basenji table topper
 

(Warning - skip 'story' to see photo)

There is a gal in the basenji world that is obviously not rich, but shows and tries to do things the responsible way in her breeding. (she's single, lives in a trailer, and works at Walmart, hence the 'not rich' comment)

A couple of months ago she commented on a basenji email list that Walmart now has fat quarters with BASENJIS!!!!
There are other breeds on the fabric, but it is so very unusual to find a print with basenjis.

I go to Walmart about once a month and now buy whatever fat quarters they have of this print. I won't say how many I have but I am a fabric hoarder if that gives you any hint. There are 4 basenjis per fat quarter and the fq is 99 cents.

I always thought I would make Chris a table topper using the basenjis as a 'thank you.' (I never would have known about them without her.)

A couple of weeks ago we found out she had an ‘oops’ litter (her male bred her female, an unplanned event). The responsible breeders in the breed all agree that oops litters are not a good thing but we know they happen. (I had 2 in one year). As long as the breeder evaluates why it happened, and then fixes the setup so it doesn’t happen again, they are forgiven.

A breeder, Sally, who has been active in the breed for years, publicly offered to house Chris’ male at the times her females are in heat. She mentioned to Chris that this is the third year this has happened and something needs to be done so it doesn’t happen again. She said she has 6 empty kennels and would not charge Chris anything for doing it, she is doing it for the good of the breed. Some people told Chris to neuter the dog, but Sally knew Chris’ male was a nice dog, doing extremely well in shows, has had the health tests responsible basenji breeders do, knows he comes from a good bloodline. He will be an asset to the breed so neutering him would not be the right answer, especially since only intact males can be shown.

So, I made Sally a table topper, using the basenji part of the print. The colors in the fabric are not my favorites and a light blue and brown are really the only colors I could think of that would work, so here it is. (warned you that it was a long story)

I still plan on making something for Chris

I forgot to add that I tried two new things on this topper:
I tried adding binding to an angled quilt
and
I used Crayola markers to mark my quilting lines

Both ideas worked!

Nice .. lots of fussy cutting

What's the name of the pattern you used? This is lovely!

very nicely done

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2014/08/...le-topper.html

but I made it smaller

Oh how cute. I may look for that fabric.

read the story and loved it. love your tabletopper.

This is the fabric, without basenjis, and then 2 pics with basenjis
(life isn't easy with these dogs)

That is so cute. I just love it.

Very cute. Thanks for sharing.

You are a very good friend. She will love your gift. As for the person who said to "FIX" the male, because of the 'OOPS'. This has women is working at showing and being a GOOD breeder. As you said 'oops' happens, I have a couple of 'oops'. I also used to show dogs, one of my BEST was an 'OOPS' and if I'm honest so was my daughter. And BOTH have done me PROUD. Sometimes being in a small place with such smart dogs (as a Basenji), is very hard. I used to know a breeder and her Basenji had 'THUMBS', I know he did. He could open doors and the gate.

Interesting topper, and nicely done!

I love the fabric colors.

You did a fine job! Bet this lady is "thrilled"!!!!! It shows you really care......

What a great topper.

Fabulous topper. Loved the story too. My German Shepherd is an "oops" and one of the best dogs we've ever had.

Cute topper

No such thing as an oops in the PLAN........you were lucky to find fab with your fav breed...my daughter has Weimaraners and it is very rare to see anything with their pics on it........great pattern for the fab too........

Very nice. Like the colors, too!

How beautiful the dogs are .. LOVE the topper and how precious of you to do that !

Very nice.

I sent iot off today and added a note and told herafter my accident, which she knew about, there was a time we weren't sure I was going to be able to smile again, because of some facial nerve damage.
We also weren't sure what my brain would be able to remember.

Well, I can smile and I never forgot a bit of sewing, so I decided to sew something for people who made me smile
She did

I love the color combination!

Very cute....

The colors go together very well.

Love the topper! Always drama in the dog fancy, but it sounds like basenji people are pretty great. Watch out for those golden owners, they're brutal! ;) Only kidding, of course.

The topper turned out very well and it's great you all are supporting each other.

Nice!!! I haven't ventured out to hexies yet, you did a great job.

Great story and love the table topper.

Beautiful fur babies and Topper :)

It looks like this threqd is at it's end, so I'm going to respond to this comment:

The people involved in this breed are amazing, and though I no longer show or breed (because of my car accident), I envsion always being somehow associated with them.
Why?
I got invovled with the breed about 17 years ago, and at the time the breed was afflicted with fanconi, a kidney disease. At the time, about 20% of the dogs got it (in other breeds, it's like less than 1%), when they were about 7. So breeding was done knowing to stay away from dogs whose linage ahowed it, but we had no test for it. It was kind of a crap shoot if puppies got it.

It's an awful disease. The kidney's job is to filter the blood, send the good stuff back to the body and the bad to the bladder. In fanconi, the kidney eventualy gets rid of everything. An anesthesiologist, who had an afflicted basenji, developed a protocol to start if a dog was diagnosed. ( the diagnosis was confirmed if there was glucose in the urine, but not in the blood and the dog was ALWAYS urinating). He eventually got it to the point that fanconi dogs were living years with the disease. For years we instructed all basenji owners to get a urine test strip, like diabetics use, to test the dog's urine for glucose, once a month. Glucose in the urine meant get a blood test because once in a great while basenjis are diabetic, but it usually meant fanconi.

His protocol was mainly giving the dog bicarbonate pills (baking soda), up to 30 a day. The dogs hated it so a lot of our time was in helping people figure out ways to get the tablets into the dogs. Because they are so smart, it was extremely difficult.
The dogs were in pain, and wasting away. The pain was in their muscles, something an anesthiologist knows about (sorry, I do not understand the details of that) It was described to me as the way our muscles feel after an extreme workout.

We had been accumulating money for years for an eventual test, and had pedigrees going back years, that showed which dogs were afflicted and which were clear.
Scientists told us to hold on to our money, they were not at a point yet that they even needed it yet.

BUT THEN, about 10 years ago, things started happening. (I may have this exact info wrong, but I heard that one group that contacted our breed was a group that was trying to work on fanconi in children. They said there were 300 known worldwide and since we had all those pedigrees with dogs who had it, showing bloodlines, our work could also help them - this is in parenthesis because I 'kind of' remember this story but would hate to say it is fact because it is fuzzy in my head) We knew it was hereditary, but that's all we knew.

Anyways, the scientists were ready for our money, to work on this, and they came up with a blood test that would determine if a particular dog was going to get fanconi and also told us if 2 dogs could be bred together to have puppies that did not carry the gene. I won't go into the gene, DNA, recessive info, but when we were sure it was a correct test, it made it pretty easy to produce puppies that would NEVER get fanconi!

Like I told the gal who got this, she made me smile, well, making these, while helping basenjis, makes me smile too!

I did have one dog that had it, before the test, and to think what she went through in a small way helped children, and I played a very very small part in that, is the reason I will always feel connected to this breed and those involved.

I will not make things for money but I'm thinking about making things for anyone who will donate a certain amount to our health endowment fund, or to the rescue program, with me paying the shipping, and this will be one of the items. Haven't talked yet to the lawyer, a gal very much involved in the whole thing, to see if there are any legal things I should know about.

I realize it's doubtful this will be read, but I wanted to read the story again!