3-15-05 I walked two miles this morning with Alpha. Sometimes she sprinted down a block. I merely trotted beside her. When she stopped, she was breathing hard and floppy. I just gave her The Look. It said “You have got to be kidding. You call that a run? That’s pathetic.”           Okay, so what I didn’t expect to find was an enormous black snake lying right in the middle of the sidewalk! That freaked me out! A group of men pouring concrete thought that it was really side-splitting hilarious to watch me jump out of my skin. Hahaha. It turns out the snake was nothing more than a big hose. There’s no accounting for personal humor. I spent the day with Alpha at work. It’s a nice place to be. I lie in the sun, resting on my Scooby Doo bed, but I find it’s hard to relax with so much outdoor activity. There is this crazy Siberian husky across the street with one blue eye and one brown eye. Though fluffy, I find him to be a bit too rough for my taste. The dog must weigh 300 pounds. He’d as soon smack me upside the head than chase me around his yard.   3-18-05 I was out running for real with Alpha this afternoon. She cheated by riding a bike. I ran like the wind beside her, attached by some sort of metal springy thing. This is what I noticed: three red squirrels, a flock of crows, a pair of robins and a tabby cat, all worthy of chase. Time and time again, I lunged hard against that springy thing. Whenever I did that, Alpha called down “Leave it!” My pack leader has a repertoire of annoying commands. Though I tried to ignore The Voice, I had a harder time ignoring The Collar. It cinched against my neck with each attack. Now, I love my neck. It is long and sleek, and has little splotches of gray on my white fur. My neck is one of my most elegant features. I have got to learn how to protect it. I’m working on it. I think it has something to do with paying attention to The Voice.   3-22-05 On this one walk Alpha likes to take, we go by a sturdy wooden fence. Behind the fence is something that smells really interesting and yet I can never get a glimpse of it! From the sounds of it, I think there are two dogs, each about the size of a bear and equally ferocious. Alpha says she fears for my life when I get too curious about wanting to meet them.   3-27-05 We had so many sunny days in a row that the rains were bound to come. I cannot stand to go outside in the rain. All that dampness has no purpose. And how is a dog supposed to find a decent spot to go to the bathroom when every blade of grass is sopping wet? The rain really cuts down on my enjoyment of the great outdoors, and yet Alpha insists that I join her under such conditions. If she would just be a bit more open-minded, she’d see the value of letting me pee on that nice white fur rug by the fireplace. It is just like plush dry grass. I discovered the area when I was just a puppy. It was my favorite place to pee when I forgot about the whole blahblah hurryhurry outdoors scenario. Then someone had the bright idea of washing my delicious scent out of the rug and rolling it up until I was older and wiser. Now I’m only allowed to sleep on it.           So there I was, a basenji in the rain. Had my African ancestors seen me, oh how they would have pitied my wet fur. However, Alpha did have the decency to walk me to a marsh, where the scents are straight from heaven. I saw so many tasty ducks, I thought I would faint. Yet, the ducks were not neighborly. They taunted me from the middle of an enormous puddle. I met another dog that was just the right size. I could smell his butt while he smelled mine. That’s a good match.           When I got home, I was some kind of muddy. Alpha wiped me down with a towel, which was humiliating but did save me some time when it came to self-cleaning. As soon as she released me, I raced around the house like my feet were on fire! Whoa! Rabid dog on the loose! There was no stopping me, until I spotted my food dish. I skidded to a standstill. The breakfast I had rejected earlier tasted pretty good in the middle of the afternoon.   3-31-05 On a walk this morning, I heard a dog calling my name. Alpha warned me it was a ploy to get me near so the beast could eat me, but I’m the friendly, trusting sort. I found a spot in the wooden fence where a patch of plank had been gnawed away. Here, I saw the snout of a pit bull. Every deep growl was followed by a flick of his tongue. It was as if he could taste me already. Each time that tongue was stuck out, it freaked me out! I jumped backwards to safety. Mercy. That was hard on my heart.   4-3-05 So Alpha read this sign in the marshes which stated that it’s Waterfowl Nesting Season now through May. All dogs need to be leashed in order to protect bird nests. What was that all about? I was tragically attached to Alpha for the entire explore.   4-4-05 Sophie and I are best friends at night. We both like to be warm. She props herself up in bed with her stack of books and I burrow underneath her covers. Alpha sits nearby in a chair. Tonight, Sophie’s electric blanket was cranked up to its highest setting. After ten minutes, I started panting. I actually got too hot. I didn’t even know that was possible with basenjis. I had to find my way out of the darkness. I hopped down from Sophie’s bed and shook my head so hard my flapping ears made quite a racket. I collapsed on Alpha’s feet. All was right in my world