Basma - 'Basma'
Imp. Syria
15.1. 2003 - 22.7.2010
Breeder - Sobhi Ghaname
Owner - Micaela Lehtonen

I had long dreamt of a Syrian import, as I consider their Salukis the best in the world. I loved their lithe, strong bodies, and judging by the videos and stories of Sir Terence Clark it was clear they were fabulous hunting dogs.

The promlem was logistical: how to find someone in Syria who could choose the dog, deworm and vaccinate it and then keep it for the required 30 days before it was allowed into Finland? Sir Terence offered to help in locating a good Saluki, as he hunts in Syria in the Hama area nearly every spring, and knows the people and their hounds. We set our sights on the spring of 2005 when he was planning his next Syrian excursion.

We still had to find a contact in Syria who could handle the paperwork etc., as Terence would only be in Syria for a few days. This proved very difficult, and I tried all sorts of things, including the Finnish Embassy and and UN troops, but found no one. Suudenly the import had to be pushed up a year as well, as I found out Finnish import regulations were due to chenge in July 2004. I had to find a way. This also meant that funding was a problem, as I had so much less time to gather the money. I knew I could not do it alone.

Habi's owner Kalle Rautavuori came to the rescue by suggesting a partnership. We gathered a wonderful group of people: Kalle, Katja Pellikka and Sirkku Moilanen joined in and each took on part of the expenses - this entitled them to future pups if they wish, or they can use one of my males for their bitches. Time will tell. Without them this project could not have become reality! Thanks must also go to FIME representative Sanna Aro-Valjus who escorted Basma on the flight.

Fortune continued to favour us: Anna Beckman in Sweden sent me an article on Syrian horses, in which there was a picture of Basil Jadaan, breeder of Arabian horses, together with a Saluki! I had a wild idea: I would try to reach Mr. Jadaan and ask if he had any contacts who might help with the import. Through Sir Terence among others I got mr. Jadaan's address, and also found out that it was in fact Basil who had helped the French Jeanne Menning import her beautiful Syrian Salukis in the 1990s.

Basil Jadaan phoned me and graciously offered to help, and I could not have wished for a better friend! He said he would look for a suitable bitch, and not only that, he insisted on making her a gift to me! I stuttered a milion thank you's over and over. Basil was amazing - he handled everything on the Syrian end, and found us a lovely littled bitch called Joukha. I had trouble pronouncing the name, so we changed it to Basma (Smile). And she certainly does - all the time! Although we had thought this a difficult project, even Basil was surprised at how the pieces seemed to fall in place. I will never forget his beautiful words: "Allah smiles upon you because you take such good care of His Salukis".

After many a twist the day finally arrived - Basma was coming to Finland. Basil calmed me over the phone: everything is alright, don't worry. He was right of course. On Sunday, May 23rd after 11 pm Basma arrived, having travelled for 8 hours. My mother and I were of course at the airport, as were Katja and Petri and Kalle and his father. I was so nervous I prattled loudly the whole time...

Basma immediately amazed us with her good cheer - as soon as she stepped out of the crate she went around saying hello to everyone, tail wagging constantly,curious to see all the new things around her. I had brought Hafna with me, and Basma was immediately ready to play - the girls were soon the best of friends. We were all stunned by Basma's happy attitude, and Katja took loads of pictures, even one of Basma doing her business on Finnish soil for the very first time...Basil had fun when I told him about that ;D The only thing that bothered Basma was the slippery floor in terminal - she kept trying to grab at it with her toes.

Kalle helped to transport Basma to our village. I decided to spend the night at mom's house as it was almost 3 am and dark - not the best of times to introduce a new dog to the pack. Luckily Sara was at home taking care of the other dogs, otherwise it would have been very difficult. Basma fell in love with Finnish grass and sausage, as well as sleeping in the bed with me.

She was a lovely little Saluki, only 59,7 cm high. She was born in Hama, Syria in January 2003, and as is the local custom her ears were cropped. Her breeder was Sobhi Ghaname and her parents were Guru (Wolf) and Nasmah (Breeze). She was from pure Syrian hunting lines, and gave me beautiful puppies in two litters. Basma was a joy in every sense of the word!

