Our names are Kathy & Julie - we are sisters. We were nick-named "The Basenji Sisters" by our friend Bill Koehler many years ago and the name stuck.

We grew up with all kinds of animals, including show dogs. Our mother raised and showed rough Collies. When we were still quite young our mother passed away and our father remarried. His new wife did not like animals and so all of the animals went away.

However, our love for animals did not go away and as soon as we were out of the house and on our own, we were back in the game of dogs! However, the hair that goes with a Collie was not very appealing, so the search was on for a short-haired breed. The first time Julie saw a Basenji, she knew that was the dog for her. In 1981 we contacted a breeder and put a deposit on a show quality bitch. When we went to pick up Julie's bitch, Kathy was taken by another bitch at the breeder's house. We came home with two Basenjis that day and the rest is history! Our first two Basenjis. Sugar & Echo -->

In the beginning, we tried to keep ourselves separate - we even picked separate kennel names. Kathy picked "Sukari" because sukari means "sugar" in Swahili and Sugar was Kathy's foundation bitch. Julie picked "Jasiri" because it was easy to pronounce and because jasiri means courageous in Swahili and Basenjis certainly are that.
We eventually realized that it was silly to try to keep everything separate and started to co-own and co-breed litters.
Above all else, we strive for good health and great temperaments.
All of our dogs are house pets first and show dogs second.

We bred our first litter in 1984 and to date, we have bred 112 American Champions, 9 All-Breed Best In Show winners in America (as well as All-Breed Best In Show winners in 7 other countries), over 30 obedience and agility titlists (including the only Basenji with a UDX) and over 40 field titlists.

For a look at these dogs, and more, click on the "What We've Bred" link.

We believe that health and temperament should come first in a breeding program and all of our breeding stock is CHIC certified.

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