Blaze (aka Flame) is Three Months Old!

Blaze is three months old today!  (We have decided to make his call name Blaze instead of Flame.  His call name doesn't change his AKC registered name...TarSha's Mananita Flame...but we just like the name Blaze.)

He's the typical Basenji puppy...a little hellion on wheels (or should I say four paws...big paws, at that)! He and Gracie have fun playing together, although we do enforce quiet times when the playing gets a bit too rambunctious. They go in the crate at our meal time unless they're already zonked out elsewhere, so that we can eat in peace. (We have a large crate...36" L x 22" W x 24" H...which both of them can easily fit into.)

Blaze has learned to negotiate the outside steps as well as to jump up on the couch, the recliners, and...if Earl forgets to slide the dining chair closest to the couch under the table when he gets up...onto the chair, and from there onto the table! ;-) The couch has become one of his favorite places to take a nap other than someone's lap.

He's definitely a talker. He does a "roo-roo" as well as a happy, growly, sound...hard to explain, you'd have to hear it. And, of course, he's a great whiner and a noisy yawner (which Maxx was, too)!

If our scales are accurate, he weighs around 14 pounds. The breeder said he should weigh 14-15 pounds at 16 weeks, but he's definitely not overweight...he has a waist as viewed from above, and I can feel his ribs when I run my hands down his sides. However, I have asked the breeder if perhaps I should start feeding him a little less (1/3 cup three times a day instead of the current 1/2 cup three times a day), and when I should switch to feeding two times a day.

He's doing great meeting new people and new dogs...he's not at all shy or fearful like Gracie is, although Gracie has made huge improvements in that area since we first got her. He's very affectionate, giving kisses freely, and at night when we're watching TV in the recliners, he wants to crawl up on my lap and go to sleep.  So I usually have two dogs on me...Gracie on the foot of the recliner between my legs, and Blaze in my arms.

He's learning to sit for treats, and I make both of them sit before I put the food bowls down. I'll be working with him on "down" and "stay." 

Here are some current pictures:

Picking up Flame

Earl and I drove down to Tucson on Saturday, arriving at Tari's place around 1:00 PM.  While this was an exciting time for us, Tari had just buried her dog, Wave, after he had been hit by a car when he escaped from his new home, so our excitement was tempered by sadness for Wave's passing.  We had met Wave when we visited with Tari a couple of weekends ago...he was a wonderful dog who greeted us enthusiastically without any hesitation because we were strangers.

Tari brought Flame into the livingroom where he and Gracie had lots of fun playing together again.  We discovered that Gracie doesn't know when to stop playing, so we would occasionally have to intervene to give everyone a time out.  I imagine once the newness of having a puppy to play with begins to wear off, Gracie will learn that she can take breaks once in awhile (and, in fact, this is beginning to happen as she gets used to having a playmate around).

We took Flame out to the camper with us at bedtime and put him in his crate where he proceeded to howl, scream, and whine for what seemed like hours, but was probably only about half an hour.  We finally put Gracie in the crate with him, and that quieted him down so that we could get some sleep!  We were awakened shortly after 4:00 AM, so took the dog out to do their business.

Our original plan was to do shopping at both Costco and PetCo in Tucson.  But, as we sat there before the sun was even up, we decided that we could drive to Phoenix and be there just about the time Costco opened, plus we'd be that much closer to home.  I was hoping to say goodbye to Tari before we left, but she wasn't up yet, so I called her around 7:30 AM to explain our plans and say goodbye.

We stopped in Eloy for breakfast, and arrived at the Costco at I-10 and 99th Avenue just a couple of minutes before they opened at 10:00 AM.  After finishing shopping there, we went by the PetsMart to pick up some stuff for Flame.

We've now had Flame home for almost two days and he's doing well.  Tari taught the puppies to do their business in an outside X-pen, so we've continued putting him in there to go...if only we could teach Gracie to go in there, too!

Flame is really affectionate...he sees you coming, and he puts his little ears back, smiles, sits down and scootches closer, and wiggles his little butt!  Of course, we have to watch him like a hawk since he likes to chew on anything he can get his mouth around, and to make sure we take him out before he does his business in the RV!

Here are some pictures we've taken since we've brought Flame home: