meet Reko (Abade) and we visited the sighthound track in Helsinki. I was very disapointed that we got only one run and the running session was already over when I was most excited. Reko showed that he has better hunting instincs than his parents, so I'm very proud of him. He is also more intelligent and obedient than I was at his age. With Reko the aim of breeding has been reached: he is better than his parents in all aspects. Reko visited with Cami the dogshow training on Friday, but Cami noticed soon that Reko does not need any extra training, because he had already been trained by his owner Anne so good that Cami had nothing to add for that. Reko jodels a lot and loud, when he meets new dogs: basenjis understand that language, but other dog breeds get confused. I prefer jodeling to people than dogs.

Today my puppies are 3 months old: congratulations kids!You can't notice my motherhood anymore from my figure: I'm back in sport condition and almost as fast as I used to be before my seasons began ( = the puppy process) on November last year. Now the puppies are in such development phase when their teeth changes: NOW they bite a LOT and I mean all the time. That phase ends when the teeth has changed. Cami has tried to get Rosa (Arabesk) tired by over 3 hours walks when Rosa is allowed to run free: that has not helped to get her tired to bite. The only result is that Rosa is very fast and in excellent condition so that when she steals something, it is almost impossible to get it back from her.

Rosa's (Arabesk) last weekend with us was fulled with activities. First she met her owner Aira for the first time on Thursday. On Friday Aira came with us to the dogshow training where Rosa learned first steps of dogshow process. Then on Saturday Rosa met her brother Reko (Abade) and they had a one hour playing session (photo hereby). Tomorrow they will have some running training with the lure and other sighthounds.

Finally the spring arrived to Finland with decent temperature (though it is still about 10 grades warmer in Munich). I have showed more activity outside than earlier, even if I was operated on Wednesday. Meanwhile Nala has accepted "Mini-Me" (alias Rosa alias Arabesk) to the pack, but only outside of her own territory. Inside Nala's territory there have to be used a fence between the puppy and the old dogs (Nala & Simba), because they don't tolerate a playful puppy. Still the puppy has learned a lot of positive things from the older dogs: she walks nice on the dog leash, take it easy inside the house and tries to be housebroken. Rosa is no more the mini monster as she was with the company of her littermates.

We have got news and some photos from puppy owners of the first weeks and days in their new home. First we got e-mail from Mia (Afshar): she likes to spend time in Rakvere with basenjis Flash and Iti, but she dislikes to stay alone in Tarto. Otherwise she is very happy and wise little girl. Then we got e-mail from Khufu (Ardebil), who works as customer entertainer in his master's work place at Viherkäine in Rauma. He is already faster than his playmate jackrusselterrier. Rita's (Abrash) owner surprised me by telling, that she knew beforehand Rosa's (Arabesk) owner from dog shows. What they did not know beforehand, that they bought puppies from the same litter. Rita enjoys her life in the country side in Puukari (near by Kajaani) with her playmate japanese chin. And today Cami phoned to her friends Niina & Anne to ask, how was Reko (Abade) doing in Vantaa. Reko has learned very quickly lot of new tricks and he has stolen the hearts of family and friends. Meanwhile Rosa (Arabesk) has started seriously the toilet training outside in Espoo, before she moves to Oulu in three weeks. Rosa reminds so much Ciara as a puppy that our friends asked to change her name to Mini-Me (from the film Austin Powers).

Today it was Rita's (Abrash) turn to leave with her new owner. Rita had a long journey: about 7 hours with car. Now Rosa (Arabesk) moved to live with the adults - even if Nala hates puppies. We just have to focus that Rosa gets no opportunity to meet Nala without any fence between them. The older Nala gets, the longer list of enemies or dislikes she has.

