BCOA Bulletin January-February-March 2007 - the Basenji Club of ...

Basenjis as Medical Assistance Dogs?
By Carrie Jones
Whitney noticed a problem with Mike and she relentlessly alerted
him to take action. She would not leave Mike’s side and would
whine and lick him and followed him everywhere. After several
whines, licks, and tail wiggles from Whitney, Mike finally realized
December of 2006 was a difficult something was not right, prompting him to check his blood sugar.
month for us, and we eagerly greeted Whitney stayed by Mike’s side through his entire hypoglycemic
2007 after my husband, Mike, was episode, and she didn’t leave him unattended until after he ate
hospitalized for nine days with something and his blood sugar gradually returned to normal.
multiple health issues. One problem Mike was lucky that Whitney sensed a problem because his blood
that demanded immediate attention was that his diet-controlled sugar dropped so gradually that before he could realize there was
diabetes progressed due to noncompliance, and my husband was a problem, he was starting to feel confused, uncoordinated, and
introduced to the world of self-administering insulin. Thanks to sweaty. Mike’s description of what it feels like to use his blood
the course of events in December which included the assistance glucose monitor when in a hypoglycemic state is like trying to put
of a down-to-earth Dietician and a savvy Endocrinologist, whose a square peg into a round hole, and these symptoms only worsen if
bedside approach was brutally honest and sometimes abrasive, ignored.
Mike has made positive and (hopefully) lifelong changes in his The next morning, Mike and I discussed the phone call
life. As he puts it, he was scared straight.
from the night before and he could not remember much of our
After his discharge from the hospital, Mike became the conversation. Whitney has always had a very special place in my
model patient, eating properly and incorporating more exercise heart, and she has once again proven that she possesses not only
into his life resulting in 50 pounds quickly melting off of him, beauty, but also brains and she is worth more than her weight in
and the sugar-free frosting on the cake was when he was allowed black gold.
to discontinue his insulin injections! Now, he is able to control
his blood sugar levels by continuing to eat a sensible diet, staying
active, and taking oral anti-diabetic medications.
While the risk of developing low blood sugar is not as likely
with oral medications as opposed to insulin, the potential for a drop
in blood sugar does still exist so Mike has to make a conscious
effort to eat regularly. Unfortunately, he works as a salesman and
meals are often difficult to eat at scheduled times so he has endured
EDITOR’S FOOTNOTE:
The first quarter 2007 Bulletin carried an interview with
Mary Porter and her basenji service dog, Xena.
Carrie’s bitch, Whitney, like Xena, has demonstrated this
same skill in detecting the changes in blood sugar levels in
humans, proving yet another valuable facet of this breed.
a few episodes of low blood sugar.
Dear Editor, BCOA Board and members,
This past June, I was out of town for an overnight dog It is my understanding that the Board has submitted a request to
show, the Greater Chicagoland Basenji Club’s specialty. I was the AKC to re-open the basenji stud book for registration. If that is the
disappointed that I wasn’t able to bring my seven year-old girl, case, I am hopeful that it is the Board's intention to submit this matter
Whitney, because this would have been the first specialty that I to the membership for discussion and approval. For myself, I would
could have shown her as a Veteran. She stayed home with Mike want to be assured that a criteria for registration first be drafted and
because I had just bred her and felt it best for her and her unborn
pups to avoid unnecessary exposure to possible diseases that might
be lurking at the show. Later, I learned that leaving Whitney at
home was wise for my husband’s well-being, too.
When I arrived at my destination the night before the
specialty, I called Mike to check-in with him and his voice
approved by the membership as a safeguard to the breed before any
new registrations were authorized.
I realize that a great deal of expense and effort to import
basenjis from Africa has already been expended by some breeders,
so I wonder then if the intention is to open registration to any and
all basenjis, and what kind of time frame is being set forth for future
registrations. This is really a matter to be studied and decided by the
sounded odd. I questioned him multiple times regarding why his general membership.
voice was dragging and sounded slightly slurred. He dismissed Our breed is not in danger of extinction. The gene pool has
my observations by telling me he just awoke from a nap after already been invigorated by the last registration of imports. Fanconi
doing a lot of yard work. He also said that he probably sounded
different because we had a poor cell phone connection. I should
have known to trust my gut instinct because I didn’t have a good
feeling when we ended the phone call. I have been married to
Mike for 19 years and have worked as a nurse for 13 years and can
usually detect when something is not quite right with my husband.
syndrome is here with us to stay until it can be eradicated by genetic
mapping. With every new basenji entered into the gene pool,
we introduce more genetic unknowns than we already have, and
compound the breeder's ability to combat any adverse genes. Given
the proliferation of Fanconi, PRA, et al I would think we already have
enough to deal with.
The rationale for opening the stud book eludes me, and causes
For some crazy reason, I decided to trust his excuses for sounding me to fear that by doing so we will be opening a genetic Pandora's
different on the phone. After all, I know my voice and mentation Box to the detriment of our breed. As it stands, breeding the carriers
are not normal until I have been awake for a while and I was trying
not to be an overbearing nurse-wife.
Mike called me the next morning to report that his blood sugar
had dropped below normal the evening before, which explains why
he didn’t sound quite right on the telephone. Luckily, in my absence,
of these traits is still a practice that needs to be seriously addressed and
discouraged. My concern is that we proceed with caution and have
carefully structured criteria in place before introducing any more new
stock into the gene pool.
Very sincerely, Margaret Sommer
The Basenji Club of America, Inc. BULLETIN - 8