Miranda and I turned our 5 month old Basenji loose in the house today. This is only the third time we have done this. Today we decided to close our bedroom door. We are doing this to continue to get him acclimated to our Boston Terrier.
There is no doubt in our minds that they will be buddies. I purchased a rope toy that has two pieces of bone attached and we saw them both share it today. We are trying to get some pictures of them. Bonzo chews one bone on one end and Roo chews the bone on the other.
We feel that maybe we should have named our Basenji Crash. The reason for this is because he runs so fast when he plays that in the middle of the Basenji 500 he crashes and careens off of just about anything in is way. When he hits the ceramic tile floor in the bathroom at a dead run, he really goes for a spin. Maybe we can give him Crash as a middle name.
I can really see how Crash can be applied to this Basenji. After we walk 3 miles or go to the dog park in our area, all he wants to do is Crash. Combine this with his uncontrollable slip sliding in the house and you get Mario Basenji.
We are starting to wonder if Roo is going to end up suffering from Brain Damage as much as he crashes into things when he plays.
Miranda and I think that if we ever decide to get into breeding, that we could name a litter of Basenji' after famous Race Car Drivers. How about A J Basenji, or Mario Basenji, or Danica Basenji?
My biggest question is, Do you tow a Basenji by his or her tail when they Crash? Is that why its curly so you can get a hook in it?
We do not know if Roo needs rotors or brakes. We are thinking about having him Midasized. While he is over there, Miranda says we should have his exhaust looked at too!
Jason and Miranda
Yeah, that sounds right to me. 
Both Jazz and Keoki careen around corners, crashing into couches, dining chair, china hutch, wall corners, walls, legs…. it just doesn't matter.
Each of them, as a puppy, has crashed exactly one time into our sliding glass door. That lesson was learned and now they careen left at the exactly right moment to hit the wall instead.
We have hardwood floor through our living room, dining room, and entry hall, with ceramic tile in the large kitchen. There's a whole lotta slidin' goin' on here, every day, several times a day, often with out any forewarning.
We just try to jump out of the way when it happens!
Outside, we have about 1/2 acre for them to run in. We just stay out of the way, and flinch when they fly off the brick walls or into the patio furniture.
It's pretty amazing how close they can skim to the wall of the house along the porch w/out actually hitting it.
They are a crazy breed, for sure.
I just wanted to jump in and say how much I LOVE your pics of Roo. It's hard for me to even imagine a B. that goes anywhere near water voluntarily.
As to your post, …."We are starting to wonder if Roo is going to end up suffering from Brain Damage as much as he crashes into things when he plays." I think most of us here, at one point or another, wonder about brain damage but it's not necessarily related to crashes...it's just the day to day 'senji behavior!! Best wishes to your Boston, he's going to need it!!
JazzysMom, you had me laughing at the comment "We just try to jump out of the way when it happens!" Seems to me you have experienced being on the receiving end of being the unintentional (wrong time, wrong place) human launch pad during a B500.... i.e, all four feet in the chest as if you're an olympian's spring board in place for the vault waiting to happen!!
Mine do the basenji 500 between the computer room and living room.
A human is in for a bounce if sitting on the couch…they use your belly as a launching pad!
Jason and Miranda? What does he do with the Boston? I would think they would be used to each other by now? Usually puppy's and adults bond pretty quickly… abit snarking by the adult when the puppy gets out of line.
And yes, crashing into things is pretty common for these kids.... gggg
I just wanted to jump in and say how much I LOVE your pics of Roo. It's hard for me to even imagine a B. that goes anywhere near water voluntarily.
As to your post, …."We are starting to wonder if Roo is going to end up suffering from Brain Damage as much as he crashes into things when he plays." I think most of us here, at one point or another, wonder about brain damage but it's not necessarily related to crashes...it's just the day to day 'senji behavior!! Best wishes to your Boston, he's going to need it!!
JazzysMom, you had me laughing at the comment "We just try to jump out of the way when it happens!" Seems to me you have experienced being on the receiving end of being the unintentional (wrong time, wrong place) human launch pad during a B500.... i.e, all four feet in the chest as if you're an olympian's spring board in place for the vault waiting to happen!!
Thanks for your comments. I assure you that Roo never decided to go into the water voluntarily. I knew there was going to be some resistance to water based on what I learned about the breed, so when Roo was a very young puppy, we walked several times in the rain, and I also put him in our bathtub, not only to wash him, but to start getting him acclimated to getting wet.