When Reko moved on Saturday for his new home, the R-duo girls Rita and Rosa became very sad. It is hard to say, if a reunion with all of 5 children can be arranged, due to the large distances between the families. Mia (Afshar) lives southest in Tarto (South-Estonia), then Reko lives in Vantaa (South-Finland), Khufu (Ardebil) lives in Rauma (West-Finland), Rita (Abrash) will move to Puukari (East-Finland) and Rosa (Arabesk) will move to Oulu (North-Finland). Finally Cami put her efforts to deliver the photos to the web-pages!

Photo: Abade in Arabesk's transportation bag.

It took a week instead of two days of my puppies registerpapers from Finnish Kennelclub. Now you can see my litter from the database called Koiranet

The action level of the R-trio has not decreased, but the voice level has (thanks to Mia's absense). Reko has taken the leader position of the gang. Cami took a lot of photos on weekend of my puppies, but she is not able to put them into the web-pages, until she gets some assistance. For excample, there are still waiting the photos of the boys on Persian rugs; those photos was taken in a shop called Imperial Matto in the middle of Helsinki. So the boys got their first experience of travelling in a bus as well as the city life. Both took it very calm.

When Khufu (Ardebil) and Mia (Afshar) moved yesterday to their homes, there are now R-trio left: Reko (Abade), Rita (Abrash) and Rosa (Arabesk). Hopefully Finnish Kennelclub are able to send the register papers soon, because the registration process was not so quick and smooth as they advertised ( = two-days-process -> let me laugh!). I must addmit that Khufu and Mia looked lovely in their new leather sighthound collars and winter jackets, which were both measure made for them. Mia inherited my old winter jacket (had to be scaled down for her) as well as racing jacket and muzzle. Mia's future puppy will some day move to live with us.

All of the puppies have found their new dog-experienced homes: the first one before it was born and the last one at the age of 7,5 weeks. Three of them will live with other basenjis, one with Japanese Chin and one with Jackrusselterrier. Four of the puppies will hopefully be used for breeding, but their first duty is to act as loved family members - hopefully very easy ones, because that has been Cami's aim from the beginning: healthy and nice behaving basenjis for every day life. I heard that some of our friends have avoided to visit us after the first visit, because the puppies had stolen their hearts and they were not ready to open their homes for them; that's why now the phone has been ringing all the time to ask visiting times, after the status changed to RESERVED for all of the puppies.

Today my puppies got their ID-chips and some of them (the travellers) got first vaccinations and EU-passports. Unfortunately my eagernes to breastfeed my puppies caused the solution from veterinary that vaccinations could not be given for those ones, who will stay in Finland (where vaccinations should be given first time at the age of 12 weeks). All of them got healthy papers from veterinary examination. Now it will be excitement to find out how quickly my puppies wll get their register papers from Finnish kennelklub. I gave my puppies milk this morning for the last time and there were not much to give anymore: milk production has come to the end.

Cami's plan to stop my breastfeeding has not succeeded: once a day I nurse my puppies their nightsupper. I still love and take care of my puppies: I just don't understand mothers that abandon their children in their early development phase. This is the age when Finnish Kennelclub allows breeders to give out the puppies. All too early, if you ask my opinion! Swedish Kennelclub's age limit is 8 weeks, which is quite okay.

You can see my good influence from my puppies: they are all very self-confident, social and they are all very high quality of beaty and healthy. Ardebil is still the packleader, because he is the fastest and strongest; second in order is Abrash with the same qualities. Arabesk and Afshar would be perfect for agility games: they both are most agile. Abade is the most calm of the litter: he is always the first to fall into sleep.

When Cami brutally left me and my puppies on Thursday evening and left to Munich, we started to protest. We have nothing against of Mika's mum, (who took a day off from work to take care of us on Friday) but my puppies are quite demanding in this development phase. I helped Sirpa as much as I could on Friday, but for my relief of workload, on Saturday we got extra help from our friends from Estonia. Kerli has taken care of me since I was only 3 months old. She invented me my first nickname "Kikkura" by my curly tail. Kerli's mum Maire is a professional with animals and specially with dogs. So from Saturday I started to enjoy my weekend. On Sunday afternoon Cami came back with Mika, so I thought now the weekend is perfect. Unfortunately my family took our friends from "Farlanders" (Kerli's kennelname) away with a car fo the ferry almoust as soon as they arrived. Cami got some good advise from our visitors, which chainged her plans a bit.

