what makes them basenji: buddy

Buddy is a light tan color with white on his chest and feet. He also has white markings on his face which we think are beautiful, along with his thick black eyeliner. Buddy's tail does not curl as consistently as Honey's did. It is always looped up when he's having fun, but just being bored can make it hang straight down. Buddy is no taller than Honey was, but he's closer to 40 lbs. He is all muscle. Buddy was neutered last week and is healing well.


Buddy is also a fast and skilled hunter. He earned his spirit name, Broken Ear, because as a puppy one of his ears stood upright and the other stayed floppy. They both stand up now, leading us to call him Once Broken Ear instead. Honey's nickname was Wormbutt, because when we first got her she had tapeworms and it took forever for the medicine to knock them out completely. I always thought Buddy's fur was slightly softer than Honey's, though both were short haired dogs. Buddy grooms himself much like Honey did, though Honey was a little more thorough. Honey would actually clean Buddy's ears and nails for him! We never trimmed either dogs' nails, and Buddy always wears his down completely because he runs around so much.

We also sometimes refer to Buddy as a bear, because he looks like one if he sits up. Honey was a deer.

He's a cuddle fiend. He always sleeps next to one of us on the bed. He doesn't make any noise when he is asleep and moved, but he will try to steal back the spot you just moved him out of immediately. Buddy often sleeps on his back with his legs up in the air, sometimes fully extended. He likes to lay in this way, but then bend his neck so that his head is twisted around next to his torso.



In one way Buddy and Honey were complete opposites. As I said before, Honey hated meeting new people. Buddy loves it. He loves everyone from the second he lays eyes on them. This can be a little scary to some people, since he jumps up to say hi and could knock a smaller child over. Whenever a new person came over he wanted to sit right in their lap on the couch, and needed to hog all their attention if they tried to pet Honey.

Buddy of course loves meat, cheese, and fish. He also will try almost any other food we offer. He liked those cores in the center of pineapple slices, as well as dried fruit, carrots, basically anything we give him. Treats are a good enough incentive to do tricks--he knows sit, lay down, shake, and spin around. Shake is his least favorite--if you don't have a treat he often refuses to shake and keeps on sitting. However, he seems willing to shake for anything on our dinner plates--he basically begs by pawing at us in the same way he's supposed to for shaking.

Buddy makes lots of noise. He will occasionally bark, but more likely he will makes some kind of whine or howl sound. This happens when he's playing, or locked up when he can hear something fun going on, or sad.

Buddy used to howl along with the call to prayer each evening in Meiganga. Allen's house was across the street from a neighborhood mosque. He lived in a Muslim neighborhood, so there were quite a few around. In the evenings Buddy would hear the call to prayer over the various loudspeakers in every direction. The surround sound would echo off the houses and Buddy would howl right along like a lone wolf. It was actually a very sad noise and the one or two times I heard it made me want to comfort him.

video of Buddy howling

Fetch holds Buddy's attention much longer than Honey's, though not indefinitely. He prefers chase games, either chasing Allen, other dogs, lizards, or sometimes an imaginary target. Both Buddy and Honey always ran laps around the house after baths. Buddy runs lap after lap, jumping up and down over the couches.