We have had Laika now for over 4 month. She has chewed holes in blankets, towells, a new blankie I made her, my husbands pants, her leash on the way to the vet( 5 min ) and even a nice quilt. All this happens when we are not looking. Furniture and shoes don't interest her, I am glad for that. We got her a kong which we stuff with peanut butter and she gets to chew on bully sticks for a while. She will chew on the rope and eat the strings. At the dog park she chewed a piece of tennis ball which came out the next day. Any idea how to stop all this? What happens to all the stuff she eat? This is our second basenji. Laika is a rescue and 6 years old. She is really good otherwise and will sit on our lap. When we stroke her belly she just purrs like a cat.
Jayden is a love as long as he can see us he will sleep on floor while you watch tv but second you leave room he will find something and chew it up. I had three shirts on chair I was going to put away wish I had put them away I went into kitchen fix some popcorn well shirts do not look same. Jayden is a love but he also will chew up his blanket. When you find out how to stop this I also want to know Jayden only does it when he cannot see us. Bless you for taking in a rescue could be she loves you so much she does not want you out of sight you may not come back in her mind.
Rita Jean
Use babygates you can get them cheap at a second hand store and put them up so the b is with you…
Also, No matter what age, a b can learn to "talk" to you, by taking a gentle basic obedience class.
LOL, good luck. Some stop as they age, some don't. I remember answering the phone one day and turning around. My bra and slip straps.. FOUR STRAPS.. looked like someone took scissors and cut them, at almost the same point no less!, in two. Leashes? I use the basenji-proof leash.
Learning to "watch" your dog took on whole new meaning with a basenji. I only thought I knew before.
I don't think there is any way of stopping the inappropriate chewing other than putting everything away and out of reach, thank goodness she leaves your furniture alone 
Chew toys are good but not as good as forbidden stuff, to a Basenji.
Some are worse chewers than others, my first Basenji specialised in chewing pens and combs, the worst things he got were my Husbands new glasses and MIL false teeth.
Malaika goes more for material things like rugs and towels, hence the bathroom door is kept closed and the holey rug is left down as there is no point replacing it just yet.
I don't think there is any way of stopping the inappropriate chewing other than putting everything away and out of reach, thank goodness she leaves your furniture alone
Chew toys are good but not as good as forbidden stuff, to a Basenji.
Some are worse chewers than others, my first Basenji specialised in chewing pens and combs, the worst things he got were my Husbands new glasses and MIL false teeth.
Malaika goes more for material things like rugs and towels, hence the bathroom door is kept closed and the holey rug is left down as there is no point replacing it just yet.
Forbidden stuff is really awesome! Simon will fly through here with a nice new roll of toilet paper, laughing, bowing, prancing. He's fast and I'm slow. I oblige him by waving my arms around and hollering. Sometimes we can salvage some of it once we get it back.
So the other day husband John offered him a partial roll. Simon looked at it, looked at John, walked away. Apparently toilet paper rolls are only fun when someone is chasing you 
Simon is a shredder, and he DOES like the furniture. We're hoping with age comes wisdom, but for now we use gates.
The thing I worry about is fibers wrapping around his intestines. I don't care about the bedding getting ripped. I just don't want him ingesting it. And so far he does leave the "harder" stuff alone. He doesn't care so much about remote controls and cell phones. He wants the undies and the kitchen towels. He's a bit girly maybe 
Obviously, the only advice I have is to use gates. If anyone comes up with a towel that is immune to basenji, please let me know immediately!
For dogs that shred bedding, I really recommend NO bedding or try high quality sheep skin which most can't shred. I did post about really nice crate pads, http://primopads.com/
Oh, we don't let him DO it. Like I said, it's not the destruction that bothers me; it's the danger.
Listeme,
i'm afraid i don't know of any Basenji proof towels, that's why ours live behind closed doors
I didn't realise she's chewed the corner off the towel untill she pooped it out. It sure gave us a scare 
We have had Laika now for over 4 month. She has chewed holes in blankets, towells, a new blankie I made her, my husbands pants, her leash on the way to the vet( 5 min ) and even a nice quilt. All this happens when we are not looking. Furniture and shoes don't interest her, I am glad for that. We got her a kong which we stuff with peanut butter and she gets to chew on bully sticks for a while. She will chew on the rope and eat the strings. At the dog park she chewed a piece of tennis ball which came out the next day. Any idea how to stop all this? What happens to all the stuff she eat? This is our second basenji. Laika is a rescue and 6 years old. She is really good otherwise and will sit on our lap. When we stroke her belly she just purrs like a cat.
Welcome to the chew up club!! He always spits out everything since he doesn't like the taste. He mostly has chewed his toys. Swallowing pieces of any non food item is a real danger. Buddy is 2 and is starting to slow down on the chewing up of his toys. How much exercise is she getting? What is Laika's background?
Brand new tennis ball after about 5 minutes.
New leash after vet took him in the back for an x-ray.
New toys.
Dan I am rolling, thanks for the pics. Misery loves company.
I've tried to keep these pictures away from my basenjis - don't want them to think that it's acceptable behaviour!!!!
Joking apart - some chew, some don't, and some grow out of it and some don't!! In my experience that is!
Pure sheepskin bedding is NOT chewproof I can assure you. I can also say that I've had Basenjis chew through benching chains as well!
My red & white grew out of chewing up stuff when he was about 4. He had mastered unzipping the couch cushions and destuffing them! It was his duty to destuff any couch with a zipper!
My female will be 8 next month and she (I'm afraid) will never grow out of destuffing/chewing! Small hole in a comforter, no problem, let's make it bigger and destuff it so the room looks like snow! Toilet paper, hanging on the toilet paper dispenser? Never in my house! It only lasts 2 minutes and then it is set on a path of distruction…down the hall....in the living room.....in the bathroom.....on the bed.....
Unfortunately, she is teaching the toilet paper destruction to my almost 3 year old rescue. But he doesn't shred, he litteraly eats anything he is destroying.
We have had to be extra dilligent to keep chew dangers out of his way. He is tiny for a male (20 lbs) and we don't want him to ingest something and not be able to pass it.
I echo everyone else's statements. It's like baby-proofing your house, except it's basenji-proofing! And when you catch the chewing something they aren't supposed to have, scold them and give them one of their own toys. These are intellegent dogs, they get it....after a while!