Then we went and bought him a life jacket and he seemed very comfortable in it walking around on Dry land. We even used it one day when we walked three miles in the rain because we did not have a rain coat for him. That was Miranda's idea and it seem to work very well. Of course there was nothing we could do for his ears.
The next logical step for us was to take him to the lake and see what happened. I was of the opinion that the more I exposed him when he was young, the more accepting and tolerant he would be when he gets older. So Miranda sat on the dock with towels, and I went in the water with him. Roo did not use his life jacket at that time because I wanted him to experience the difference. Roo swam very well, and was still very young at that time.
Since Roo proved to us that he could swim, and he did not go into shock or get pissed off after his experience swimming at the Lake, I put him inside our sailboat while it was in our driveway, and let him walk around. I did this on a few occassions.
We did take Roo swimming several more times in his Life Jacket before taking him out in the boat. Roo really surprised us. He seemed to get his sea legs quickly, and I think I was more nervous than he was.
I do have some pictures that I have not posted yet of Roo swimming. I have not posted them yet because I wanted to get better shots. I know Roo was still comfortable in the water because he kept his tail curled. I have only seen Roo straighten his tail when he was afraid or very tired.
See our other post Entitled "Roo Swims" we just posted.
Jason
Dallas runs into things during his B500 as well. He just gets so worked up that he will clip a corner by accident or slide on the kitchen tile into the dishwasher. He always just shakes it off & keeps going though! Haha
Tanza,
Roo is getting along with Bonzo (our Boston) pretty well. Bonzo puts him 'in his place' when she needs to. Yesterday they were laying together sharing a rope toy with two bones attached. It was priceless!
Bonzo doesn't really know what to make of the Basenji 500. She usually stands in the middle of the hall and tries to 'snag' him as he races by, then waits cause she knows he'll be past her again on his return trip! She might be smarter than he is!!
When we turn him loose he is much more interested in her and her toys and her bed than in trashing our house (this is an unexpected bonus for the time being). Overall, so far so good in the dog realtions department!
Do you guys have carpet? It was funny when we lived in a place with carpet and jack would run into things…but now that we have hardwood floor- forget it! Jack is slowly getting used to running on it, but he still has trouble getting started.....his feet are running, but he isn't getting anywhere, and as far as stopping, well, it doesn't happen, he just slides around!
Out of curiosity, where is he when he isn't able to run around the house? Our dogs are pretty much confined to our family room, and the dog room, where their crates are (or the bedroom at night for the bed dogs)…but I think most 'normal' 
people allow their dogs to roam the house. Just wondering what your set up is.
Out of curiosity, where is he when he isn't able to run around the house? Our dogs are pretty much confined to our family room, and the dog room, where their crates are (or the bedroom at night for the bed dogs)…but I think most 'normal'
I don't know how anyone dares to just let their b roam their house…if mine are missing from the room I'm in for more than a minute or 2, it is a definite signal they are up to no good. :rolleyes: I wish they could be trusted. I think Ruby alone would be ok, but no way with the addition of Brando. Brando is usually the instigator, and the kid seems happy to join in whatever trouble he may have found. I have the upstairs blocked with a baby gate, but the bottom floor of the house (log cabin) is an open floor plan and between the kitchen and the living area there are still places that they are hidden from view.
I don't know how anyone dares to just let their b roam their house…if mine are missing from the room I'm in for more than a minute or 2, it is a definite signal they are up to no good. :rolleyes: I wish they could be trusted. I think Ruby alone would be ok, but no way with the addition of Brando. Brando is usually the instigator, and the kid seems happy to join in whatever trouble he may have found. I have the upstairs blocked with a baby gate, but the bottom floor of the house (log cabin) is an open floor plan and between the kitchen and the living area there are still places that they are hidden from view.
With the exception of the bathrooms, my dogs are free to roam the entire downstairs of our house. I just keep an ear open. They'd be able to go upstairs also, if they weren't hellbent on killing the cats!
Out of curiosity, where is he when he isn't able to run around the house? Our dogs are pretty much confined to our family room, and the dog room, where their crates are (or the bedroom at night for the bed dogs)…but I think most 'normal'
Our setup is pretty simple. We have a good size bathroom connected to our bedroom. It has really been the perfect setup in my opinion for raising Roo. It has a ceramic tile floor so in case there is any kind of accident during housebreaking its easy to clean up. Roo's crate fits between the wall that goes from the ceiling to the floor and a cabinet that extends from our sink. Actually his Kennel is right next to Miranda's Rolling makeup Artist Cabinet and fits in there perfectly. We also keep Bonzo's and Roo's Food in a plastic sealed container in the same room. So we really have just about everything we need for him.
