Skip to content
Basenji Forums
  1. Home
  2. Basenji Talk
  3. What do you feed your Basenji?

What do you feed your Basenji?

Basenji Talk
  • tanzaT

    LOL… love that Mutt Loaf... I make 3 or 4 loafs at a time from the mix... cook one, freeze the others.. defrost and bake as needed... and I warm up the evening ones in the Micro for about 30 seconds. I change up what I use in the mix from time to time... adding different things... but always ground meat (Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Pork and Lamb)...eggs, bananas, apple sauce (unsweeten green apples) dried cranberries, and other fresh/raw fruit/veggies....

    I do not use cheap ground beef, but a good cut ground of grass fed steers... one of these days I will get a grinder or food processer and add some organ meat....

    Pat Fragassi

    Tanza Basenjis

    www.tanzabasenjis.net

    0
  • agilebasenjiA

    I have a grinder attachment for my Kitchenaide mixer. Works great! I always use blueberries or cranberries for the fruit part (depending on the season) and potato flakes for the grain. I had not thought of adding apple sauce. For seasoning, I add garlic and cinnamon. Pups LOVE it. In fact, I started making this b/c I'd get 1/4 an animal from Betsy and had LOTS of ground beef. It's just hubby and I, so that's a lot of ground beef for 2 adults, so I found this recipe and it helped me get Digital to eat. Yes, he's picky. Yes, I cater to him. He's my dog and I can spoil him if I want to. (And if I and hubby dies, he goes back to Mary Turner who will spoil him as much as i do!)

    0
  • tanzaT

    LOL Kim…. I agree when they get older we all "cater" to them... and I use blueberries too sometimes fresh, sometimes dried... and the applesause works great... IMO... And I wish that I had a local farmer that I could get fresh from... but I do try and get the same quality that I would eat myself... and like you, there is just the two humans and then the "critters". I have used potato flakes but also have used rice flour or in a pinch, nothing at all... it is a "bit" wet to form and freeze or cook, but it works. Have not tried Cinnamon, great idea... I will do that next time (this weekend)! Oh and I also use dried Cranberries... just mix them in the mix and when you cook them up (like blueberries) they plump up and cook really well.

    Pat Fragassi

    Tanza Basenjis

    www.tanzabasenjis.net

    0
  • agilebasenjiA

    yes, i use the dried cranberries when the blueberries are $$$ and the fresh cranberries are not in season yet. Dried cranberries now come in so many different flavors! And yes, I too have omitted the "grain", usually b/c I forgot to add it. Cinnamon is one of those "wonder" foods and it helps mask the smell of the liver (if I've added that on that go-round). I don't really think liver is fit for eating, but the dogs seem to like it. I get fresh beef and farm eggs (the holistic vet sells them), but the rest i get from the store. Hopefully I'll have lots of zucchini in the garden this year. That and green beans. (I have purple green beans that turn green when you cook them. You'd think I was 6 the way it amuses me!) Last year the poor garden was sort of neglected, but for some reason the dill thrived. Fresh herbs are way more potent!

    0
  • StaticS

    Dreamer eats a cooked homemade diet- mainly chicken + sweet potatoes - with some yogurt, a tablespoon or so of pureed raw fruit/veg(brightly coloured stuff - berries, leafy vegs etc) and appropriate supplements. She seems to do best on a simple, highly digestible cooked diet. She gets an egg sometimes when I don't have any chicken cooked. She does ok on kibble, worse on raw.

    My non-b puppy gets 1/2 earthborn holistic costal catch dry and 1/2 home prepared raw… and any dog safe leftovers. Sometimes I feel like all I do is feed him... he eats enough in a day to feed dreamer for at least 5.

    I curious how much other basenjis eat - Dreamer eats about 4 ounces of cooked chicken(dark meat+skin) and 8 oz of baked sp a day + treats coming up to about 400-450 calories/day. She weighs 16-18 lbs and is not very active...

    Edit: Dreamer loves dried cranberries too... and I always get local eggs from the farm store(2/dozen for any size, so I always get the jumbo ones- and they sure are big), so much better then even the free range/etc ones from the grocery store. And if you If you like purple green beans you should try growing Dragons tongue beans - they're yellow with purple stripes, turn yellow when cooked.