Puppies have visited outside and got introduction to the element called snow. Cami made a track to the snow and tested, which one the puppies follows best: me Ciara or Cami. Cami won the game of following the leader, because she took advantage of puppies following familiar noices. I would say, she cheated, because basenjis seldom make any kind of noice, when they want their pack to follow them: basenjis hunt in a silence! Puppies started also training to be alone (first in pairs) in the transportbox with closed door for a few minutes.

Now it is time to stop breastfeeding: we made it gently by decreasing the milk delivery times every day in a week. I still play with my babies by wearing a jacket protecting my breasts. You should have seen Cami's expression - which was full of love and respect for me - when I brought toys one by one for my puppies from the toybox -> so that they would learn to play with the toys more than wrestling and arguing with eachothers. Yes, I still care my babies!

We were so proud, when visitors gave us lot of positive feedback on the weekend! We got visitors from children to senior citizen ( = excellent socializing training), but this time there were lot of basenji experience in the background of some visitors. When an experienced person gives high markings of temperament, beaty and quality of the litter, it is more valued than normal gratitude. Now the feeding is balanced with my milk and puppy food - thanks to the advise of my breeder Henriette from Liljeborgs; she has been very supportive from the beginning! Soon the roles will change: Cami has to take the main responsibility and I'll just supervise her. My mother instincs are still strong by protecting my puppies, even if the hormone level has got lower.A group photo session will be arranged, when the litter will turn 6 weeks.

My puppies still prefer my milk instead of puppy food and I have nothing against it. Cami tries to find out the right Gourmet-food to change this situation. Cami has also started the collar training as well as playing with special agility baby tunnel => my puppies did not like wearing collars, but they surely loved agility tunnel!

The age of the puppies is the best time for behavioral lessons and me to be a model dog for them. I think that the mother basenji is the only one who can gently (but firmly) guide the puppies through basic behavioral models and give them a feeling of safetyness. Without the feeling of safetyness and a strong parential model, the puppies may get poor self-confidence, which may cause behaviour problems when they get older. That is why I wonder why only 20% of Basenji breeders in Finland allow their basenji puppies to enjoy company of mothers after age of five week. Most breeders separate mothers and puppies at this age. Perhaps they have not thought basic needs of the mother and puppies?

Now my puppies have basenji typical expressions: curly tail and wrinkles in forehead. They develop more beatiful every day! New photo session will be arranged on weekend. My hostess has started their training: Cami whistles every time, when she brings food. So that the basenji puppy will learn, that whistle mean "Come here!". It is the most important command for a basenji when keeping it running free outside. Puppies has also started companionship training with other dogs - that mean with family members Nala and Simba. The older dogs keeps their distance to the puppy, but still they are curious to observe "the little moving thing" as they might think about a basenji puppy.

My puppies has started to play. Their teeth has also grown. Now they have started to show their differences of personality: Ardebil is a natural pack leader, Abade is most playful, Arabesk behaves nicest, Afshar is most peaceful and Abrash is most social. The puppies have started the toilet training (toilet paper covered corner in the puppy room) in a good way. They also started to taste some baby food, but only little, because they love my milk more. New basenji puppy photos in photo gallery

Ardebil and Abrash opened their eyes on Thursday and rest of the basenji puppies on Friday. A new photo session was arranged to celebrate the eye opening phase. Puppies are in the middle of strong development phase both in pigmentation and ears. Now they have their own impressions, like Afshar in the photo hereby. More puppy photos in photo gallery

The puppies have increased their size as double every week. Soon they will be bigger than I am, if they keep on growing so fast! Their eyes will open any day now - I guess on weekend it happens. There has been change of roles in the litter, when Ardebil has taken the leader position from Abrash. He is now the one, who tires to climb up to my hostes laps when she is checking the status of puppy box. Ardebil is now the strongest and fastest of the litter. New puppy photos will be captured as soon as puppies open their eyes!

