Penny has been reminding us all that she won't be around forever. My partner is not big on the idea of getting another dog larger than Kivi when Penny finally leaves us (which will hopefully be a few years yet). I adore Kivi, but he's too easy! I just get lazy and sloppy with him because I know that if I make a mistake or do something stupid it will be simple to fix. I so badly want a dog that's more independent and makes me get off my butt and address a problem properly.
I had previously ruled Basenjis out because of the rabbits, but I had to keep talking to Basenji people, didn't I? We have a setup now where we can keep both the hare and the rabbit separated from the dogs quite easily if we had to, although I'd rather not. Added to that, I've been speaking to drive trainers and Basenji owners/breeders who tell me I may be able to get it all to work. I happened across a lovely local breeder who has been breeding Basenjis for years and told me she thought she could find me a puppy that would be suited to our situation and saw no major pitfalls in the lengthy description I gave her of our lifestyle and home (except the rabbits). Any breeder that tells me they can pick me a puppy that should work out for us is a breeder that has my full attention.
Am I being insane? I think I'll GO insane if I write off all the super independent breeds.