In the early hours of Monday 14th June, 1999, the moment that we had been waiting for had finally arrived, when Flame delivered her first litter of puppies - 4 boys and 1 girl (all red & white) - to Aus Ch Baagna Tiz Wundaful.

We were thrilled with the overall quality and evenness of this litter, with all of the puppies growing up to display beautiful breed type, excellent proportions, glorious coats, and above all wonderful outgoing temperaments.

As there were so many males in this litter, we decided on the middle name of Texas as we came up with a lot of really nice sounding masculine names.

Four of the pups were shown in the ring with great success, two becoming Australian Champions and All Breeds Champ Show Best in Group winners, a third retired from the ring at 9 months due to injury (but not before he too had a Specialty Class win, an All Breeds Champ Show Runner-up in Group, and 8 other Class in Group awards). A fourth pup was shown whilst we were looking for a suitable home for him, and he too was successful going runner-up to his brother in class at Breed Specialty level.

Ranger, Debbie and Colt have all now had puppies of their own and are proving to be excellent producers in their own right.

Mzalia Texas Ranger (Ranger)
Fanconi DNA Linkage Tested: Probably Clear/Normal

From the moment he was first on his feet, I just knew that Ranger was the boy for me. He simply had everything that I was looking for; a sparkling personality, beautiful colour, presence, and beautiful proportions and breed type. Oh yes, and he was a talker to boot. He uttered his first yodel at 4 weeks and hasn't stopped since <gg>.

A very loving and affectionate boy, all of the potential he showed as a baby, has been realised as he matured, and he is now one of the most beautiful adult males you could hope to see.

Unfortunately, he only had 28 shows in the ring before I had to retire him after fracturing his shoulder in a fall from a retaining wall. But boy what a 28 shows we had: Opposite Baby in Show (NSW Specialty), a Runner-up in Group, Multiple Best of Breed and Class in Group awards, 4 Sweepstakes entries for one win and three third place finishes. In fact, in class he never finished lower than 3rd place. His 28 classes were made up of 22 wins, 5 seconds and 1 third. Of these 22 wins, 17 were converted to class of breed wins, and of these, 9 were converted to classes in Group.

Ranger's was truly a spectacular career in the making, and most cruelly cut short. Alas, it was just one of those things. Things like this happen to just about every breeder at some stage, but for me, it had to come with Ranger, whom I still consider to be one of the best basenjis I have ever bred. Fortunately, we still have him in our kennels though, and in his two litters of puppies so far, he has passed on many of the lovely qualities that he has himself.

To learn more about Ranger, please click here to visit his page.

Aus Ch Texas Cheerleader (Debbie)
Fanconi DNA Linkage Tested: Probably Clear/Normal

Debbie was the only girl in the litter, and what a little sweetheart she is. She is very feminine and elegant, and whilst she is somewhat aloof with strangers, she adores her family and friends. But at the same time, she can be quite a naughty little minx when she wants to be....

Retained by us for showing and breeding, she has been a very consistent performer throughout her career, being a multiple Best in Group and Specialty Class in Show winner.

She has had two litters for us, and has given us some very nice puppies which have consistent show ring success. Her progeny includes both Specialty and All Breeds Best in Show winners, four Australian Champions, two Best in Group and one Runner-up Best in Group winners.

Another of her sons is living in Finland, where he produced his first pups in December 2006. Two of her grand-daughters also made their way to Norway in 2007.

To learn more about Debbie, please click here to visit her page.

Aus Ch Mzalia Texas Gunfighter (Colt)

Like Ranger, Colt is another superb male. A very sensible boy, he is loving and affectionate, adores his kennel mate "Fern", his niece "Goldie" and is great with kids.

Colt lives in Tasmania, with Flame's breeders, Stan and Eileen Laycock. He was very successful in the ring, and is now also producing the goods at stud, through RuBIS Aus Grand Ch Eilsta Temple Fury, and Class in Show winners Aus Ch Zichy Eumina Cangelca, Eilsta Velvet Venice and Eilsta Velvet Vixen.

FLASH: Colt's son RuBIS Aus Grand Ch Eilsta Temple Fury is Tasmania's first Basenji Grand Champion!

Please click here to visit Colt's page.

Mzalia Texas Cowboy (Duke)

Duke (named after famous Hollywood cowboy John Wayne), was a quiet, unassuming  puppy whilst he was with us as a youngster. But he loved his cuddles as much as his littermates.

Duke had a short career in the ring whilst we looked for a suitable home for him, but his results in that short time showed that he could have been just as successful in the ring as his siblings. The highlight of his career, would have to be his 2nd place (behind litter brother Mzalia Texas Ranger) at the 1999 NSW Basenji Specialty. He is pictured right, at that show, aged 4 months.

Duke now lives with the Wilson family of Canberra, where he has his choice of beds to sleep on, and enjoys a romp on the river bank when he and his family visit their shack.

Mzalia Texas Rancher (Simba)
14 June 1999 to 14 November 2007

Simba, was a sweet baby with a loving, outgoing nature.

He matured into a wonderfully handsome and masculine individual, much in the mould of his brother Ranger.

A very spoilt boy, Simba lived with the Gogler family and his basenji girlfriend "Chance".

Sadly, Simba passed away in November 2007 as a result of a very large growth on his liver. We would like to thank Geoff and Sandra and the rest of the Gogler family for giving Simba such a wonderful home for 8 years.

Rest in Peace our beautiful boy.

Click here to view a 5 generation pedigree of this litter (PDF format).
Click here to view a 3 generation picture pedigree of this litter (PDF format).

Page Created: 01 October 2001 - Last Updated: 10 April 2008

Basenji Lovers have visited this page since the counter was last reset

This page is best viewed at 1024 x 768

Website designed and maintained by Karen Hyland.
Comments and enquiries are always welcome, and can be sent to the Webmaster

© 1996 - 2008 Mzalia Basenjis