On the weekend the puppies started to use their feets in order to move faster. Of course, their balance is instabile, but cause of their enthusiasm to move, Cami had to increase the size of the puppy box as double. Abrash (f) is at the moment the fastest in development and movement. Abrash does not only look like her Ruben-father, but she has as huge appetite (I don't like her sugging force, when breastfeeding them!) and react positively to human attention (already!). Ruben is exceptional social for people and dogs as a basenji

From my side these puppies are from runner family in the third generation. My father Manu was the fastest basenji male in Finland and my mother was one of the first basenjis in Sweden to gain inofficial (=basenjis are not allowed to compete official in Sweden) lure coursing championship. My puppies father Ruben is as fast as me in the track, but he is much stronger both mentally (winning desire) and physically (indomitable), when I'm more agile.

My hostess also noticed that some of the puppies has tricolor factor: you can notice it from the black color in the basenji puppy's tail. That black color will faint when the puppy mature, but it is useful information for breeders interested of certain basenji colors. Abade (m), Arabesk (f), Afshar (f) carries the tricolor gene - they also have inherited my beatiful color of coat. Later on Abrash (f) got the same tricolor marking on her tail.

Today it is exactly one week when I gave birth to my 2 sons and 3 daughters. My children has grown a double since then. They got their first manicure, because their nails has grown quite fast and that does not feel nice, when I'm nursing them.

Today the godparents (family Nissilä) came to announce and celebrate the naming of my puppies. The theme of Aittakankaan A-litter is persian quality rugs (called also oriental rugs). Therefore the first group photo of my 4 days old puppies was taken on a persian tribal rug (photo added later on in the Aittakankaan A-litter photo gallery) . The name giving for each puppy was based to the colors and look of it. Boys got masculine registernames and girls feminine registernames. Only one name was decided beforehand and that was Aittakankaan Abrash, which went to the girl who reminds most of his father Ruben ( by look and manners). The girl named Arabesk reminds most of me by look.

I'm proud to anounce that my babies are born: 2 boys and 3 girls - all the equal high quality. Esa Nissilä was the most experienced doctor: everything went smoothly just like in theory books (and even better!) THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP ESA and I'm sorry to wake you up so early this morning (but the mother nature does not ask time, when puppy delivery is concidered). There will be puppy pic's soon in the Kennel pages and one can follow the live web-camera as well!

Today I decided to build a nest of my own for the puppies - even if Cami has prepared the official version. My nest was based on the furry rug which Mika bought specially for me. Cami started to suspect that I'm starting to labor a week too early and phoned to veterinary. Of course, she had the false alarm and both veterinary and our friend Esa had to calm my hostess down. Meanwhile my master Mika is enjoying scuba diving in Indian Ocean near by Maledives. The weather there is warm: over +30 Celsius.

There are only two weeks left for my puppies estimated birthday. My waistline has increased over 10 cm. My hostess refuses to put any pictures of my big belly to internet, because she dislikes photos of bregnant animals or people. The puppy room is prepared with web-camera, so that it will be easy to follow the development of my puppies. The web cam is now in testing phase until puppies born. My hostess don't want to show the birth of my puppies, because she dislikes showing blood. Cami is not sure if she will faint when I start giving birth. Luckily bitches from Liljeborgs basenjis have been supermums, so they have not needed any help of human's, when fertilization, giving birth or motherhood is considered.

Fortunately today is Simba's (the Corgi) 9th birthday, so we all (Simba, Nala and me) got B'day cake specially prepared to us. The specialists estimated that Simba will achieve maximum 6-8 years old - thanks to inborn heart hyperthyroidism - so every year from now on are very precious.

I started my second treatment to prevent my puppies to get any worms. There are no upper limit of worm medicine so my owner has decided to give double amount and as often as recommended, because this is the easiest way to protect my puppies.

