The Rip Van Wrinkler, Volume XXI, Issue 1, February 2017

Page 14 <previous page> <next page>

Chili's Story/by Tom Elliot

Hi Susan,

I know it has been a while since I was involved with the RVW Club, particularly since I move out of the NY, NJ, PA, Ontario area. But I have kept up with you and the crew, admiring from afar. I am so very impressed with your agility work - truly inspiring to see the team in action. {Ed. Thanks!}

Anyway, it seems so long ago that I came and stayed with you in Woodstock with Chili (Deepwoods Hot Chili Mambo) and Nefertiti (Nefer, Apu Tri To Be Good).

The Apu pack seemed to love my two, with Nefer being of the line and Chili being a guest star - as he was a wee bit bigger than the Apu's were and a little stand-off'ish - making him the one that everyone wanted to sit with out on your basking rock (particularly Trill, but also Hip Hop and Calliope).

You remember that there is a Rip Van Wrinkle Basenji Club, and particularly your family, connection to Chili’s origin story – namely involving your brother – Robert. {Ed. I do!}

I was in Arizona when my body started to shut down, swelling of joints, shedding of weight, lack of energy, and loss of that ‘spark’ which was typical of a 24 year old newly minted University graduate. Rocky Mountain Spotted? Yellow? Lyme? All these concepts were tossed around until, four months later, I was identified as having systemic autoimmune Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). After the diagnosis and conventional treatment programs, which – while providing me some relief – also included limited activity until the flare and swelling had been brought under control. Essentially house-bound at the age of 24, I spiraled downward with depression which put further strain on those who still chose to be around me.

Something had to be done. Knowing that I was going to be allowed to become active in the near future was a beacon that I kept moving toward – but the frank assessment was that my body was ravaged by the effects of RA and the various immunosuppressants and steroids that I was taking to manage the disorder.

The plan of getting a Basenji wasn’t new, but the timing and interview process (which I greatly appreciated as a demonstrated amount of care and consideration of what Basenji ownership is) was challenging due to my limited mobility and physical appearance (I didn’t look well… Or well enough to care for a ‘senji).

Fortunately, this is where Robert {Kamen}comes in. Your brother developed the drug – Humira is the trade-name – which gave me my life back and helped me along the path toward Basenji ownership. I started taking Humira in early 2003 as part of the Clinical Trial for the drug approval process in Canada. The improvement was almost instant, and by March 2003 my girlfriend (whose efforts, patience and care I would like to recognize and acknowledge here) and I welcomed Chili into our lives. {Ed. - And later on, you and Bob had a short talk on the phone in my kitchen, which was very nice for both of you}

Chili was the one who, as a puppy, started me out with short walks which gradually extended as he grew and became more active. He was the one who first went with me to spend hours in the forests and find new meaning to being outdoors and active.

He was also the one who collapsed on the couch for a hard cuddle and sleep after exerting ourselves (he with typical Basenji play & mischief, me with physiotherapy/rehabilitation).

Our adventures didn’t stop!

We traveled down to Arizona again in that same year, where he had opportunity to explore wide-open landscapes with few, if any, people or cars. He learned about being off-leash and demonstrated a particular insight about assessing danger… Chili was a basenji boy puppy – meaning that most everything can be climbed, jumped off-of, or chased in a fearless expression of Basenji joy. But when it came down to it, Chili knew when he was out of his league – exemplified by the day when we were walking in a valley of the Chiricahua Mountains and over the next rise there came the sound of Mountain Lions (Cougars) either mating or fighting. Coming to a dead halt, I slowly turned to look at my eight-month-old fearless ‘senji – expecting to find an ear-forward stack that I would have to lunge for to catch before he ran to chase the ‘kitties’ – only to find a wide-eyed puppy who was slowly backing up the trail while keeping full attention on the sound of Cougars.

Later in that same summer, as our research team and Basenji bounced down a desert two-track in an overheating truck under full sun of 105F – we lamented the fruitless day of work and how everyone was flat from heat-exhaustion. For the next three hours as the pattern of: truck overheating – people shelter in the shade – start truck and drive for 1/2 mile, repeated, Chili was flat asleep in the footwell… That is, until we managed to come to a rolling stop in front of some free-ranging cattle in mesquite scrub. Blink of an eye and my melted Basenji was off and running through the desert under full sun after a calf and the rest of the herd, to which I sprang after in fruitless chase and within a quick five minutes realized that I might die if I continued to run full-tilt through the scrub. I returned to the overheated truck, drank most of what remained of my water, and started to grieve the loss of my dog in the shade of a Soap Yucca… Not more than ten minutes later does this broadly smiling, and panting, Basenji come trotting up to me, digs a small hole in the sand, and flops down to cool off. He got the last of my water that day.