Just so I do not get to graphic, as you know we visit Roo's Throne room several times a day. When we are in there, we make good use of the time by either petting Roo or playing fetch with one of Roo's favorite toys. We found most of Roo's Toy's at our local Big lots for around $3 each. These are the same AKC Toys they charge $9 in most other stores. Roo's favorite to chase it the Fox, so we bought 3 of them just in case he rips a hole in one.
When we leave Roo alone, which is not often, we have a metal gate with vertical bars that we purchase at Wal-mart. After looking at the high prices at Pet Smart, we decided we would look in the baby Dept at our local Wal-Mart and found what we were looking for. Roo does not seem to mind the gate, and this way we can leave the door to his crate open more and just close the gate.
Roo sleeps in his crate every night and usually goes in there during part of the day for his naps as well. He appears to be very happy and comfortable in this setup. We do not allow Roo in our bed.
Bonzo also has her own bed that is right next to the gate, that she can lay on when she is not in her crate. So she and Roo can see and even lick each other through the bars.
Miranda and I must not be normal people, because even Bonzo is crated when we leave the house. By the way Bonzo's crate is directly across from my side of the bed, and between our walk in closet door and Miranda's computer desk. Although I trust Bonzo totally, our crating policy keeps her safe and does not allow her to get in to trouble or be destructive when we are not around to supervise. It serves the same purpose for Roo.
Jason
With the exception of the bathrooms, my dogs are free to roam the entire downstairs of our house. I just keep an ear open. They'd be able to go upstairs also, if they weren't hellbent on killing the cats!
Darn…you are lucky and good job, BTW! I'm hoping with some training (I've been working with Brando quite a bit...and he is a quick learner and very, very focused on what you are asking) and some more time with us, that he'll be a little bit less fresh/mischievious...but I'm not counting on it. He is kind of "hard wired" 
:rolleyes:.
I have a dog room with a doggy door access to the yard for when we are not home, however that said, now that all my kids at home are elders, I don't keep them in the dog room anymore… they have access to that room and the kitchen/family room with a doggy door both in the Kitchen slider and the doggy door in the laundry room. When I have young dogs, we do use the gate that for the doggy room when we are not home.... I am glad that I don't have to use crates when we are not home... works great with the doggy room...
Our two roam freely throughout the house. I think maturity on the dogs part and being a master at baby-proofing are key. We can now leave our garden shoes inside the back door and neither touches them. That said, they'll probably get chewed up tonight!!
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I don't really think that anybody who has basenjis is "normal" Our dogs (except Querk) are all crated when we are gone too. I think that is the safest policy.
Miranda and I must not be normal people, because even Bonzo is crated when we leave the house. By the way Bonzo's crate is directly across from my side of the bed, and between our walk in closet door and Miranda's computer desk. Although I trust Bonzo totally, our crating policy keeps her safe and does not allow her to get in to trouble or be destructive when we are not around to supervise. It serves the same purpose for Roo.
Jason
When we leave the house, both our B's are crated. I used to confine Gypsy to the mudroom, but that's no longer necessary now that she is a senior citizen. She doesn't do anything but lay on her pillow until we come home.
It is only when we are home that the B's have free roaming.
When posting our 'setup' at home, we forgot to mention that we spend literally ALL of our time in our Master Bedroom. The computers are there, TV, and we even eat dinner in there most nights. This means that Roo can see/be with us all the time if we are home. The only time we really spend out of the Bedroom area is if we go to kitchen to fix food, or out in the yard (and usually we take busy Basenjis and Bostons with us in the yard)
I know we aren't normal at all and that other people make use of the WHOLE house….but we're odd. Of course we're odd, we're Basenji people!
Randa
Doesn't sound odd to me at all. If that's where you spend the majority of your time, that's where Roo and Bonzo should be as well. Doesn't matter the name of the room, just the quality time you spend with your dogs, IMO. It also helps that that then is where the day to day debris is and when the unexpected visitor arrives, all you do is shut the door.
We spend 90% of our time in the family room. Thank God for pocket doors!! Close them and do a quick search for the wayward chewed up kleenex, and taa-daaa… clean house;)