 

My waistline has already increased with 5 cm, which indicates that I'm expecting a lot of basenji puppies. Even if the new regulations limit the new year's rocket performance time and I'm not afraid of banging noices, we will spend our new year eve in the country side for poor Nala's sake.

May the new year preserve all that you love,
may it bring all what you need and
take away what you carry as a burden.

Today is my and my sisters (Gloria, Mille, Alice) and brothers (Jambo, Seppe, Dollar) birthday. I have met Jambo, when I was 8 months old and Gloria, when I was 2,5-years old - both in a dog show in Norrköping (Sweden). I'll enjoy my B'Day cake with 4 wieners in the afternoon. We will visit our friends family Nissilä in Kirkkonummi: maybe this time I'll jodel 4 times, when I meet them, because number 4 is today popular

.

This year I have a special Christmas wish for Santa Claus: give me healthy and easy puppies on January! Help us to find loving homes with common sense, understanding the basenji temperament and activity needs. Give me chance to quide my kids the proper start of living: enough self-confidence and courage to meet every day challenges, initiative thinking to avoid problems and a lot of adaptability and sense of humor to meet the new owners odd manners.   

Sending lot of X-mas yodels to all my friends!

This was my lucky day, because after a months break I finally met my nine-year-old Munich Basenji friend Tsula (Jangua G'Tsula). We played together and with other dogs in our one hour walk in English Garden. The temperature was +10 C, even if it was cloudy and December! Tsula is now in better condition than I am, but I'll try to improve a bit. This time I was more eager to get some tidbids than normally. My developing puppies need a lot of food!

I have been about 3 weeks connected to the dog leash. Finally this afternoon I was let to run free in Ottobrunn nature park, after ensured that no male dogs around 1 km, because even if I'm not more interested of males, but they are still interested of me. Mika took some videos with his new HD camera and put the worst one (I hated to stand still on command and I show that clearly in the video shot) in the public YouTube with the name Ciara the Basenji. Only thing you can observe from the video was the fact that we had a lovely weather today.

Yesterday Cami took me to the veterinary in order to get the stample of echinococcus treatment in my animal passport, which is compulsory, when travelling to Finland. Same time I had clinical examination and the vet said that I already have some minor pregnancy symptoms. I have learned from Nala that you have to be acting as nice as possible in the veterinary in order to get out as soon as possible. You have to be out of your mind, if you love to visit doctors!

We are travelling together with Cami by train and ferry to Finland from 17th December, so that we are finally in Finland on 19th December. We are looking forward to the X-mas in Finland!

Yesterday I declared that now it would be suitable time for pairing: no doubt of that! So we reserved an appointment with Ruben for the weekend.  Ruben has already three litters in UK so he is experienced.

For me this will be my first (and Cami hopes that it will be also the last) litter, but it seems to be so, that my hostess is more nervous than I am. This morning she packed the luggage when she believed that it is already Friday  Fortunately my master has his legs on earth!

Cami did some calculations and noticed that the puppies can be delivered to their new homes just for Eastern holidays when they are 10 weeks old (if someone does not want to collect the puppy two weeks earlier). Then she has better time to educate the puppies ready by the clicking training method like Nala, as a puppy, was successful done by the breeder. My puppies (with Kennelname Aittakankaan) will born in the city of Espoo, which is situated about 15 km from Helsinki. Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes as planned!

Nobody has asked directly from me about MY puppy plans! I would like to have puppies with every handsome and virile male in town! Even today, when a daddy-candidate (= a Bernese Mountain Dog) came to offer his help of breeding puppies, Cami brutally alarmed him off. I tried to motivate the male by signaling, that the breeding will be more successful, if he would wait for a couple of days (and meanwhile I try to get rid of my hostess).

First of all, we disagree with Cami, that the daddy candidate have to be a Basenji like myself. If the temperament of a male would be so important to Cami as she claims, then she would choose another, more sympathetic, dog breed as a male candidate. When putting the breed as the first condition and their character as the second, she got under 10% of basenji males to choose from. All too few, if you ask from me.