    0
  • curlytailsC

    @Static:

    I curious how much other basenjis eat - Dreamer eats about 4 ounces of cooked chicken(dark meat+skin) and 8 oz of baked sp a day + treats coming up to about 400-450 calories/day. She weighs 16-18 lbs and is not very active…

    The food you make sounds dee-lish… but 8 oz. of sweet potato a day?? :eek::eek: That's about how much Bowpi gets an entire day at most, and I've come to think we're overfeeding her a bit! Bowpi is 22 ~ 24 lbs, sleeps/lounges around the house for what seems like 18 hours a day, and gets vigorous walks, off-leash park running, and whatever-around-the-house for the rest of her waking hours. She gets 1/2 a cup of kibble in the morning (at least that's how I do it, but my partner's been feeding her in the day when I'm not around and I'm starting to suspect he's slipping her more...) and up to 4 oz. of meat/non-meat in a roughly 70/30 ratio in the evening.

    M.C. w/ Bowdu (shiba inu) and Bowpi (basenji)

    0
  • StaticS

    Yeah… it sounds like more then it really is, sp is reallly dense and mostly water/fiber. It's about 1/2 a cup cooked I think...

    I always feed mine because my mom is the same - thinks I'm not giving enough though she admits that Dreamer at least is the right weight. Silly puppy on the other hand is hard to keep weight on, the whole litter is the same and so was his sire. At least he's not like his sister who will only eat ground chicken...

    0

Suggested Topics

  • P

    Basenji for me or not ?

    Moved Basenji Talk
    7
    0 Votes
    7 Posts
    1k Views
    ZandeZ
    @planetsaver said in Basenji for me or not ?: Will be a problem to leave him alone, let's say 10 days / month an average of 9 hours a day. Also I do not want to have to much trouble with the neighbours, but I understand he can make some noise sometimes, maybe he can be trained to stay alone and not to bark that much. Why would you even think about training a hunting hound to stay home alone ? I would never let my Basenjis alone for more than 4 hours, and even that is very rare. 3 hours is absolute maximum. Like @tanza, I have sold puppies into apartment environments as long as all other boxes ticked positive. Someone there all the time, proper attention to training, not just leaving the dog alone, especially not as a puppy. btw, he won't bark at all. As you would know if you had really researched the breed. He will cry and scream but not bark ! No. At least you are asking questions but I really think you should find another breed.
  • M

    Is she a Basenji?

    Basenji Talk
    16
    2 Votes
    16 Posts
    3k Views
    J
    @melduff I for one think this is FANTASTIC news! You guys are so lucky! You have a one of kind super dog with the papers to prove it. Walks around the neighborhood and trips to the dog park are going to be very much fun... Friendly neighbor: Oh, she's so cute! What kind of dog is she? You: Thanks you so much. Why, she's a Staffy Chow Lab Rott Russell Husky. (Ya haff ta memorize that) :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: :thumbs_up: Thanks a bunch for letting us know. Very much enjoyed your thread.
  • K

    Basenji

    Basenji Talk
    4
    -1 Votes
    4 Posts
    2k Views
    D
    Where I am it costs about $2K+ for a dog from a breeder for just about any breed. Goldens may be less because the litters are so large. That may seem like a lot, but, as Debra mentions, dogs cost money to care for. After vet bills and boarding fees and food, it matters little what the dog cost to acquire. Leaving true puppy mills out of the discussion, given the costs of being a responsible breeder -- testing, vet bills, feeding -- and how much work breeding is, I can't imagine anyone doing it for the money. That leads to two problems for people looking for dogs. One is that since breeding isn't really lucrative, there aren't a ton of breeders, which means the supply of pups is low. Second is that most Basenji breeders want to place their pups in the best possible homes -- remember they aren't doing it for the money -- which means they're looking for people who have had Basenjis before. Something of a Catch-22.
  • ?

    My Basenji

    Basenji Talk
    2
    0 Votes
    2 Posts
    1k Views
    krunzerK
    ….is a wingnut, but can spot a squirrel a mile away.
  • BasenjiDivaB

    Basenjis are -

    Basenji Talk
    3
    0 Votes
    3 Posts
    2k Views
    QuercusQ
    ooohhh…so true!!! Good observation!
  • JodieJ

    Is this a basenji?

    Basenji Talk
    37
    0 Votes
    37 Posts
    10k Views
    DukeD
    @phoenix3: Looks like a B to me but i think more of a B mix he looks like he has corse hair Maybe be has the size of a cattledog body and a basenji head :) My Aspen is a cattledog/ terrier mix he has the body of a cattledog {the colors} and the height and face of a terrier heres a pic so u can see the colors of the cattledog well one color anyways :D :D phoenix3 - this is Aspen? I'm so amazed at her spots, because my Daisy has spots like Aspens. We know her mother is pure R/W Basenji and she is thought her other half Beagle. One of her other litter mate moms thought Blue Healer (cattledog). But I subscribed to the Beagle. Daisy could be … Cattle Dog I suppose. She's bigger than Duke now at almost 9 months old. I will show her off soon on "Show Off" forum soon.