@elbrant That's how all my 8-some learned to catch.
If food dropped on the floor - you lost it ! So they all stood on their hind legs and it was like feeding a nest of fledgling sparrows. A gentle toss of the treat and someone caught it !
New Basinji Foster Parent
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Hi Duke and Tanza - are those little pictures of your babies? I never knew Basenjis came in black and white too. They look so sharp - like they're wearing tuxedos! It's helpful to hear that Cody is a normal Baseji and that there's hope for training him. I know treats are how I discovered that he 1. knows his name 2. can sit on command and 3. will down on command. Up until then, I didn't know he knew anything, because there was NO response to my voice…not even an ear flick. Even my cats will give me that much. But I had a Puperoni (which is my Shiba's favorite snack and for which he will do ANYTHING), and you should have seen how fast Cody zipped over to me when I called him after he saw the Puperoni in my hand! So now some of the mystery of Mr. Cody is exposed -- he will respond if somethings in it for him. If he does something naughty, he appears to care nothing for my reprimands and just goes on his merry way. Zorro at least looks ashamed when he gets in trouble, and tries to cute his way back into my good graces. But not Cody! He cracks me up. He's my little foster juvenile delinquent.
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If he does something naughty, he appears to care nothing for my reprimands and just goes on his merry way. Zorro at least looks ashamed when he gets in trouble, and tries to cute his way back into my good graces. But not Cody! He cracks me up. He's my little foster juvenile delinquent.
I know exactly what you mean! The brain is hardly wired for guilt - no reward in that after all! Though after consistent training, you probably will see guilt. I've seen it before and (interestingly) see it now in Duke for things that Daisy has done. When Daisy has pooped in the house, Duke will put his paws up in a sense to keep me from finding it :eek: - or to say "If you see it, please know I didn't do it - Daisy did!" :eek: I just love him - for this reason, he has begun to be a better companion too. Daisy will surely catch on - in time . . . sigh
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Are your dogs both Basenjis? It's nice to know they have the capacity for guilt - Cody, now named Rowdy (we figured a name change is OK since he doesn't come to anything you call unless there's a treat, and then he'll come no matter what you call him) by Jeep Jeep, is getting better. His riding-in-the-car manners are improving, but now we have to work on letting me get out of the car before he does. His house manners are a little better, but he's still very busy and destructive if I don't watch him every minute. The cats all HATE him. So far he's had sense enough not to bother my Manx cat, who is almost as big as Rowdy, and would slice Rowdy to ribbons. He's only had two accidents (both peeing) in the house and that was the first two nights I had him.
That's so cute about your male dog telling you it wasn't him. Zorro, my Shiba Inu, always looks scandalized when Rowdy does something Zorro knows is not allowed. I can almost hear him saying, "Ummm, look what Rowdy did!" You all on this website have been so helpful for me fostering Rowdy.
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Basenji typically come in four colors, Red & White, Black & White, Tri color (Black, Tan and white) and Brindle and White. There are other colors that pop up depending on the breeding and what is behind the pedigrees of some of the Basenjis.
In my picture it is a Tri (my most favorite color)…. and my Mickii (the Tri in the picture) is the tattle tale in my house.... when someone does something wrong/bad as soon as I get home she will sit there and yodel her head off....ggg
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Mickii is beautiful! I never saw a tri-color basenji before. That's so cute that she rats her fellow puppies out.
I had never seen a basenji in real life. I've only seen pictures of them, so when I went to the pound that day and saw Rowdy peering at me through the kennel gate, I was amazed. I knew what he was, and was really surprised to see what I though to be a relatively rare dog in the pound.
I don't know if I've heard Rowdy yodel yet. All I've heard is a bleating sound he does, and a strange little whimper he makes when he gets excited in the car. Once when he got his head stuck in my picket fence, he emitted this horrible screaming noise that made me cover my ears and Zorro run for cover. That's about all the sounds he's made in the three weeks I've had him.
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I think most people only know that basenjis come in Red and White since that is the most common color. I have had my dogs out and about town and gotten some strange and some just plain rude comments from people about my black and white. One that I found just kind of funny was when I my husband and I had taken the dogs on a long walk and he had run into the grocery store to get a drink for the walk home. While we were outside waiting, a person come up to me and said, "What a lovely basenji. Do you think your border collie mix may be part basenji too?" while pointing at my purebred black and white girl. It is because of that story that my obedience instructor teases that my newest one must be a smooth coated border collie since she is too well behaved to be a basenji.
As for just plain rude, I was walking downtown with Nicky (red) and Rally (black) and again had someone comment on how nice Nicky was and ask what I thought the other was mixed with. I politely told the person that she was purebred. He responded that was quite impossible since they don't come in black. I explained that there were 4 accepted colors in the breed but he continued to insist that I was wrong. Oh well.
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Don't you just love it when someone comes up with something that knows NOTHING about the breed? No B/W, no tri's, all Basenji's are nasty! Hmmm, I'll have to tell my B's that they're not really B's and they can behave now!
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Amen to that… ggg.... however years ago the "nasty" part was pretty much true....
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Are your dogs both Basenjis?