Of course, we both would like to have very healthy male as a daddy for my puppies, otherwise the puppies won't live a happy life. But Cami has wrong way to check the health by checking the health test results and corresponded with the owners extensively. She knows that the most common basenji healthy problems are not shown in tests or the owner does not know like: allergy, hormonal problems, lack of infection immunity and accident vulnerability. My nose would tell that immediately!

Finally, we both have the same idea of the appearance: the male should remind of my dad  Manu: masculine with strong muscles. There are a lot of Rhodesian Ridgebacks with those appearance qualities, but again, we disagree of the first condition (a Basenji).

My folks has acted strange recently. They have checked my back part more than once a day. Even if I use to check other dogs geneticists quite often, it hasn't been so obvious. This morning they were very happy to notice that I'm in heat. Earlier years they haven't put so big interest to my seasons: only male dogs has been interested.

So Ruben: I'm looking forward to our wedding

Typical questions about me in Middle-Europe from straingers are: "What breed she is? Is she a puppy?". Reason for this is, that the basenji is not a common breed in Middle-Europe. There are a positive hidden meanings of the first question: I do not look like mixed breed dog and I look very feminine (no-one asks about he or him). The latter question is caused by my puppy look (shiny coat and sporty feminine body) and my puppy-like behaviour (still love to play and be joyful).

In Finland straingers do not ask any kind of questions. If they ask something in Finland, the native people think that the questioner is eather drunk or crazy. That is something we Finns are famous for and proud of  If you don't believe me, then try to say "Tervehdys!" ( = "Greetings!") to someone native and sober looking passer-by in Helsinki, then you realize, what you have been warned of.

After publishing my puppy plans in Finnish Basenji Club web-pages in Commited Breeders list of Expected puppies, the daily question from basenjists and friends all over the Europe has been: "Has Ciara's seasons begun, yet?" The answer is: "Not yet." Yes, I'm the black sheep of Liljeborgs family, because I have broken the tradition of October heat and December puppies. Previously I have had seasons as follows: 1. 1st of September 2006, 2. 25th October 2007 and 3. 1st November 2008. Ruben, you still have to wait for our marriage!

 

Mika is allergic for animal dust and though they wanted a dog in the family. My folks found a list of "Dog Breeds for Allergy Sufferers" from internet and there the Basenji breed. Basenji seemed to be the right choise thanks to its compact size (females 40 cm & 9 kg), easy-clean short coat and odorfree skin.

In Finland there have been no basenji puppies born in summer time since year 2002. Luckily a basenji litter was born on June 2003 in Sweden, so that's why Yulara Inula alias Nala was chosen and imported to our family. Nala had problems to stay alone at home, therefore it was time to find her company. Nala is a very typical stubborn and independent basenji, so this time my family tried to find an opposite character for her without bargaining from the utility qualities (obedience, speed and agility).

When my family found out that Nala's father will be used for the last time and to a female they had good experiences, by visiting the Lure Coursing competition in Sweden summer 2004 -> my mom Danita won the competition, then the decission was made before I was born! My family made a wish of my character that would be easier than Nala: willing to please and outgoing/social - just like my mum. The breeder chose me from the four sisters. That was the time (spring 2006) when me,  Liljeborg's Dan Galina Of Phoebus alias Ciara, moved into this family. I was much easier than expected: very patient, no destructions and respect of humans and older dogs (like Nala and Simba), but still playful and full of joy. 

There has been one problem with my non-typical basenji behaviour: I have been too dependent on my big-sister Nala. This autumn without Nala has been very important in my character development. I have learned to take responsibility and started act like a mature dog.