Over the next few years these kinds of stories repeated, with Chili surprising me (chewing his tether and meeting me at the top of a 80’ cliff that I was rock-climbing on), urging me on with his effortless grace (running, mountain biking), or demonstrating just how good a Basenji can be (Showing, obedience, agility, and – naturally – coursing).

When Chili was old enough, I got him a Basenji of his own – Nefertiti, who he instructed very closely and ensured she knew how a polite and proper Basenji behaved: No rude waggy face-first lab’esque greetings to other dogs, just posturing, sniffing and the occasional beat-down before play; No pooping in the yard; No hesitation when excavating the couch cushion to make a proper den; No care for barking dogs; and the most important, No listening to anyone but the one in charge (he was in charge of her, I was in charge of him).

Chili’s contribution didn’t just include adventure – he also saw me through stressful times during my graduate work; personal celebrations (I married that girl to form a family-unit of sorts, and went on to a prestigious position at a fine US institution of higher learning); calamities (deaths, collapse of friendships, career and marriage, with all of the emotional/mental health issues associated); re-definition of what my family (now a pack) is and who I was living for; and re-location to distant lands – first throughout Canada and the western seaboard, settling on Vancouver Island.

For those in RVW that may remember, Chili was a bit of a spitfire while racing in Ontario, NY, PA and NJ; going undefeated in straights until he was well into the senior category. That raw speed made coursing a little harder on him to score well, which was a source of frustration for him and is likely why he eventually fouled himself out of US competition (by taking out Nefertiti in a spectacular manner – it’s play time, right?).

These days I have run my Nefer and Chili in the local Vancouver Island Lure Coursing/Straight racing club. Nefer and Chili - at the respective ages of 11 and 14 - were certainly still keen this past season.

However, I was not able to complete their full super-senior race season due to a motor vehicle accident which put me down-and-out for a little while... Which meant a bunch of couch-time for the Basenji and I - with Chili being my stalwart companion, as he has been through so many of life's ups and downs.

It is with that in mind that I am writing to let you and the extended RVW family know that my speedy handsome brindle Basenji Boy, Chili, passed away after a ruptured splenetic hemangiosarcoma.

He wasn't finished with his lifetime of adventure yet, made evident by the fact he was hiking up mountains in the days before. Despite his good physical condition, Chili knew it was his time, wherein he greeted me with an apologetic sigh and cuddle at the vet hospital. Weak and imbalanced, but still keeping his keen dark-golden eyes locked on me...

Within that instant, my mind flashed through our life together, where he had helped me out of tough conditions, made me laugh, and certainly the half-dozen times or so that I thought he was about to die previously…

I took him to his favourite dog park in the warm autumn sun, he teetered around briefly and came to rest on my lap where he sniffed the coming winter in the crisp air... He lay his tired head on my arm, where we said our goodbyes, and I let him know he had seen me through this one last challenge.

His journey over the Rainbow Bridge came easily and without a moment of regret.

Nefertiti checked under the blankets of the various Basenji spots in my house for the next two weeks...

I sometimes wish she would find him there too.


{Melissa Cameron on this: "It's interesting that this connection with Humira and RA would come up on the B-List, since wee Chili (our brindle male basenji) was Tom's first successful treatment after his diagnosis with RA.  We had just returned from a summer of research in Arizona and Tom was suffering from severe pain and barely had the energy to move. After he was diagnosed with RA, his first Rheumatologist recommended that he do as little weight-bearing exercise as possible (including walking!) over the next six months until they were able to get his immune system under control.  Needless to say, confining a 24-year-old active male to his living room for that amount of time was a major blow to him.  Depression was setting in hard.  So, we decided that it was time to bring a little light into his life and the basenji-scheme was hatched.  Deepwoods Hot Chili Mambo came to live with us in March of 2003 and brought with him a lifetime of joy.  I'm only glad that the healing didn't stop there either - now, with major help from Humira, Chili and Tom can bomb through the woods together (Tom on bike, of course) instead of just playing around in the living room forever."}


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