Basenjis are perpetual two year olds. If your attention is on anything that is not them, they feel the need to bring you back to "reality". A Basenji considers himself/herself the center of your universe and expects to be treated accordingly, the exception being when they are getting into mischief and don't want you to know about it. Otherwise your undivided attention is expected, and demanded, especially if it is obvious that something else is foremost in your thoughts. As the nominal owner (otherwise known as "staff") of a Basenji, you are expected to know that! 😉
Exercise?
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I'm just curious about how much exercise is given to the B's out there?
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Jaycee get's about 1 mile in the morning and the same in the evening. There have been days walk in the afternoon for mile. I do not know how much in the yard or running in the house.
Rita Jean
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Hmm… on a typical day, I take Cody for at least one 2 mile walk in the late afternoon and on days that it's not too hot/humid we do this 2 times (mid morning as well). We walk to the river, which is a little less than a mile, then walk the shoreline--he stays well away from the water, but loves the wind--and then walk back home. After the summer, we will probably start doing this more, because he really enjoys it, but he refuses to drink out of a portable water bowl, and I worry about him getting too hot. Early in the afternoon, we have a regular game of chase that we play for about an hour or more. He and Moe (our non-B) are also free to go outside whenever they want, so they do a lot of running and playing in between. Inside, they also do what my brother has dubbed the "Mo-Co 500", their version of the B-500.
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Buddy is still a puppy at 10-11 months so 30 minutes in the morning before work and about 1 hour after work. Trips to the dog park 1-2/wk so he can fully sprint/run. Weekends are about 2-1/2 hours day.
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I try to get in at least 4-5 miles a day. I can really tell when we don't . They also get run around the fenced yard time as often as possible. I have a no running/wrestling rule in the house…they about knocked a couch through the wall a few times.... so when they start in, out they go. It is awesome to see them run with out a leash!! I really need to video tape it. ... on the to do list.
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Zak and Zuki get about 45 min. a day Monday-Friday and around 1 1/2 hours on weekends, holidays and days off from work. And they are seniors (13 1/2 and 15 1/2)!
Used to be a little more and faster when they were younger. The exercise has helped them age well. People are so surprised to learn how old they are because they look and move so well. -
I look forward to our walks. Zoe usually gets at least an hr in the morning then another walk in the evening that is at least an hr but usually 1 1/2 to 2 hrs.
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Otis gets about 2 miles in the morning and again in the evening, unless it is cool then he is on for the longhaul 6 mile walk in the AM. Of course the B-500 are daily extra curricular activities as well as going to the park, which we probably will do at least weekly if not twice, pending on weather.
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My husband just said this morning the tread mill might not be bad this fall and winter when its wet. Ha! Ha! I told him he could just get up and do the walking.
Rita Jean
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My two girls play all day and run in the yard. Shadow doesn't move from the couch unless food or small furry animals are involved. Since I'm out in the country, they have a large area to run in. I want to expand it though.
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I am trying to get my husband to see my point of view when it comes to fencing the front yard in..remember Otis got hit by a car a few months ago while out there with all of us.So we only play in the back yard now, but it is smaller, so I want to expand the playing to the front..almost a 1/3 acre in the front, with nothing but grass, grass, and more grass..B-500 friendly environment.
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My front yard, Part of it anyway, is fenced for them. It was easier that way with the septic system. It doesn't look too bad, and we have a hedge that hides a lot of it.
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My lot get an hours road walk on leads every morning before work. We are lucky enough to have a large secure garden, so after that they can go out as much or little as they like (this, of course, depends on the weather!). On my days off, I try to give them at least a couple of hours free-run on the beach - great for tiring out the puppies!
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We are lucky enough we live in the city but we live on what they call a double city lot so our yard is big. Like 120 accross and 240 deep. City will not let us fence front yard and I really dislike that. Jaycee gets out front door then what. We have small deck on front so we may make a gate at the steps so just in case Jaycee gets out. City and there rules fence makes front yards look bad. So we planted holly's all way accross front.
Rita Jean
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We do not have a fenced yard or a dog park nearby, so other than the B-500 all of Ella's exercise comes from walks. Kind of puts the pressure on to cover some ground.
Now that it is summer Ella gets between 40-75 minutes in the morning. We usually cover between 2-4 miles. We often hike straight uphill on the ski area and the walk/hike is quite rigorous. That was my morning routine for many years before the Basenji. Mid-day is usually a short walk–10-15 minutes. In the evening we do another 40-60 minutes, depending on how long our morning walk was. On the weekends she usually gets at least little extra. Our longest hike so far is about 4 hours and we gained over 4000 vertical feet. She was a little tired when we got home.
In general, I have to say that I have not noticed a huge difference in her behavior based on how much exercise she gets on a given day. Maybe after several days of below average exercise she might start to cause more trouble than usual.
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My truth….I have 2 couch potatoes during the week. They "hunt" in the backyard when I'm home and run in the house when the yard is too damp. The rest of the time, they're asleep under the covers on our bed.
They get (their favorite) leash walking time 3 x's a day when it's the rainy season. They follow me where ever I go when I'm gardening. Other than that, we play with them in the house or yard in the evenings and are always on the alert for the signs that additional exercise is needed. When that happens, we just do casual walks in the neighborhood, making sure they mark/pee the out-of-gate areas on our property in case--God forbid-- they ever get loose; they then have personal markers to find their way home.
Other than that, we take them with us whenever we can to any public venue that allows dogs, on the weekends.
A fenced backyard and a doggie door are a Godsend (for me). My 2 are right now doing a b500 indoor to outdoor racetrack repetition. Sometimes I wonder how they make it through the dog door at such speeds without accidents that create brain damage.
Family x lifestyle x basenji personality = what ever is best for you and your dogs.
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Your last line is a cool saying I do like that. Thank you for that good one to live by.
Rita Jean
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I just tend to give Tilly the same exercise i give my dobes - although she actually gets a bit more than them. First thing in morning they run about the field - but dont really tend to spend too long - especially if its raining - 20 minutes probably. Tilly goes to my mums house during the day, and gets LOTS of short on lead walks - usually about 5 or 6 x 20 minutes each. At night I like to do about 3-4 miles road work - sometimes double that if i want to get get one toned up for a show (or more usually if i have had a bad day at work - a good long walk is the best way to clear your head and saves you shouting at your other half!)- and they all get as much free running as they want in our garden - about 1 acre. But mostly after their walk at night they are happy to just curl up infront of the stove and sleep. At the weekends we tend to go a couple of good walks (1.5 hrs x 2) per day - more for our benefit than the dogs though. And the doors are always open so they can run about in the garden whenever they want.
I dont think they need as much as that - but it certainly helps their behaviour - a tired Tilly doesnt get up to half as much mischief as im sure an overactive Tilly would!
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Mine gets a 15 minute walk in the morning (at least until winter) and 20-30 minutes when I get home from work. She also gets time in the morning before I leave to chase creatures in the back yard and when I come home she usually does the B-500 several times in the yard as well as chase creatures (my yard has a lot of flower beds so the pathways give her more running-around-corners room than a straight yard). We also play tag in the house at night before bedtime and a few times a week we work on obedience for mental exercise.
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My 9 month old has a mile walk first thing in the morning, and because I have bad knees, she gets taken out in our golf cart two-three more times in the day, when I let her run next to it, full out. She also gets about a half mile walk before bedtime. She does her B-500 nearly every night around the house, and I take her to the dog park three times a week so she can run and play with other dogs until she's had enough - her favorite park is the one where she can play with a bunch of other Basenjis. On those nights there are no B-500's, she sleeps a lot.