Even if basenji is considered a healthy dog breed, there are still some issues for the breeders to fight (unfortunately some has given up the fight already and trust only for "good luck"). Fortunately I have been very healthy with healthy veteran-old-parents. Still there is a risk when breeding that two carriers ( = no visible illness) of an genetic illness are put together, so that the puppy won't be totally healthy as an adult. Only way to minimize this risk is to know the health history of a pedigree as far as possible (minimum 5 generations!), avoid using dogs too young (minimum breeding older 4 years when most of the genetic sickness symptoms has occured!) and from breeding lines that are well enough known in Europe (the best information source is the families where the basenjis live, because they do not have advantage of hiding problems).

We sent some dog goodies as greetings from us with Mika to Nala in Finland, as he went there to spend a week quality time with her. Meanwhile Cami & I got some friends (family Nissilä, Kennel Aittakankaan) visiting from Finland. They brought me delicacy wieners specially chosen for me. I showed my best tricks: rolling, seeking hidden objects and apporting. And of course, I yodelled a lot! I highly respect Esa and try to please him as much as possible. When I got him smile, I know, that I have been successful.

My seasons has not started in time table (last week), but I don't care! I just love to attract male dogs attention and be allowed to run free until the one month quarantee time (seasons) begin. Some people (ie. those mentioned above) has planned my wedding with Ruben (Faraoland Xcuse Me Desmond), but we will see what happens, when the time is right.

Visiting the northern part of Italy showed that there are not many basenjis around. People thought that I am a mixed breed, but a very cute one. Italians like only small dogs, but the big ones are not allowed to visit in public places. Italian dogs are uneducated and therefore people are afraid of them. My good manners got a lot of positive attention from the locals.

I guess it was our last holiday this year, when I was allowed to run free (or naked, as my people call it), because my seasons should begin in a week. Eight of nine litters in Kennel Liljeborgs are born on December, so it runs in our family to begin the seasons on October.

Basenji and agility were the words when my hostess first time started to seek basenjis from internet. There are only two Finnish basenjists that are able and allowed to teach agility: my hostess Cami is the first one.

Therefore Cami has been asked to give agility training for Finnish basenjis every summer. This summer I was once allowed to participate to my hostess basenji agility training group. My hostess has got some leg injuries from agility training and competitions, therefore she takes nowadays this game only for fun. Even if I could be better in agility competitions than Nala, due to the reason that Cami has learned her lessions by making all the typical mistakes with Nala and avoided the same mistakes with me.

Nala and Simba have got their own agility obstacles, so they can train agility every weekend in summer cottage. I have to continue training in Oberammergau Dogsporthotel Wolf, which is situated 100 km south from us. There we visited last weekend - was it my 12th time - don't remember for sure.

After a month of separation from Nala, my folks finally has learned that I have a personality and thoughts of my own. What they did not understand, is that I never question my pack leader (just the opposite of Nala here). Nala gave me stupid orders and I always obeyed them, because I avoided hurting her mind.

I have only once fought with Nala. It happened two years ago, when me, Cami and our friends came from a long weekend dog shows from Estonia. Cami gave us (Simba, Nala and me - always that order) food and went out to keep company for our guests. Normally I would have let Nala to steal my food, but this time I was very hungry and tired. So we fought until Simba alarmed Cami to come between us. I'm physically stronger than Nala, so I won easily. Nala learned her lession: never steal food from me, when I say NO! Mentally Nala kept her pack leader position, because I respect older dogs and people.

Now when I can decide by myself, I have acted trustful with all perspectives: obeyed my folks orders or whishes and intellectually solved every day life challenges. I have to solve my own way situations with misbehaving dogs and people. Nala never give those chance to get close, but I think, they should first be saluted nicely and when that does not help, then give them signal to "beat it" for dogs and escape from misbehaving people.

If you ask, which one is more obedient: Ciara or Nala, you will get two totally different answers - depending on whom you ask. Mika thinks Nala is more obedient and Cami thinks that I am. There is only one solution for that question: take part into obedience test in Finland next summer! 

If you ask, which one is more intelligent, the answer is clear: Nala, of course! There are not many basenjis that understands Finnish, Estonian, Swedish, German, English and Doggish (dog language) like Nala does