Hi Petrie, Yes both are half Basenjis. The first one I got is Duke. First I thought he was a mutt - b/c he was found abandoned in March, 2006 in a duffle bag with a brother (10-12 weeks old) in the middle of a parking lot in a rural area in Michigan by an acquaintance. I reluctantly brought him home and Duke was my little monster for 4 months until I was told by a dog groomer he is more likely Basenji - instead of what I would have settled as a "Border Collie / Jack Russell" b/c of his black/white mask. O.K. So I researched online about "Basenji" - all new breed to me . . . and his characteristics and quirks of Basenji are Duke - to the "T"!!
Interestingly, I found this "new" forum in July while researching the Basenji breed. This Forum really brought our lives together. I learned so much about how to train my little guy. All the advice here from Basenji lovers and veterans, pulled me through to help me train Duke. All the advice must be taken with an open mind set. My familiarity with dogs has been of the more docile breeds. These Basenjis are a challenge for the most part - real smart and self-centered - almost like a human toddler. (know what I mean?) That alone fascinates me to this breed. Duke was meant to be in my family's life. He is the center of attention along with now a new puppy, Daisy a tri-color. Daisy's mom, Abby is a full breed Basenji and was rescued thru BRAT in Wisconsin. We were lucky enough to be the recipients of one of her puppies.
Thanks for asking - I'll forever have a long story to tell. . .
I really think Rowdy is a cool name for a Basenji. Cody is a good name too, but Rowdy is original - good name! Also, I know exactly what you mean about trying to get out of the car first. It's pure chaos when we get there! My arm muscles have never been more challenged - like it or not! Hang in there Petrie and JeepJeep - Rowdy will become the most affectionate breed you will ever know b/c they are so smart. The trick is trying to stay one step ahead of them - however!!!
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Thanks for saying Rowdy is a good name. That's just been a favorite mischievous word of mine and since it ends like Cody, I thought it would be good. Thanks to everyone for all the comments and advice and encouragment, too! Petrie is coming up in late May with both Rowdy and Zorro to visit me, I can imagine that 500 mile trip with two energetic dogs! Good luck, Petrie.:)
Petrie tells me Rowdy pulls very strongly on the leash. I have arthritis and have taught my dog Jenny not to pull when we walk. Is it possible to teach basenjis to be good heelers?
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Yes, it is possible to teach a basenji to walk on a loose leash. It takes a lot of patience and consistency. In the training section there are several threads about it.
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And with any luck something chase"able" will not walk by…. Hard to over come what comes natural....
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That is true. Even with good consistent training there are some situations where they will pull. Something to chase is one of those.
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That's pretty incredibly rude of that man. You would think people would believe the owner of the dogs, but some people just have to be right, I guess. Even people you would think are knowledgeable can be ignorant. I know once when my Shiba Inu and I met friends at a park, a woman there, who said she was a vet tech, insisted that Shiba Inus were unpredictable and vicious at times. I told her my Shiba was very kind and gentle, and had never even growled at anyone, and I had never met a mean Shiba, but she kept insisting that I better be careful with him.
You must be a good trainer to have such well-behaved Basenjis. Rowdy is making some progress. This weekend we're going to work on not catapulting over the driver and exploding out of the car when we arrive at a destination. He's getting much better about riding in the car though. He's getting better about sitting quietly to get his dinner instead of attempting to knock me down to get at the bowl quicker. I don't think he's been taught much about manners and appropriate behavior.
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My dogs are far from perfect but I do work with them on a regular basis and they are fairly well behaved. I crate my dogs in the car because there are too many dogs that get loose or severely injured in car accidents. Some of mine took to the crate quickly others took awhile before it sunk in that riding in the car meant we are going someplace good. I do still work with them on a release word but they are far easier to manage coming out of crate instead of being loose.
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I got a good idea from someone at the office this morning, who has a specially designed harness safety belt thing that she bought at Petsmart for her dog, so he can be harnessed in with a seat belt. I'm going to try that with Rowdy. Do those dog halters work on basenjis? I've seen those that are supposed to be a humane way to keep dogs from pulling when you're out for a walk.
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I heard that B's (because they are such wonderful little chewers) have tendencies to ruin those fairly quickly by chewing through them. I personally have only used crates but Alani is a nervous car rider and even blankets that I keep in the crate are torn to shreds when we go for car rides. But I'm sure some would probably be fine in the harness???
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I know some people have been able to successfully use a harness but many basenjis will chew their way out.
As for the head halter for walking, it works for some basenjis but not for others. If you do use it, you should also still train loose lead walking because there may be a time when you don't have a halter on hand.
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Just wanted to share something with everybody…I am a psychotherapist and last night in one of my groups, I described my first week with Rowdy, the agent of mass destruction. The whole group was in stitches, and one woman, after wiping the tears from her eyes and getting her breath back, said, "You have enough material with that dog to start a standup comedy routine!" So I can imagine what comedic material people who have had years of experience living with Basinjis could have. When Rowdy is out in public, people say how beautiful he is and they'd like to have a dog that doesn't bark. Not barking is the only positive behavior I've seen so far to recommend Rowdy--well, not really, because one has to love him in spite of his "evil" ways. When all his rowdiness is over, and he's settled in his bed, he's very sweet and loving.
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You are scaring me even more!!! Please tell me some sweet and good little boy stories about Rowdy!!
