Our Dogs

We think our dogs are pretty terrific, and what they’ve achieved says a lot about what we expect for any of our dogs, whether “show” or “companion”.

Disa

DC Taji’s hAfrican Queen Disa SC CA BCAT CGCA CGCU TKA FDX RATM*

A half-African out of a mother who was brought out of the Congo as a puppy (Avongara Naziki) and a domesticated father (Penda Taji’s Tri-Umphant One), Disa is a prime example of the uncommon “open cap” coloration pattern.

She is a natural hunter, finding great success in both lure-coursing—she’s earned her Field Championship, which is implied in the “DC” title—and in Barn Hunt—the “RATM”. Disa also enjoys “working” just for the sake of work, and spending time with us, be it working on tricks (“TKA”) or on flyball (“FDX”). Yes, that’s right, Basenjis can play flyball! (If you’re patient, anyway.)

Spyros

CH Kibushi Gugu Diospyros RI JC CAA BCAT SWA RATO CGCA CGCU TKP

Technically a half-African, but what we’d prefer to call “two-quarters African” because of an additional generation of breeding, Spyros is out of two half-African parents: mother Possum Creek’s Ngoma and father Kibushi The Oracle (a.k.a. “Wags”). Spyros shows a much-more-typical tri-color pattern but is distinguished by having very little white, with no flashy white “collar” around his neck.

Spyros loves to run and chase, happily volunteering to test lure-coursing layouts, run in the singles stakes, and in coursing ability tests, all on the same day. As long as the “bunny” is moving, he’s after it! He also truly loves “working” when there’s a chance for treats at the end.

Bogart

BIF FC Ture’s Stuff Dreams Are Made Of BCAT TKN NTD-M

Our male “keeper” out of Disa’s second litter, sired by Dark Moon’s Bada Bing! (a.k.a. “Yoshi”), Bogart is an absolute sweetheart.

Hedy

GCHB Ture’s Sending Sirius Signals TKN

Our female “keeper” out of Disa’s second litter, sired by Dark Moon’s Bada Bing! (a.k.a. “Yoshi”), Hedy is affectionately nicknamed “Hurricane Hedy”.

What is with all those letters around the dogs’ names?

So glad you asked!

TL;DR: hover over the letters to see what title they represent. On mobile, well, you’ll have to keep reading.

In the conformation and performance dog world, we sometimes call this the “alphabet soup”, because it looks like a bunch of random gibberish. In truth, it’s simply the way that AKC and other organizations indicate any titles earned by the dog.

Here’s a quick guide to the ones you might see on this page:

BCATFast CAT—150 points (Earned 150 points at Fast CAT events)
BIFBest In Field (Won final Best In Field run-off against all other breeds at a lure coursing trial)
CACoursing Ability
CAACoursing Ability Advanced
CGCACanine Good Citizen Advanced
CGCUCanine Good Citizen Urban
CHChampion (15 points with at least 2 majors)
DCDual-champion (Dog earns both conformation Champion and Field Champion)
FCField Champion
FDXFlyball Dog Excellent
GCHBGrand Champion Bronze
JCJunior Courser (Two successful solo lure-coursing scores)
RATMBarn Hunt Master
RATOBarn Hunt Open
RIRally Intermediate
SCSenior Courser (Four successful scores)
SWAScent Work Advanced (complete all four elements in advanced)
TKATrick Dog Advanced
TKITrick Dog Intermediate
TKNTrick Dog Novice
TKPTrick Dog Performer

(There are more listed on the titles page.)

So, you would interpret Disa’s titles (DC / SC CA BCAT CGCA CGCU TKA FDX RATM) as:

  • Dual Champion (both conformation and performance)
  • Senior Courser
  • Coursing Ability
  • Fast CAT—150 points
  • Canine Good Citizen Advanced
  • Canine Good Citizen Urban
  • Trick Dog Advanced
  • Flyball Dog Excellent
  • Barn Hunt Master

... and Spyros’s titles (CH / RI JC CAA BCAT SWA RATO CGCA CGCU TKP) as:

  • Champion (conformation only)
  • Rally Intermediate
  • Junior Courser
  • Coursing Ability Advanced
  • Fast CAT—150 points
  • Scent Work Advanced (includes all four elements: buried, containers, interiors, and exteriors)
  • Barn Hunt Open
  • Canine Good Citizen Advanced
  • Canine Good Citizen Urban
  • Trick Dog Performer