Basma loved people, all people, and nothing made her happier than being petted and admired. She had a charming way of coming up to you and just standiing there, head tilted back to gaze at you with her beautiful dark eyes, just drinking in the admiration and affection.

Basma enjoyed sleeping under the covers and cuddled up to me or just sat there looking at me as though I'm the best thing ever :) She also talked in her sleep a lot and had quite the vocabulary!

Basma charmed everyone she met. She was always happy and incredibly cuddly. No one ever managed to cuddle her enough in fact, and she was not shy about forcing herself into any vacant lap - from which it was exceedingly difficult to extract her ;) She was fast too.

Basma is the dam of the Qashani T-litter, born 30.5. 2006. The sire is Syrian import Barak, who lived in Switzerland. In November 2008 Basma had her second litter, the Qashani K-litter, sired by my other Syrian import Khattaf, who is also the sire of my S-litter.

Basma was TgAA-tested (neg.) and her heart auscultated by a cardiologist in 2008. In August 2009 her back and neck were x-rayed as she had begun to have fleeting pains in her neck. The x-ray showed spondylosis between two vertebrae in her back, but the pain was most like caused by a bulging disc (?) between the 5th and 6th neck vertebrae.

To my unspeakable sorrow I lost Basma unexpectedly on June 22nd, 2010. She had been coughing slightly for a couple of days and we thought it was due to draft from a table fan next to the bed, so she was given cough medicine and an antibiotic. On the evening of the 21st I was cooking for the dogs when I heard her coughing more than before and thought I must give her the cough syrup before bedtime, but when I took her bowl to her I almost dropped it - Basma was standing at an odd angle, foam and spittle dribbled from her mouth and her breathing was labored - her underline seemed to have dropped as well.

We drove to the vet on call in our area and during the ride there Basma's breathing became more difficult and her abdomen swelled. At the vet we had to wait for a long time and when she finally saw us, she clearly didn't know what to do except put Basma on a drip as she was dehydrated from the drooling. There was no x-ray or anything at the clinic. The vet fumbled around and finally called someone to ask what to do and then said it might be pneumothorax. She tapped air from both of Basma's lubgs and then continued waffling until finally sending us to the uneiversity pet hospital in Helsinki. We got to the hospital at 4 am - the first symptoms had presented themselves around 10 pm.

Basma was admitted straight away and her lungs were again tapped and she was x-rayed. I paced the waiting room until finally the vet came to speak to me - Basma did indeed have pneumothorax and eventhough the lungs had suction on them they kept filling up. Basma was admitted to intensive care and I was told to go home, they would call me.

At 9.45 am, just as we were driving into Hauho, another of the hospital's vets called and said there was nothing to be done - they had drains on both lungs and had trained 6 litres of air from them in the last half hour... Euthanasia was the only right choice for the dog herself.

Three months later I received the results of the obduction. I will try to get it translated properly, but in the meantime my own layman's translation: acute alveolar emphysema and accompanying moderate acute diffuse alveolar damage, as well as mild acute lobar aspiratory pneumonia

According to obduction report this can be either congenital, idiopathic or due to previous trauma or chronic lung disease. Since in Basma's case the findings did not point to anything congenital or any chronic lung diseae, her case was judged to be idiopathic (spontaneously formed without a clear or known cause) or due to previous trauma. The symptoms can be, as in Basma's case, pneumothorax.

Unrelated to this were the following findings: endometrial cystic hyperplasia and adenocarcinoma (a cancer of epithelia originating in glandular tissue, in this case the adrenal gland). These can be hormonally active, but that is improbable in Basma's case, as only one of the glands was affected.

I miss Basma more than I can say - she was unique, a wonderful friend and companion, beautiful in appearance, soul and temperament. My friend Hyde wrote the following words in her memory - they gave me some solace, describe Basma so well and ring so true:

"One day Allah saw, that His best and most gentle Saluki was missing. He set out to search for His pet, but could not find her in any of the places He thought she was likely to be.

Saddened, Allah had nearly given up, when He spotted her in a most peculiar part of the world. Delighted He called to her, and she hastened to Him, happily and jumping with joy.

"Come, I have important work for you", said Allah - and His Syrian Princess followed in His wake."