Tail wagging

[Patty]

Many Basenjis just don't wag so please don't think your Cody is odd. It's very easy to tell if a Basenji is happy just by their facial expression. Some of mine have wagged and some not.

Wagging (especially the slow twitch) is not always a sign of happiness in a Basenji - quite the opposite!

[Basenjimamma]

Pippin wags his tail as well, just not all the time..sometimes he is happy happy and baroos and all but no wagging tail, other times he is happy happy and his tail looks like it will take off…

[curlytails]

We get very enthusiastic welcome home/greeting wags, but otherwise, no. I do have to find other ways to read her mood!

[DebraDownSouth]

@Patty:

Many Basenjis just don't wag so please don't think your Cody is odd. It's very easy to tell if a Basenji is happy just by their facial expression. Some of mine have wagged and some not.

Wagging (especially the slow twitch) is not always a sign of happiness in a Basenji - quite the opposite!

Wagging isn't always happiness in any dog.

[Marie Heidebrecht]

Neither Jigsaw nor Indy are big tail waggers. The only people they wag for are my immediate family members, who they really love. (Especially my nieces and nephews!) Indy will wag when he's playing either with Jigsaw or his best doggie friend, a standard schnauzer. Jigsaw's best wags, though, are when she is within close range of a bunny or a squirrel. Her prey drive is extraordinarily high. Do other people's basenjis do this "predatory" wag? I find that one most curious. If she's hot on the scent of something in the yard and I can't see anything myself, I watch for the wag. If she wags, I know that she's really close and I need to intervene before she catches something. (Most of the time I've been successful, thankfully.)

[Kipawa]

Kipawa is a wagger - when we get up in the morning and all greet each other, when I return home and he first sees me. He is a really happy little camper!

[renaultf1]

+1 to what Debra & Patty said about tail wagging not always being a sign of happiness.

Three of mine do wag their tails in happiness - one doesn't wag at all (he talks and gives whippet ears to show his happiness). The one that doesn't wag has the loosest curled tail. The one that wags the most has the tightest curled tail (wildly flipping back & forth) - and his tail wagging is usually partnered with crazy dancing. The other 2 that wag don't do it as wildly.

[Kananga]

Kananga doesn't wag his tail much. It will move slightly when he's really excited, but you don't notice it because he's spinning in circles at such high speeds. :D

I always joke that he's winding himself up for a B-500, which is usually the case.

[deschroedter]

Kell is the out wagingist B we have ever had, it is like a cinnamon roll -unrolls & then rolls back up and wags and repeats. Too cute. Rogue wags hers when you talk directly to her. Cory, never. Sidhe when she is trying to tempt you to play with her. And we have had others that never wagged. But look into their eyes, that tells you so very much. Dawn

[Patty]

Spring, who has a loose curl looks so funny when she wags her tail! It really makes me laugh and join in her happiness.